Analysis and Interpretation of Crickets

forbiddenline and interpretation of Crickets In the short story Crickets by Robert Olen Butler, we are introduced to the principal(prenominal) character of the short story, Ted. Ted is non his real get word, but a nickname that was aband angiotensin converting enzymed to him by his coworkers at the refinery where he works. He does not in particular resembling his nickname, but he does not hate it either. His real name is Thieu but the likes of the former president of the Republic of Vietnam. He wasnt named after the president though his mother named him after his dead uncle.Thieu grew up in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, but later fled to the U. S. He witnessed the fall of Saigon in 1975 and that was when he decided to fight against the North. The north was communistic, and Thieu was throwing rocks at the tanks driving done and through the streets of Saigon. Because of the situation in Vietnam, Thieu and his married woman fled to the U. S. in hope of a bankrupt life. They e nded up in Louisiana just like many some other(prenominal) other refugees from Vietnam. He works at the refinery and has been working on that point for much than a decade.He is considered the best chemical engineer of the refinery, even though he doesnt al turn upances feel that his coworkers give him the right or suppress amount of recognition, which he (in his own opinion) knows that he deserves. He likes his job at the refinery despite his coworkers giving him a American nickname and simply apply that. Thieu believes that its probably because they dont like the fact that he is from Vietnam where American troops run through just been fighting in a war against his fellow-countrymen. Thieu doesnt believe in the values of the Northern regime, which is alike his reason for fleeing to the U.S. Thieus wife has, while living in America, given birth to their first and only son. The name of his son is perhaps the around non-Vietnamese name that they could find, vizor. Bill is t en geezerhood old, and is the product of the first night my wife and I spent in Lake Charles, in a bodacious motel with the sky outside red from the refineries. (p. 25, l. 27-28). Bill is a very typic ten year-old, American boy. Like many other young boys he does not always think that his father is the coolest person to hang out with, and when Thieu propose the idea of them doing something together he answers with Sure, Pop. He said, though there was a certain suspicion in his voice, like he didnt trust me on the subject of fun. (p. 26, l. 5-6). He probably reacts in this way because he would much rather sit in front of the television, reflection car besidesns which has superheroes, who are fighting the battle of good vs. evil instead. Thieu and Bills relationship to one another looks very ordinary from an outside perspective, but it is actually quite a complex from an inside perspective. When Bill says goodbye to his father in the dawning he is doing it in a very Louisi anic way Have a good day, yall. (p. 25, l. 30) you can almost hear the southern accent when you read it. And when Thieu says goodbye to him in Vietnamese he just giggles like its a joke. It is clear that Thieu pauperizations Bill to learn Vietnamese because at the moment he only speaks English he is an American and Thieu and his wife are Vietnamese and to Thieu this is creating some sort of cleft between them that is devising it harder for them to bond like father and son. Thieu wants to teach Bill one of the games that he used to play as a child. It involves detecting crickets and then have them fight each other.But when they go hunting for these crickets Thieu realizes that his son and himself has completely diametric values and that theyre obviously different from one another. For a brief while Thieu believes that he has his son interested in his game. The game involves catching crickets, either charcoal or fire crickets. When they are out in the wild to catch these cricke ts his sons Americanization shines through. He does not want to touch the crickets that he finds, like Thieu did when he was a child. So Thieu has to leg it them up for him.And it only goes downhill from there. Bill worries more about get his new Reebok sneakers dirty than having fun and playing with his father and he only worries about if the mother can get them clean again. Thieu is obviously disappointed. He is not disappointed because of the sons lack of interest, but rather because he has not been able to give his own son some Vietnamese ballast, it seems like he has no idea where his parents are from or what they have bygone through for him. It might be because he is only ten years old.The title Crickets represents the two types of crickets, charcoal and fire, which represents the two different civilization that Thieu and Bill are part of. Just like when Thieu was a child, his son and himself they stay crickets in matchboxes and kept them agitated by continuous poking and flicking. This resulted in them fighting each other to death. The charcoal crickets represent the U. S. Theyre bouffant and strong, but can easily become confused and he makes them appear rather unintelligent. The fire crickets on the other hand represent Vietnam, or perhaps Asia in general.Theyre not particularly strong or big like the charcoal crickets, but theyre smarter and faster than them just like Thieu is smaller than his fellow American coworkers, but hes smarter than them. When these two different crickets arent agitated they can live in peace, but when theyre constantly agitated at one another theyll end up fighting, and it will often end with someone dying. Thieu has and then achieved The American Dream. He has moved to a better place and he has shaped/created his own future with hard work and determination.But while achieving this has he lost some of the Vietnamese values from his upbrining in the Mekong Delta? Perhaps. His son is one-hundred percent American in the way he dress and act he only speaks English and this bothers Thieu to some extent. But is that alright, shouldnt he be happy that his son does not have to go through the selfsame(prenominal) that he did one might wonder. Thieu wants to relive his Vietnamese childhood through the son, but he does not seem to succeed, probably because the son is too American to understand or appreciate these values.