From: park/dobbin <dobbin>
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 15:38:26 -0400

As an Asian-American child I experienced humiliation similar to scenes described by Beverly of native American children. I am trying hard to view the Wilder Little House books in that particular light but have not been altogether successful.

Perhaps my own experience colored my childhood perception of the Wilder books, but anyway here goes: I always found Ma hard to take; Laura?s fondness and preference for Pa was evident throughout the series. Therefore my sympathies lay with the two of them. While Pa was among the settlers pushing the Indians off their land, he also had a very different opinion of them than Ma and the other settlers. This was clear to me even as a child, and I remember feeling dismay when Ma or Mrs. Scott insulted the Indians. What I learned was not that Indians were savages, but that most white people thought they were.

In Laura?s own attitude?things like finding the Indian baby so much more attractive than her own sister, and her description of the old Indian in The Long Winter (who predicted the coming hardships), I perceived a fascination for things that are different. It is of vital importance to me as a writer that I express this fascination in my own work. In my first book, Seesaw Girl, I examine the culture of traditional Korea. Several Koreans who have read the book have expressed disapproval of my portrayal of the culture, in which women were severely restricted?not because of inaccuracy but because, as one of them said, "You will make Americans think we are barbarians." There were many positive things about the culture, which I tried to show as well. But to omit the negative would do a disservice both to myself and to my readers; I neither want to write nor read literature that evinces only the positive aspects of any culture.

Linda Sue Park

Seesaw Girl (Clarion Books 095?514-7) The Kite Fighters (Clarion Books, Spring 2000) A Single Shard (Clarion Books, Spring 2001)
Received on Fri 15 Oct 1999 02:38:26 PM CDT