Book's Narrative Hierarchy example essay topic

By: Jason K. I enjoy reading Fae Myenne Ng's Bone. I find her novel easy to read and understand. Although she included some phrases the Chinese use, I find no difficulty in understanding them, as I'm Chinese myself. The novel Bone is written in a circular narrative form, in which the story doesn't follow the linear format where the suspense slowly builds up and finally reaches a climax stage. Rather the story's time sequence is thrown back and forth. I find this format of writing brings greater suspense and mystery to the reader.

When I read the book, my mind was always wondering what reasons or causes made Ona commit suicide, and this made me want to continue reading the book to know the outcome. The happenings in the story do portray reality of the lives of Chinese immigrants in America, their hardship and difficulty in adapting American lifestyle and culture. For the younger generations, adapting the American culture and lifestyle is much easier than for the older generations. This is shown in the book and it also happens in reality, which is another reason why I like this book. This is a fiction novel, but the story told is like a non-fiction book; giving readers a sense of realism.

As a Chinese reading Bone, I understand the narrator's feelings and predicaments. Although she is an Asian, her thinking lies more on the American side. Leila wants to move out to stay with Mason but yet she fears leaving her mother alone and also of what her mother might say in regards to a girl staying with a man before marriage. In Asian culture, cohabitation is not popular and widely accepted. In the book's narrative hierarchy, I find the narrator placed herself at the top, always wanting or hoping that things were done her way or that she should know everything of what's going on. Mason is placed second, while her mother is placed third.

I don't blame her for placing Mason above her mother. It is quite natural because once you " ve found a mate to be with for life, you would in most cases give more love and attention to your life-long partner. I'm not saying that she doesn't love or care for her mother, I'm just saying that to a point in time, everyone will think and protect their own interest above others. I'm suppose to leave out Ona in the hierarchy because she committed suicide, but according to me, I think the narrator placed Ona forth in her hierarchy, before Nina and Leon.

The narrator talks more about Ona and her suicide than Nina in the book. And as for Leon, the narrator sees him as a figure that comes and goes. Another reason I like this book is that it is not too long. It is about a hundred and ninety pages long which it didn't take me that long to finish reading the book.

By making the story short, things tend to move faster and this doesn't make me feel bored reading it. Some stories are very long, and so when I read them, the story line moves very slowly and by the time I reach the middle of the book, I don't have the enthusiasm of completing the whole book.