20 I AND I D E O L O G Y 'V Never noticed the difference! No wonder! I hated the Never gave it a glance, if I could avoid it. For years I held G parents, especially my mother. Look at the gilded cage I liv J whoever would listen. Look how my parents kept me from re r ̂ Sa'd equivalent of the story of how Dickens was put to work in a bl v ^ ̂ as ui° at the age of 12, deprived of his education, hopeless, abandoned b § fact°n ents who had turned the world upside down and relied on him* ̂ par' them. As I'd learned from reading Edmund Wilson, all of Dicke*0-51115^ had proceeded from this experience. Why didn't I have somethin"" $ $ n°Ve's that in my past? Instead I had Goldie. No wonder I hadn't becom ^"^ novelist. My parents hadn't allowed me to suffer. kj a 8reat I was a difficult, ungrateful child, and this lasted well into my 4^ u ̂ until I told this story to my psychiatrist, a wise man in New Haven, th IT"" a handle on it. I told it to him as an example of how I'd been coddled as a' h?' trying to gain his sympathy. ("Poor little fly on the wall," I can hearmy moth er say. "Nebbish!") Wasn't it at least partly my parents' fault if I hadn't yet writ- ten what I wanted to write? Hadn't my parents deprived me of the pain I need- ed to be nourished as an artist? My doctor said, with the insight and subtlen achieved only after the most sophisticated theoretical and orthodox Freudian training, "She sounds like a very good mother." \w that you have read one conflict story in this chapter, you can begin to think about it analytically by asking die six critical questions of it that VOL will be asking about your own narrative later in the chapter. (See Figu: Reading Analytically K 1. Focusing on specific passages from this text, describe how^he au makes you feel about her parents, about Goldie, and about herse . 2. The last paragraph ends abruptly with the psychiatrist's wor | ̂ does not explicitly tell us what the effect of those words arej°;?n!i]vze ̂ are we to understand them and their effect on the author tone of her description of the psychiatrist and look at the. words in the context of the entire text. JP 3. Rose states at the beginning that she was a "spoiled middle What assumptions does the author have about herself because^ class? What assumptions do you bring to the story knowing a "privileged" upbringing? Explore whether you think the parents' actions would have been felt differently—by the , you as a reader—if the author were from a poor backgrc 4. In exploring how Rose's feelings about the canary and a- g£ y, resents to her evolve over time, discuss her feelings a 0$i&\: her response when she is six, her response to her < tion about the bird, and your sense of her response to ne i "'«**$*£ t'ltf Locating Ourselves in History and Culture 21 the au reader uthor's conflict? answer this, the essay must contain For a reauti frsse^ This is also a 5/te of possible revision • details and be.reaa ̂ k from draft l° u ô̂ perspective.

1. 20 I AND I D E O L O G Y
'V
Never noticed the difference! No wonder! I hated the
Never gave it a glance, if I could avoid it. For years I held G
parents, especially my mother. Look at the gilded cage I liv J
whoever would listen. Look how my parents kept me from re r ̂
Sa'd
equivalent of the story of how Dickens was put to work in a bl v
^ ̂ as ui°
at the age of 12, deprived of his education, hopeless, abandoned
b § fact°n
ents who had turned the world upside down and relied on him* ̂
par'
them. As I'd learned from reading Edmund Wilson, all of
Dicke*0-51115^
had proceeded from this experience. Why didn't I have
somethin"" $ $ n°Ve's
that in my past? Instead I had Goldie. No wonder I hadn't becom
^"^
novelist. My parents hadn't allowed me to suffer. kj a 8reat
I was a difficult, ungrateful child, and this lasted well into my
4^ u ̂
until I told this story to my psychiatrist, a wise man in New
Haven, th IT""
a handle on it. I told it to him as an example of how I'd been
coddled as a' h?'
trying to gain his sympathy. ("Poor little fly on the wall," I can
hearmy moth
er say. "Nebbish!") Wasn't it at least partly my parents' fault if I

