A major idea I believe needs to be explained about this story is the idea of loans and a loan shark. Loans are a form of borrowed money that have to be paid back to the person who gave it to them, usually with interest. This means that once someone borrows the money, the longer they take to pay it back, the more they will have to owe. This idea of loans is what kicks off a lot of the story in this novel. A loan shark is a person who charges extremely high rates of interest on these loans, typically under illegal conditions. Now that we understand these two terms, lets move on to how they apply to the novel!
The story of The Leavers follows a mother named Polly Guo and her son, Deming. Polly is an immigrant from China who comes to the United States seeking a way to get an abortion and escape the father of her child. In order to be able to come to the country, she ends up making the mistake of borrowing a $47,000 loan from a loan shark, inevitably being tricked and hindering her for the rest of her life since she has nowhere near enough money to pay that back. Like most immigrants from this time, she gets a job working in a factory and tries her best to make a living. Since the baby ends up being too far along, she decides to keep it and ends up with Deming, a child she can barely support. Due to this financial instability, and inability to support her son, she ends up sending him back to China.
Loan sharks targeting naïve immigrants from anywhere outside the United States is a huge ongoing problem in the real world. Different types of loan sharks have appeared over time due to the influx of immigrants, trying to cater their schemes to them specifically, becoming more enticing and dangerous. There are instances where these situations become violent when the person who borrowed the money can not pay. Interests rates can get unreasonably high at such a short amount of time that it ends up leaving people with nothing. Many immigrants end up trying to resort to these people, unknowing of their true danger, due to how unaccommodating banks tend to be to new immigrants when they are in need of money. The story of Polly Guo and what happens to her son due to these events and people is just one example of the constant ongoing problem for so many other immigrants from around the globe.
Ko, Lisa. The Leavers. Little, Brown, 2018.
Filkins, Dexter. “In Some Immigrant Enclaves, Loan Shark Is the Local Bank.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2001, www.nytimes.com/2001/04/23/nyregion/in-some-immigrant-enclaves-loan-shark-is-the-local-bank.html.
Loan sharks targeting immigrants is a sad truth that I was unaware of. I have only read part one of the book so far, so I was not yet aware of Polly’s negative experience with a loan shark. This information makes the financial struggles within Polly and Deming’s life make even more sense, since Polly is in so much debt. It also could potentially contribute to her decision to leave Deming. It is saddening to hear that immigrants are targeted by these sharks, when they are coming to the US to try to make a life for themselves. These schemes make it impossible for immigrants to be successful in making a living and being successful in the US.
Thank you for taking the time to define what Loans and Loan banks are. I had not previously understood the term before finding it within the novel, so I much appreciated your succinct definition so that us readers could then apply it to the novel.
Additionally, I appreciated the analysis you did to talk about how loan sharks relate to injustices, and more directly applied it to the discrimination that Polly faces from her loan shark. This comment/explanation furthered my understanding of just the beginning of the challenges that Polly would face as as immigrant in America. I also did not realize or know that loan sharks were such a big problem in the USA due to immigration, so I appreciated your research so that I could become more aware of this issue.
Very nice context presentation. It was definitely a good idea to lead with the two definitions of loans and loan sharks for anybody who are not acquainted with these terms. Furthermore, I enjoyed that you touched on Polly’s situation and related it to the present day where immigrants are still getting deceived by such scams. I can relate to this situation since both my parents are immigrants and if this loan shark situation happened to them, I would not be in the place where I am today.
I definitely think it is imperative to know the exact definition of a loan shark in order to understand The Leavers. Specifically, to understand the high-pressure and dangerous situation Polly Guo was faced with. Sadly, this situation happens all of the time, not just in the novel. Immigrants are easy and vulnerable targets for loan sharks, so they are often taken advantage of. First of all, they have very limited options for loans to begin with. Additionally, they have a lot to lose, which makes them susceptible to do exactly what the loan sharks asks of them. It is an issue that we all need to be aware of, so focusing on this topic for the context presentation was a very good choice. I really liked your post!
