Southland by Nina Revoyr Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Southland by Nina Revoyr - Essay Example In a socialistic form, the novel represents three ethnic groups, i.e. Asians, Blacks and Mexicans. It also illustrates the behavior of these ethnic groups compliant with various situations arising during the exploration of the mystery. Consequently, it highlights both the utopian and the dystopian verges of the races in a well-furnished manner (Nina, R., â€Å"Southland†). Several characters can be identified in the novel performing their individual characteristics according to the situations and instances. Among them the two major characters of the story are Jackie Ishida and James Lanier. Jackie Ishida was the grand daughter of Frank Sakai, an Asian settled in Los Angles with a store in the area. Frank Sakai had passed away quite ‘unexpectedly’, just before ten days of Jackie Ishida’s arrival to the city after receiving the call from her aunt Louis. Jackie Ishida, by her birth belonged to the Asian race and can be identified as an Asian-American. The girl was also a final year law student in the UCLA law school. On the other hand, James Lanier was an African-American and related to one of the three victims who was found murdered in Frank Sakai’s store (Nina, R., â€Å"Southland†). Throughout the novel there were several incidents where the ethnic qualities of these characters have been visualized. For example, the first interview of Jackie Ishida and James Lanier revealed the various paradoxes of the two young minds in terms of ethnicity and gender. As can be witnessed in the situation, Jackie seemed to be quite an individualist and conservative as well for which her ethnicity and gender plays a significant role. Notably, in her first meet, the girl hesitated to be alone with James after Laura had left her in his office, although she liked him. On the contrary, James proved to be quite a conformist by his behavior where he approaches in front of Jackie and depicts to be interested in her through the words of Laura. Thi s contradictory form of behavior depicted from the end of Jackie and James were evidently the influence of their ethnic groups and their genders as well (Nina, R., â€Å"Southland†). Another unique characteristic of the novel which in turn influences the encounters and the responses of the two characters was that it was to a certain extent based on the plot of 1992 riots. It is in this context, that the novel raises various consequences of an ethnic society during the period. For instance, Jackie’s astonishment when the true fact of her grandfather, Frank behind leaving Crenshaw was revealed and also when she witnessed a majority of blacks in his funeral depicted both the virtues and deficiencies of an ethnic society (Nina, R., â€Å"Southland†). 2. The Rework of the Novel under the Context of the Image of Los Angeles as the Site of the ‘American Dream’s Several authors had contextualized the site of ‘American Dream’ highlighting variou s instances which occurred after World War II, which