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Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Native Speaker, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Multiculturalism
Silence, Language, and Communication
Racism and Xenophobia
Love, Loss, and Moving On
Summary
Analysis
Henry takes over Eduardo’s job, which involves receiving money from all kinds of community members. Kwang has organized a huge version of the Korean ggeh, compiling large amounts of cash with the intention of dispersing it in a rotating fashion to the people in his “money club.” Henry often thinks about his father while doing this work, knowing that he would have found it insane to create a ggeh with people outside the Korean community. But Kwang views his enormous ggeh like a family in and of itself.
Kwang draws from the same cultural values that Henry’s father had, but he also embraces a new outlook. In turn, he’s able to use Korean traditions—like the ggeh—in an American context, essentially cherry-picking the best aspects of both cultures. The novel suggests that this kind of flexibility and latitude is part of what it means to be multicultural, as Kwang harnesses a Korean practice to empower his constituents in New York City.
Themes
In this period, Henry spends the days with Lelia and then goes to Kwang’s house to work through the night. Things are going well with Lelia—so well, in fact, that they’re flirting with the idea of having a child. But they’re not sure if they’ll actually do it, worrying that it would just be an attempt to fill a hole in their lives. And yet, it’s possible that they were trying to do exactly that when they first had a child, but the end result was Mitt, and he was so wonderful that Henry could never regret his initial reasons for having him.
One of the main threads in Native Speaker focuses on the difficulties of moving on from the horrible loss of a loved one. Henry and Lelia have already more or less sorted out the relational troubles that arose for them in the aftermath of Mitt’s death, but now they face a different kind of problem—that is, how they might be able to legitimately move forward in their lives. Until now, they’ve been stalled out by their grief. Since they’re back on good terms and relatively happy again, though, they’re starting to think about the future.
Themes
Henry meets Jack at a diner one night. Jack is sick with the flu, but Hoagland insisted that he speak to Henry in person. Jack no longer does his own fieldwork, so Hoagland forces him to “tail[] unreliables” until retirement (which will only come about when Hoagland is satisfied with his work).
The fact that Jack can only retire after Hoagland is finally satisfied with his work helps explain why Jack is so focused on doing his job—and, in turn, on making sure that Henry does his job. It also becomes clear in this moment that Hoagland sees Henry as an “unreliable[]” employee—which, to be fair, is somewhat true, considering that Henry can’t help but identify with his target and try in subtle ways to protect him from harm.
Themes
Jack says that Hoagland is pleased with Henry once again. The reports he has been writing, Jack says, are once more satisfactory—except, that is, for the report he wrote about the bombing, in which Henry suggested that Glimmer & Company (Hoagland’s firm) itself was responsible for the bombing because it wanted to create reasons for its clients to fund further “research.” Hoagland didn’t appreciate the idea, but Henry doesn’t care. He knew it would be taken out of the report, but he included it simply to rankle Hoagland.
By suggesting that Glimmer & Company was involved in the bombing, Henry implies that Hoagland wanted to purposefully trick his client into thinking that it’s necessary to keep spying on Kwang—in other words, he accuses Hoagland of trying to fabricate a reason for the client to keep paying Glimmer & Company to “research” Kwang. Although Henry makes this somewhat outlandish, combative accusation, he also finally starts sending information back to Hoagland, suggesting that he has—to a certain extent—given up on trying to protect Kwang.
Themes
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Even though he has already said that Hoagland is pleased with Henry’s work, Jack now reveals that their boss thinks Henry could be including a bit more information in his reports. But Henry doesn’t care—he’s only going to be working for the firm for two more weeks, and then he has no intention of coming back. Still, Jack urges him to listen to him: he should end the job on a good note. He has a chance to make a good retirement. Jack himself notes that he had the same chance once, but he stuck around too long and now will “retire with too many memories.” The statement makes Henry think about his suspicion that Jack is under great pressure from Hoagland and that he’s no longer working with Henry’s well-being in mind.
This is the first time that Henry seems to fully recognize the fact that Jack isn’t someone he can trust. Until now, Henry has seen Jack as a mentor and friend. But it’s now quite clear that Jack just wants to please Hoagland so that he can finally retire. In a way, then, Jack and Henry are in a similar position, since Henry also wants to leave the job after this assignment. And yet, Henry has a conscience when it comes to betraying people like John Kwang, whereas Jack seemingly just wants whatever will be best for himself.
Themes
Hoagland wants one last thing, Jack says. He wants Henry’s full report, of course, but he also wants a copy of the long list of members in Kwang’s money club. Henry doesn’t understand why. He has already explained that the entire operation is like a Korean ggeh and that it’s completely legitimate. Jack, however, reveals that there were some government officials in Hoagland’s office recently, suggesting that the money club might be of interest to the IRS. It’s possible, he guesses, that Kwang—who has lost quite a bit of money in various business ventures—is running multiple money clubs and siphoning off cash without notice. Of course, the idea of handing over this information—which is like a list of Kwang’s close family members—is dizzying to Henry, but Jack sternly advises him to do what Hoagland wants.
The ggeh is central Kwang’s entire political approach, since it represents the power a community can harness if everyone comes together and advocates for each other. It is, in short, an empowering thing for community members to contribute money toward a collective pool of cash with the knowledge that they will greatly benefit from this very same service at some point in the future. However, it’s now clear that American authorities are suspicious of this kind of financial setup, thus illustrating the kind of suspicion and distrust that immigrants like Kwang often face in the United States.
Themes