2. hadn't yet writ-
ten what I wanted to write? Hadn't my parents deprived me of
the pain I need-
ed to be nourished as an artist? My doctor said, with the insight
and subtlen
achieved only after the most sophisticated theoretical and
orthodox Freudian
training, "She sounds like a very good mother."
w that you have read one conflict story in this chapter, you can
begin
to think about it analytically by asking die six critical questions
of it that VOL
will be asking about your own narrative later in the chapter.
(See Figu:
Reading Analytically K
1. Focusing on specific passages from this text, describe
how^he au
makes you feel about her parents, about Goldie, and about herse
.
2. The last paragraph ends abruptly with the psychiatrist's wor | ̂
does not explicitly tell us what the effect of those words
arej°;?n!i]vze ̂
are we to understand them and their effect on the author
tone of her description of the psychiatrist and look at the.
words in the context of the entire text. JP
3. Rose states at the beginning that she was a "spoiled middle
What assumptions does the author have about herself because^
class? What assumptions do you bring to the story knowing
a "privileged" upbringing? Explore whether you think the
parents' actions would have been felt differently—by the ,
you as a reader—if the author were from a poor backgrc

3. 4. In exploring how Rose's feelings about the canary and a- g£
y,
resents to her evolve over time, discuss her feelings a 0$i&:
her response when she is six, her response to her <
tion about the bird, and your sense of her response to ne i
"'«**$*£ t'ltf
Locating Ourselves in History and Culture 21
the au
reader
uthor's conflict?
answer this, the essay must contain
For a reauti frsse^ This is also a 5/te of possible revision
• details and be.reaa ̂
k from draft l° u ô̂ perspective at the time of the conflict?
,_ What is the ̂ ̂ ̂ jg ̂ answer this, the essay must contain
• F°r vr££'/be reader &«sed. This is also a site of possible
revisiondetails ana ^
Why did the author hold his or her initial perspective?
'• ~ .^swer this requires cultural analysis, a study of the larger
fac-
tors—dominant beliefs, expectations, assumptions—helping to
shape the author's subject position.
Why do different perspectives exist in the same period of time?
To answer this requires cultural analysis, a study of the larger
fac-
tors—dominant beliefs, expectations, assumptions—helping
to shape the subject position of others who are involved in the

4. conflict. 4jfc.'
. What is the author's change in perspective over time?
For a reader to be able to answer this, the essay must contain
details and be reader based. This is also a site of possible
revision
from draft to draft. >>
Why does the author's perspective change over time?
To answer this requires historical analysis, a comparison of the
val-
cSSs;Snd beuiefs that affected Ae author at the time °f thefllct
Wlth those that a* affecting him or her at the present.
M
Hair (1965)
C ™ - «
22 I AND I D E O L O G Y
lost tribal name. Eventually, however, he became disillusioned
with
this organization and separated from it to form his own Muslim
organization. Shortly after that, he was assassinated. His life
has been
the subject of many documentaries, books, and movies, perhaps
the
best known of which is Spike Lee's film, Malcolm X (1992).
This selec-
tion is from The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965).
Shorty soon decided that my hair was finally long enough to be
conked.
He had promised to school me in how to beat the barbershops'

5. three- and
four-dollar price by making up congolene, and then conking
ourselves.
I took the little list of ingredients he had printed out for me, and
went
to a grocery store, where I got a can of Red Devil lye, two eggs,
and two
medium-sized white potatoes. Then at a drugstore near the
poolroom, I
asked for a large jar of vaseline, a large bar of soap, a large-
toothed comb
and a fine-toothed comb, one of those rubber hoses with a metal
spray-
head, a rubber apron and a pair of gloves.
"Going to lay on that first conk?" the drugstore man asked me. I
proudly
told him, grinning, "Right!"
Shorty paid six dollars a week for a room in his cousin's shabby
apart-
ment. His cousin wasn't at home. "It's like the pad's mine, he
spends so much
time with his woman," Shorty said. "Now, you watch me—"
He peeled the potatoes and thin-sliced them into a quart-sized
Mason
fruit jar, then started stirring them with a wooden spoon as he
gradually
poured in a little over half the can of lye. "Never use a metal
spoon; the lye
will turn it black," he told me.
A jelly-like, starchy-looking glop resulted from the lye and
potatoes,

