American Son

In the novel The American Son by Brian Ascalon Roley, two diverse Asian-American characters emerge; one representing the stereotypical Asian male, Gabe, and the other representing the stereotypical American blend, Tomas. In this paper, I will uncover the truths of Gabe and proving him to be a stereotypical Asian male trying to be a typical American male as well as Tomas as the American son with Mexican-American influences trying to be anything but Asian. In …

…to him, it still is more acceptable than being Asian-American. I believe this scene really depicts how Tomas views himself as well as the Asian culture. I believe this novel as a whole, shows the great struggle of two young men trying to find who they are and how they fit in to American society. Both take the route of violence (strength) instead of using intelligence (weakness). I believe Tomas is truly the American son.