Poverty in Hawaii Portrayed in Blu's Hanging

I found Jamie James’ article, “This Hawaii is Not for Tourists” rather interesting since I had not considered literary works about Hawaii. From this article, I found that Mark “Twain was the first literary artist of stature to write at length about Hawaii, in a novel that was never published” (1). Before reading this work as well as Yamanaka’s novel Blu’s Hanging, I had not really thought about the slums of Hawaii. All I really thought of was the people dressed up to hula dance, while smiling prepared to say “aloha” and put a lay around each visitor’s neck . Hence, before reading these two works, I had only thought of Hawaii as a tourist paradise.

I was surprised to find out that Yamanaka’s work Blu’s Hanging was seen as racist, mainly targeting Filipinos, which is not true since there is prejudice involving all races that are intertwined throughout this specific story. Yes, Blu’s Hanging is rather disturbing and offensive and melancholy, but I would not go as far as to deny the writer an award for working as hard as she did to develop such an honest, believable literary piece that apparently portrays the Hawaiian culture quite truthfully—so truthfully indeed that it is found to offend many of its natives.

I don’t know if I would personally compare Blue’s Hanging to Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, mainly since Catcher is not nearly as traumatic or racist as Blu’s Hanging. However, I would have to agree with James that Holden’s character does compare to Ivah in that they are both young, teenagers that are confused as well as upset with the world and many of the people in it. I think that Ivah’s character is a bit more mature than Holden’s character though, mainly since she has a great deal more of responsibility than Holden because she is put in charge of her two younger siblings and has to take care of them just as their mother had done so. Also, Holden has a tendency to place his expectations of people so high that he continually sets himself up for more and more disappointment throughout the plot. In contrast, Ivah doesn’t seem to set such expectations on people, not even her Poppy, which is very frustrating to the reader. Instead, she seems to just tough it out and accept things just as they are, which, in a way, makes her a courageous, heroic character.

I was a bit taken aback by the fact that a teaching assistant “objects to having her students read Blu’s Hanging because it makes them feel bad” (4). Sure, this work is very upsetting and does tend to make the reader feel bad, but it’s worth reading because it teaches people something and reminds individuals of what many people take for granted every single day. Thus, it opens the reader’s eyes to a new perspective on the nature of humanity. Some novels really do influence the reader and I think that Blu’s Hanging falls into this category. James states that, “Such false, happy narratives may do no harm, but they can do no good” (5). This is a good point that I hadn’t really taken the time to think about in depth.

After some thought, I now realize that happy narratives like any one of Disney’s princess stories don’t really teach the reader, or in this case—the viewer—much of anything, except for to keep young and beautiful and you will get your prince charming in the end, then you will have your “happily ever after.” In contrast, novels like Blu’s Hanging teach the reader some things that are much more meaningful to life because they are portrayed in a real-world perspective in which there are no Fairy God Mothers to save you. Therefore, such stories as Blu’s Hanging make you see past that glossy princess world that is the protected reality. As a whole, Blu’s Hanging makes you realize that poverty does exists—even on a paradise island, such as Hawaii. Maybe it’s time that we stop protecting ourselves from reality and human tragedy because it opens our eyes, our minds, our hearts and helps us to become more empathetic, well-rounded citizens that will help us to recognize the evil in the world and try to do whatever we can to stop it, or at least lessen it.