6. and Shorty broke in the two eggs, stirring real fast—his own
conk and dark
face bent down close. The congolene turned pale-yellowish.
"Feel the jar,"
Shorty said. I cupped my hand against the outside, and snatched
it away.
"Damn right, it's hot, that's the lye," he said. "So you know it's
going to burn
when I comb it in—it burns bad. But the longer you can stand it,
the
straighter the hair."
He made me sit down, and he tied the string of the new rubber
apron
tightly around my neck, and combed up my bush of hair. Then,
from the
big vaseline jar, he took a handful and massaged it hard all
through my hair
and into the scalp. He also thickly vaselined rny neck, ears and
forehead.
"When I get to washing out your head, be sure to tell me
anywhere you feel
any little stinging," Shorty warned me, washing his hands, then
pulling °n
the rubber gloves, and tying on his own rubber apron. "You
always got to
remember that any congolene left in burns a sore into your
head."
The congolene just felt warm when Shorty started combing it in.
BU'
then my head caught fire.
McCORMICK and LIPKA Locating Ourselves in History and
Culture 23

7. _ j gutted my teeth and tried to pull the sides of the kitchen
table togeth-
w The comb felt as if it was raking my skin off.
"^ My eyes watered, my nose was running. I couldn't stand it
any longer;
T b Ited to the washbasin. I was cursing Shorty with every name
I could
hink of when he got the spray going and started soap-lathering
my head.
A He lathered and spray-rinsed, lathered and spray-rinsed,
maybe ten or
Vwelve times, each time gradually closing the hot-water faucet,
until the rinse
' was cold, and that helped some.
"You feel any stinging spots?"
"No," I managed to say. My knees were trembling.
"Sit back down, then. I think we got it all out okay."
w. The flame came back as Shorty, with a thick towel, started
drying my
" head, rubbing hard. "Easy, man, easyl" I kept shouting.
' $• "The first time's always worst. You get used to it better
before long. You
"" took it real good, homeboy. You got a good conk."
*" *[ When Shorty let me stand up and see in the mirror, my
hair hung down
"" in limp, damp strings. My scalp still flamed, but not as badly;
I could bear
it. He draped the towel around my shoulders, over my rubber
apron, and
began again vaselining my hair.
4. I could feel him combing, straight back, first the big comb,

8. then the fine-
t toothed one.
% Then, he was using a razor, very delicately, on the back of
my neck.
, Then, finally, shaping the sideburns.
^ My first view in the mirror blotted out the hurting. I'd seen
some pret-
ty conks, but when it's the first time, on your own head, the
transformation,
, after the lifetime of kinks, is staggering.
* The mirror reflected Shorty behind me. We both were
grinning and
sweating. And on top of my head was this thick, smooth sheen
of shining
red hair—real red—as straight as any white man's.
"t How ridiculous I was! Stupid enough to stand there simply
lost in admi-
» Jatlon °f my hair now looking "white," reflected in the mirror
in Shorty's room.
vowed that I'd never again be without a conk, and I never was
for many years.
- • j was W first realty big step toward self-degradation: when I
x m "^^^that pain, literally burning my flesh with lye, in order
to cook
•J natural hair until it was limp, to have it look like white man's
hair. I had
w °h j • mu^tu^e of Negro men and women in America who are
brain-
ashed into believing that the black people are "inferior"—and

9. white peo-
bod'SU*)er*°r"—^at *key w^ even vi°late and mutilate their
God-created
.* les to tr7 to look "pretty" by white standards.
Examine the author's reasons for wanting to conk his hair. What
concerns
^d factors had a role in his decision? What feelings do he and
others have
24 I AND IDEOLOGY
for most of the text about hair conking? Cite particular passages
in the
text that demonstrate these feelings.
2. Where in the story do you first hear the adult Malcolm's
voice? How are
the views and attitudes of the adult Malcolm different from
those of the
younger man?
3. This text brings together three different time periods—the
1950s when
the author was a child and conked his hair; the 1960s when the
author
is an adult looking back on that behavior; and the present in
which we
as readers live and look back on these two different historical
moments.
a. Focusing on Malcolm X's change in attitude from the 1950s
to the
1960s, explore some of the larger social factors that might have

