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Mr. Chang’s uncomfortable suit jacket symbolizes the unpleasant experience of trying to fit into American society. He shops for the jacket with Mrs. Chang so that he’ll have an appropriate outfit to wear to the going-away party for Jeremy Brothers. However, it’s clear from earlier in the story that he dislikes wearing jackets; when Mrs. Chang daydreams about country club membership, she and her daughters all laugh at the imagined sight of Mr. Chang in a jacket to meet the country club dress code. Mr. Chang “had no use for nice clothes, and would wear only ten-year-old shirts, with grease-spotted pants.” Interestingly, Callie reveals this fact right before Mrs. Chang says, “Your father doesn’t believe in joining the American society,” drawing a parallel between the clothes Mr. Chang dislikes and the society he doesn’t fully want to join.
Because the suit jacket is oversized and uncomfortable on him, Mr. Chang leaves on the price tag and claims he might visit the tailor for better sizing. These gestures reveal his ambivalence not only towards his new outfit, but towards attending Jeremy’s party and joining the American society that this party represents. When Jeremy rudely rips off Mr. Chang’s jacket at the event, making fun of the “one hundred twelve-fifty” on the price tag, he might as well be taunting Mr. Chang’s inability to fit in to American society. Although the incident is humiliating for Mr. Chang, the removal of the suit jacket is also liberating. It’s as though Jeremy has unburdened Mr. Chang, tearing away any illusions about the American society of which his guest is already skeptical. At the end of the story, with the suit jacket floating in the pool, Mr. Chang is no longer contorting himself to fit into an American identity. With this newfound freedom, he leaves the party in high spirits.
Suit Jacket Quotes in In the American Society
The In the American Society quotes below all refer to the symbol of Suit Jacket. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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His Own Society
Quotes
“Your father doesn’t believe in joining the American society,” said my mother. “He wants to have his own society.”
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There were occasions when the clear running truth seemed to eddy, when he would pinch the vinyl of his chair up into little peaks and wonder if he was doing things right. But with time he would always smooth the peaks back down; and when business started to slide in the spring, he kept on like a horse in his ways.
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In the American Society
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“Maybe this suit not fit me,” fretted my father.
“Just don’t take your jacket off,” said the salesgirl.
He gave her a tip before they left, but when he got home, he refused to remove the price tag.
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Of course, my father tried to eat a cracker full of shallots, and burned himself in an attempt to help Mr. Lardner turn the coals of the barbecue; but on the whole, he seemed to be doing all right. Not nearly so well as my mother, though, who had accepted an entire cupful of Mrs. Lardner’s magic punch and indeed seemed to be under some spell. […] I watched my mother take off her shoes, laughing and laughing as a man with a beard regaled her with navy stories by the pool. Apparently he had been stationed in the Orient and remembered a few words of Chinese, which made my mother laugh still more.
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“Take off your shirt.”
“I do not taking orders like a servant,” announced my father stiffly.
“Take off your shirt, or I’m going to throw this jacket right into the pool, just right into this little pool here.” Jeremy held it over the water.
“Go ahead.”
“One hundred twelve-fifty,” taunted Jeremy. “One hundred twelve …”
My father flung the polo shirt into the water with such force that part of it bounced back up into the air like a fluorescent fountain. Then it settled into a soft heap on top of the water.
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“You girls are good swimmers,” he said finally. “Not like me.”
Then his shirt started moving again, and we trooped up the hill after it, into the dark.
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Suit Jacket Symbol Timeline in In the American Society
The timeline below shows where the symbol Suit Jacket appears in In the American Society. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
In the American Society
...as she worries that summer clothes aren’t appropriate to wear after Labor Day. The new suit doesn’t fit well, and Mr. Chang keeps on the price tag, muttering that he wants...
(full context)
...on the polo instead, but Mr. Chang refuses. In response, Jeremy takes off Mr. Chang’s suit jacket and sees the price tag. Harping on the $112.50 on-sale price, he starts making...
(full context)
