are thrust into when they come here, is not a viable alternative. Rather than advo-
cating immigrant withdrawal or championing those paradigms that require perfec-
tion on the part of the immigrant, Henry ends up taking a more realistic stand. He
acknowledges the rocky road that immigrants must travel. He celebrates not their
perfection, but their humanity, epitomized in the slow and difficult process of
their learning the language of American society. It is not their eventual assimila-
tion that moves him, but rather the transitional state itself. Their halting immi-
grant English is the emblem of their struggle, for it indicates their desire, in the
face of great difficulties, to make their way in the society. In its roughness there is
the music of ambition, emotion, and commitment.

Native Speaker, in an odd way, enlarges and thereby transforms the picture of
the greenhorn trying to fit into America. Instead of highlighting the embarrass-
ments of the awkward and vulnerable newcomers, the book celebrates them. It
asks us to listen to immigrants' incorrect but highly expressive English and to find
in it the cry that they "belong here" (344). In their different English we may hear
"the ancient untold music of a newcomer's heart, sonorous with longing and
hope" (304). Their attitude is earnest and, though their constructions are stilted,
they express their feelings perfectly.

Hoffman Eva. Lost in Translation. New York: Penguin, 1989.

Lee Chang-rae. Native Speaker. New York: Riverhead, 1995.

Sontag Deborah. "Calls to Restrict Immigration Come From Many Quarters," New York
Times 13 Dec. 1992: E5.

-----. "English as a Precious Language," New York Times 29 Aug. 1993: B31, 34.

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