It was a great idea to give some context to make the story easier to understand. I knew what loans were but I did not know what a loan shark was so that was very helpful. I enjoyed how you made a real world connection to the story in that its not only Polly’s situation at hand, but a situation many immigrants are also facing. I am aware of the lengths immigrants go through to stay in a new country but I didn’t really think about the malicious forces working against them.
Thank you for providing context to a topic I knew little about. It is interesting to think that a loan can be used to help or to hurt someone depending on the ability of the debtor to bay the creditor back. It is sad to see that loan sharks can capitalize on immigrant’s lack of knowledge. This is interesting to me because I am learning about Chinese immigration in another class and they were typically one of the most discriminated groups.
I think that this context presentation really helped me to understand the treatment that many immigrants receive when coming to America. While in search of a better life, sometimes they are not welcomed with open arms. As seen through the laws passed by our former president, and his beliefs on the matter of immigrants it is evident that immigration is a major issue in the United States. While I believe our former president as well as loan sharks are in the complete wrong for abusing the naiveness of immigrants come to the U.S., it is the sad reality of today.
Hello! I really enjoyed your context research blog, your introduction was well written and grabbed my attention as the reader. It also led me to understand more about the store and what you were talking about in your blog post. This then allowed me to compare pollys situation to the real world by being able to understand the exact terms you use.
I enjoyed reading your context-research presentation and learned more about how loan sharks specifically affect immigrants. I had known about load sharks prior to approaching this work, but had never considered how they take advantage of immigrants who are seeking a better life for themselves and their children. Now that this has been brought to my attention, I feel as though I am better able to understand Polly and the actions she took in such desperate times. She was not left with many options, and tried to make the best of a terrible situation.
Hi, I liked how you started off giving an explanation to help understand the novel. When I first think of loans, I think of it as internal investments for business ideas or money help from a local bank. But your mentioning of this is how many individuals use that as a way to come to America or other countries. They want the desired lifestyle so bad that they get into a financial trap. In these traps, it can be a setback and detrimental to their freedom.
This was a very well written presentation and it helped simplify some complex ideas we read about. It was especially helpful that you explained what a loan shark and how they work, often scamming others. You also did a great job describing how many immigrants have no other place to turn so they resort to loan sharks, something that is proven to be bad for those receiving loans. You did a great job relating the situation Polly was in to real world examples of this and how it truly is happening in real life. I didn’t know that the lpan shark problem was this prominent in America, and I didn’t know that so many people and families were effected by this problem.
I really enjoyed this blog post. In particular, I liked how it was organized. Furthermore, I liked how you explained what loans and loan sharks are at the start of the post. I feel that a lot of people may not be familiar with these terms, so it was good to establish what they were at the beginning of the post. Also, I like how you related Polly’s situation to real life instances and how loan sharks prey on immigrants who are naïve and unsuspecting and don’t have the means to pay off their loans. This is an issue that can and has been ruining the lives of countless people, and definitely deserves more attention.
Hi!
I think that you provided a really good context presentation for this week. I thought that it was really helpful and informational to define the terms at the beginning. When I think of loans, I tend to think of student loans or loans from the bank not loans from loan sharks. I never really heard much about loans from loan sharks, but I knew that it occurred. Many immigrants or people that come to America struggle to get loans or money from banks so they resort to getting illegal loans. At the time, they are in need of the money so they don’t really understand the potential high interest rates. They have the want and desire to start a new life and create a stable living for themselves and their family, but the loans will hold them back from their dreams and freedom. Great context research presentation that relates to the story!
Hello!
I think you make some good points about how immigrants have been specifically targeted by loansharks in order to exploit them for their money. You never really know what is going to go down with a loan shark, especially if you can’t pay back their money. The Italian mobsters always come to mind when I hear the word loanshark. I’m not exactly sure why though. I feel like the television show, The Sopranos, is very relatable to a loanshark. It’s also a pretty good show. Great research presentation!