10. con-
tributed to these changes. For example, reflect on the social and
polit-
ical climate of the 1950s and 1960s. What do you know about
the sta-
tus of African Americans at those times? Who were the major
political
figures and what were their views on race relations? Explore
passages
in the text that might give you insight into the political and
social cli-
mate of the times Malcolm X is describing.
b, Now turn your focus to your own contemporary perspective
about the
practice of hair conking. What larger social beliefs, practices,
and
assumptions have influenced your response to this text and your
atti-
tude toward hair conking? Try to be as detailed as possible. You
may,
for example, explore such areas as fashion, music, politics, race
rela-
tions in America today, the places you have lived while growing
up,
television, etc., as sources of beliefs and assumptions that have
influ-
enced your response. If you discover that your response is in
some
ways conflicted, try to explore the sources of these conflicts.
4. What do you see as a major area of difference between the
times in
which you have grown up and those in which Malcolm X grew
up?
What similarities do you see?

11. C H A N G - R A E L E E
Uncle Chul Gets Rich (1996)
Chang-rae Lee was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1965 and
immigrated
to the United States when he was three years old. He is the
director
of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Hunter College. Lee
first novel, Native Speaker (1995), received five major awards,
McCORMICK and LIPKA Locating Ourselves in History and
Culture 25
including the PEN-Hemingway Prize and the American Book
Award. His second novel, A Gesture Life, was a 1999 New York
Times
Notable Book and an ALA Best Book of the Year. He has been
selected by the New Yorker as one of the twenty best American
writ-
ers under forty. "Uncle Chul Gets Rich" was published in the
New
York Times in 1996 and addresses conflicting value systems in
rela-
tion to work, money, success, and moral living in a Korean
Ameri-
can family.
My father's youngest brother, Uncle Chul, shared the Lees'
famously
reaction to liquor, which was to turn beet red in the face, grow
dizzy
and finally get sick. In spite of this, he was always happy to
stay up late at

12. family gatherings. After a few Scotches he would really loosen
up, and, with
the notable exception of my mother, we all appreciated his
rough language
and racy stories. Only when Mother came in from the kitchen
would his talk
soften, for he knew he had always fallen short in her eyes. If
they were ever
alone together, say in the kitchen, after dinner, he would use the
most deco-
rous voice in asking for a glass or a fresh bucket of ice, and
even offer to help
load the dishwasher or run an errand to the store.
$ On one of those nights we sped off, both happy for a break in
the long
evening. He asked me about school, what sports I was playing,
but the con-
versation inevitably turned toward my parents, and particularly
my mother
—how much she had invested in me, that I was her great hope. I
thought it
was odd that he was speaking this way, like my other relatives,
and I
answered with some criticism of her—that she was too anxious
and over-
bearing. He stared at me and, with a hard solemnity I had not
heard from
mm before, said that my mother was one of the finest people
one could ever
know- He kept a grip on the wheel and in the ensuing quiet of
the drive I
could sense how he must have both admired and despised her. In
many
Aspects, my mother was an unrelenting woman. She tended to
measure

13. on° i ^e mark °f a few principles of conduct: ask no help from
any-
gold ays p^an f°r tne l°ng run and practice (her own variation
of) the
en rule, which was to treat others much better than oneself.
weekf if ™ind' Uncle Chul soretylacked on a11 these accounts-
In the
$! 0 ooo OWing °Ur drive> my father woulcl be decidmg
whether to lend him
kitchen *£ start a business. As always after dinner, my parents
sat in the
sP°ke i -&re SCen* °^sesame °M and pickled vegetables still in
the air) and
Wa th i°rean> under the light of a fluorescent ring. My mother,
in many
family, questioned my uncle's character and will.«T
?Pent most fv rmed P°ortyin school, failed to finish college?
Hadn't he
s Billiard ° youtn perfecting his skills as a black belt in
taekwondo and
s 8aine? Wasn't he a gambler in spirit?
hi,