The Leavers tells the life experience and spiritual growth story of the two generations. Guo Peilan, a Chinese woman who stowaways in the United States, and Guo Deming, her “illegitimate son” born in the United States, have drifted away from home and been separated several times. The ups and downs of their lives epitomize several generations of the leavers. Their experience at the bottom also reveals the complexities of immigration. The author Lisa, is a second-generation immigrant, which means the first child born to her parents after they immigrated to the United States. Although she grew up in the United States, the cultural imprint of her parents and Asian faces remained indelible, making her as alien to her surroundings as Deming in the book. She only finds inner peace and true self in reading, writing and music. Until one day, she saw a report about a Chinese woman who was an illegal immigrant so she had the idea to write the story.
The story of The Leaver is inspired by true report. There have been news reports of illegal immigrant women being detained or deported and forced to separate from their American-born children, who were later adopted by American families. Deming and Peilan’s story is artificial, but it reflects the author’s real experience and feelings: the music is real, New York is real, and the sense of isolation, alienation, loneliness and insecurity as immigrants are also real. Since Trump took office, the issue of immigration in the United States has become a social focus. Immigration-related issues such as the Trump administration family separation policy have caused great controversy. The camps still exist and are growing in number. These days, more children are incarcerated than ever before. In October 2019, the number of children separated from their parents grew to 5500. Although immigration prisons have existed for many, current administration is viciously anti-immigration, criminalizing immigrants and other people, and treating them with a higher degree of authority than other crimes.
Here is a link of the policy detail:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_administration_family_separation_policy#Number_of_children
Reference:
Trump administration family separation policy, wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_administration_family_separation_policy#Number_of_children
Great post! This story is very relevant to us in modern day with immigration being such a hot topic in politics. I think it’s important for people to be able to experience a first person perspective of the effects immigration laws can have on people and families, such as reading Lisa’s novel.
Very informative post! Knowing that Lisa Ko is a second-generation immigrant definitely helps me better understand her perspective. I like how you compared Ko’s experiences as “alien to her surroundings” to Deming’s experiences in the novel. Additionally, I think relating the events of The Leaver to current immigration policies makes the story’s plot even more compelling, as I will now consider immigration policies on a larger scale rather than just thinking about Deming’s mother while I read.
Nice post! I feel like this topic is something that will bring a whole new context to learning about identity and connecting with your culture vs your country. It is so devastating to see these families being torn apart even though, technically at one point, we were almost all immigrants. A lot of times we don’t pay as much attention to the issues that don’t apply to us in politics, however we need to start having a more sympathetic view because as we will see, these families go through so much. I am excited to read this novel and see how Ko identifies and how she feels in relation to America vs. China.
Hello,
I appreciate the thought and time that went into this post. Thank you for providing more information about the author, and the connection to current immigration policies is definitely eye-opening.
Hi, great post! It is sad to hear that more children are incarcerated than ever before, when it should be the opposite. There needs to be a lot of change when it comes to our immigration law and system.
Thank you for your insightful post! Your post gives good insight on what to except when reading “The Leavers” and it provides a different perspective knowing it’s based on a true story. It’s so hard to hear about the immigration crisis we’re experiencing today and how brutal the administration is on these families.
Great post! I liked that you tied it to modern immigration and politics. Especially the reference to the Trump Administration all things to think about since the presidential election is less than a month away. With the information that Lisa Ko is a second-generation immigrant gives perspective as to where she was writing novel from. To be able to see her relation to some of Deming’s experiences.
I think you did a really nice job with your post. I thought this was very helpful as I got ready to read the story. I think that this was an important thing to talk about, and thought that it was even more effective because you were able to relate it to today’s world, and how these topics are something that are still relevant to this day, and probably will be for some time.
Thanks for the post. It is very informative about the the story of illegal immigrants and the children who were forced to be separated with their biological parents and adopted by American families. I love the background sharing of the story so that we can understand about why this thing is happening and what can we do about it.
I think this will be an interesting reading this week. This is because immigration has intertwined with American politics. This has made the subject a key determinant of which political party is doing what is right for the American people. I like that you related the story to the current immigration challenges that many people are going through today.
I really enjoy your post! I have never learned about the story and development of Asian Americans in the United States and your context analysis helps me understand the article. Also, it is more engaging to put Ko’s story and immigration policy together. People tended to ignore the lives of immigrants’ lives which can be a great social issue.
Good job! I really enjoyed reading your post! It provided very well-written background information which would definitely help me on the reading. Also, I really agree with your opinion on the ongoing anti-immigration issues.