This an important issue that needs to be addressed. I feel badly for Polly as she came to the United States with good intentions to protect herself from her baby’s father. She was tricked into giving money to a loanshark and was in debt the rest of her life. Many American immigrants fall victim to loansharks as they want to start their new life in America. The slogan the American Dream is very admirable and the loansharks prey on immigrants who wish to start their new life in America.
Hi, I agree with you that loan sharks take advantage of desperate people who do not have a lot of options nor knowledge. I feel bad for Polly and so many others who are a victim of loan sharks. I do not think that a lot of people know much about the topic and it should be talked about more. I think that several immigrants are desperate to have a better life and are not told all the information and do not know that people can take advantage of them and make their rates so high. It is a sad thing and loan sharks are selfish. Great work
This kind of background introduction helped me understand the treatment many received when immigrating to the United States. It also gave me more information about the store and what you are talking about in your blog post. The article describes how many immigrants have nowhere else to turn, so they resort to loan sharks, which proves to be detrimental to those who accept loans. Many immigrants or people who come to the United States are trying to obtain loans or money from banks, so they resort to illegal loans. It is undeniable that many American immigrants are victims of loan sharks because they want to start a new life in the United States.
Hello,
I really enjoyed reading your context presentation! It made me realize more in depth the treatment that many immigrants received when coming to the USA. It is sad to hear that these individuals wanted to come to the USA so badly for a better life but got trapped financially because people were taking advantage of them. It also makes me feel guilty for the fact that I was born here in the USA and I don’t have to go through that process but my both my grandparents and parents did.
I really enjoyed your context presentation! I am not surprised about loan sharks but I am glad I am aware of them now because I wasn’t before. I liked that your post raises awareness for this issue because this is something very unethical and in my opinion should not be legal. It is scamming unassuming people who are usually just trying to leave a bad situation and putting them in an even worse one in the long run.
Hello Harrison!
I really liked how you explained what a loan and a loan shark are. These are very important terms that needed to be understood to help know what is going on in the story. Immigrants are main targets for these loan sharks because immigrants don’t know better. They are just trying to start a new life and someone is offering them money. It is extra tough for them because they are experiencing a new culture. I wasn’t fully aware of this problem but it makes me wonder if my grandparents were confronted by loan sharks when they came to the United States. I really enjoyed how you explained what loans and loan sharks are because not everyone knows about them.
This is such a great context presentation, and it answers a major question I had while reading the story. I find it horrifying that immigrants often have no other options than to be taken advantage of by these loan sharks. It is so clearly just another way that good people can get hurt trying to build a new life for themselves. This is a very important piece of context as it displays the urgency with which Polly needed to make the decisions that she did, and it helps to justify some of Polly’s actions.
Hey Harrison,
Thanks for the context presentation. I liked that you included an in depth definition for loans and loan sharks. Previously I only experienced and heard the terms through other movies and such where people would be put into debt through unfortunate circumstances. I didn’t know about how these loan sharks also target those who just arrive to new places since they know they can’t pay back the debt. It’s a scary way of doing business and the fact that these immigrants have to go through these challenges when traveling to a new place a bit depressing especially when these people travel to new countries in order to live a new and better life compared to the circumstances of where they were living before.
Thank you for sharing information with us. I am Chinese. I also heard many stories about how high interest rate loans break a family. Loan sharks also know most of Chinese immigrants don’t have legal documents and they threaten new immigrants to pay the loan with extremely high interest rate. I consider your presentation let me know the true reason of polly’s sudden disappearance. Also, it reveals how hard new immigrants to start a new life in a new country.
This was a great context presentation. The fact that people take advantage of people in need and ruin their lives all for money is disgusting. I can see that these loan sharks would target immigrants who are unfamiliar with their new country, and make them sign an unfair contract. This also helps explain why Polly did what she did. Further proving how hard it is for immigrants coming to a new country.