I wanted to post a few comments on "The Gangster We Are All Looking For" mainly because I enjoyed the text the most, and because writing my paper on it got me thinking about it. Briefly, with respect to the child narrative, I think it is so interesting that mature perspective was able to be integrated into the narrative. Aside from structure and all that we discusses in class, I think the narrator's reflections on the child-like observations were a big contributing factor. It seemed like a greater conclusion was always being eluded to. For example, she comments on her father's tendancy to walk around the house reciting the the letters of his name in english,

"Even when he was able to spell out his first name, he couldn't quite trust that this was he himself. Weren't these the letters? Was this his name?"

This is a commentary on not only the foreign-ness of the language and his name in the language, but perhaps also a commentary on identity in general. He has become so lost in America and lost in his drunk life attempting to forget the Vietnam War that he isn't sure who he is anymore. The way that one text can have two meanings is so interesting. Its something I addressed in my paper- the ability of the child narrator to in a sense "frame" the mature perspective on things. Essentially, the reader is able to read between the lines to gain understanding of race, class, gender, identity, etc. Its something I didn't notice on the first read... it only stood out to me as I was reviewing some parts of the book for the paper, attempting to become inspired. Did anyone else notice this... that you just got the sense that something greater was to be gained from a random observation, and that you almost knew what it was that you were supposed to think?

On another note, I wanted to speculate about the end of the fourth chapter... its so difficult to tell what is actually happening, and what is part of the flashback. I think its interesting how her father is juxtaposed dancing and not. At first, I was unsure of what this whole section meant, but now I am wondering if it has something to do with his identity again. Perhaps the dancing Ba is the real Ba, the one that the narrator's mother married- the 'gangster' who had a negative impact on her as a young woman. Then, she (the narrator) sees him as he is now, a man who is trying to escape his memory and problems. This man is not the cool gangster, just a sad drunk man. Also, it really is the narrator's vivid descriptions that make this novel so interesting and multi-layered.