Term Paper
on Homesick
Homesick - My Own Story is a beautifully written autobiography by the renowned
children storywriter, Jean Fritz. Homesick as the name shows is an account of a
person longing for his native land. Jean wrote this story as a result of her
experiences in China as a foreigner child. All the characters and events are
true and are described in the original way as happened. The book is a lively
account of personal true feelings, places and people supported by photographs.
In addition to an honest tale, the Jean Fritz’s autobiography Homesick also
offers the Chinese culture, geography and book information adequately. Jean is
of the opinion that she was born on the wrong side of the globe. Perhaps this
thought inculcated due to the loneliness she experienced in China as ten years
old. An American by origin, she was born in China and upon turning twelve moved
to her native country, America. She enjoyed the mountains and countryside of
China but was disappointed by the discrimination she confronted and been treated
and called a “foreign devil”. On her return to America, she faced the dilemma of
being not recognized as American and bracketed with Chinese by her schoolfellows
and age-mates. The book is based on all those memories and bitter truths, Jean
Fritz recollected and accumulated during her stay in China. The time period is
1920, the turbulent days of Chinese history, affected the author greatly and
turned young Jean Fritz as a strong character and registered many reactions to
people and events that are timeless and universal. Ten years old Jean went
through the hell of reconciliation with the singing "God Save the King" at here
British school. Witnessing a painful time, the memoirs of Jean Fritz, despite
the fact is humorous, fantastic and full of life, thus proving that she was a
lady of strong nerves. Homesick is a fictionalized account covering the first
ten years of Jean’s life, written from her adult perspective. Jean Fritz says
that her story is a universal story because it is a story of a child victim of
identity. The child is in search of origin, entity and identity. She therefore,
dubbed it universal because these feelings and questions are universal.
The most beautiful angle of the story is the confrontation and struggle of a ten
years old girl amidst the two varying cultures. By origin an American, born in
China, she maintained both the identities intact and separate. She never turned
marginal. But despite the fact she remained alien at both places. Her
grandparents were the only hope for her in seeking of consolation. She was truly
a homesick. In the wake of brewing political turmoil, she thought if the war
broke, she would have the opportunity to be shipped to her native country.
Ironically, she found America contrary to her dreams.
Source: Jean Fritz. Homesick: My Own Story. Yearling Books, Reissue edition,
1984
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