Thanks for this post. It added a nice bit of information as I digest this important novel. I’ve been following some social media accounts about the experiences of transracial adoptees and reading the first half of the book was truly painful at times, seeing well-intentioned but ignorant and ill-prepared white parents do some harm to this boy who they adopted out of mixed intentions. Ko’s perspective on these issues is particularly valuable, as one who has not experienced the exact same thing, but who can understand it far better than I can, due to her experience of growing up as Other in a primarily white area.
Thank you for the post. It has provided a solid background as I am going through the novel and a unique perspective to take into account. Stating that the author was a second-generation immigrant, a lot of the feelings and treatment Deming receives is almost like a first-hand experience. I enjoyed the mention of policy here in America, especially with the upcoming election. I think adding adding other candidates or parties thoughts on immigration would also add another perspective to the book as we read. As you mentioned, detention centers have existed for many administrations and immigration is very complex in all aspects. I think the policies and topic go far beyond just one president or political party.
Immigration has been a topic of conversation in todays society for a very very long time. With the election coming up and with rising protests worldwide, I feel this book was assigned at an appropriate time. I grew up in America, and my family migrated to the states from Germany a long time ago, so I cannot call myself an immigrant, but I know a lot of people in my life who have just recently moved to the United States from a different country searching refuge. While reading this contextual research presentation it provided me with some background knowledge of this book, and is allowing me to make my own opinions and personal inferences about immigration itself. Being that Lisa-Ko is a second generation immigrant is giving the readers a different perspective because she is living in a period where she was not the one traveling over, but she still endures and listens to the hardships and stories of her family. I look forward to reading more of this novel and gaining a better understanding of immigration and the struggles people endure.
This is a great post! Immigration is incredibly relevant in our society, and the policies that the current administration have put in place make it that much more unsafe and risky. It is a shame that people do not treat everyone else with dignity and respect, and it has become very obvious, especially recently, that the government does far less than that to detains immigrants. The violation of human rights by our own government is a disgrace no matter who those people are. This story shows just how traumatic and harmful these experiences can be.
I think you did a great job of explaining the relevance of this story and how this issue still pertains to the world today. Unfortunately, illegal immigrants are forced to face many hardships just because of the circumstances they are born with. It is so sad to see that they will never be able to experience the opportunities that so many Americans take for granted, such as getting a higher-level education, traveling for fun, and having a stable income and family life. Many children resemble their parents’ behaviors and ways of thinking, and this aspect is what brings so many families together. Thus, when children are isolated away from their parents and have to adapt to a completely different lifestyle, they can obviously get very overwhelmed and make some impulsive and unhealthy choices. It is not fair for many illegal immigrant children to constantly live in fear and be put at risk at such a young age, and this needs to change.
Thanks for your great post! It gives me an informative background about how The Leavers is written. It reveals a lot of the connection about past immigration and current situation on immigration policies. There still needs to be revised until the issues are totally solved.
Really good post. I really like how you related the story to the problems with immigration today, particularly in our own, messed up country. I feel like not enough attention is truly paid to what is going on, because not enough people care if it doesn’t affect them. It’s quite horrific what is going on here and what goes on all over the place when immigrants try and enter a country.
Great post! The identity of second generation immigrant makes Lisa more difficult in life than other people. The topic of immigration also needs to be discussed. Because immigrants are a large part of the population, their rights and daily lives need to be guaranteed.
Thank you for the post! Immigration is a big topic in today’s society especially with the corona virus going on. With the election coming up I think it is interesting to watch the candidates discuss topics like this one.
This was a well-written post! Immigration has always been a touchy subject as of late– and COVID-19 has not done any favors in that deprartment. COVID-19 has made things like ICE detention centers rougher with the threat of a contagious disease in addition to the issues highlighted here. The whole system is less than ideal.
Thank you for delivering such a great presentation. As you stated, immigrantion is one of the most concerned social problems in the world. There are many problems related to immigrantion and immigrants such as poverty, acculturation, education, housing, and employment. However, immigrants also bring in more labour force.
I love your post. You mentioned modern immigration and politics. You bring the two together and provide a new perspective. These two points are indeed the two key determinants of the problem. People tend to overlook colonial life. This may form a serious social problem in the future.
Great Post!! Really liked how you tied up how today’s issues with immigration and how it relates to the book in a big way. It is important to stay up to date on issues like immigration with them being in the limelight more than ever and see where candidates stand on these issues to help decide your vote.