Dragonwings

“There was plenty of money to be made among the demons, but it was also dangerous. My own grandfather had been lynched about thirty years before by a mob of white demons almost the moment he had set foot on their shores.”

The narrative immediately illustrates the long history of Chinese immigration to America, as well as the hostilities and risks involved. Long before Moon Shadow Lee comes to the United States, his family has already been profoundly impacted by the immigrant experience and the racism against Chinese people. Chinese men often traveled to America in search of new opportunities, and instead, they found nothing but racial violence and discrimination.

“But my mother never complained about the hard work or the loneliness. As she said, we were the people of the Tang, by which she meant we were a tough, hardy, patient race.”

The story focuses primarily on Moon Shadow’s growing relationship with his father, but his mother’s character remains pervasive in the narrative, even from a distance. Mother is described as a resilient and patient person. She is also part of the immigrant experience, for she endures a long separation from her husband and son. Despite the strong bond between father and son, her ongoing absence signals that the family is still incomplete.

“‘It’s because there’s a big mountain there,’ she said. ‘The mountain’s a thousand miles high and three thousand miles wide, and all a man has to do is wait until the sun warms the mountain and then scoop the gold into big buckets.’

I squirmed on the bench.

‘Then why doesn’t Father go get the gold instead of washing clothes?” Grandmother shook her head.

‘It’s because of the demons, you see. They roam the mountain up and down, and they beat up any of our men who try to get the gold.’”

In this quote, Moon Shadow’s grandmother provides a stylized explanation of the meaning of the term “golden mountain” that some Chinese people use to refer to America. It is a historical reference to the California Gold Rush that drew many Chinese immigrants to the United States. During this time frame, Chinese people in the US endured racial violence and exclusion from the gold fields.