Mary Moua
ASA 150E
6 March 2016
Life As Worra
Knows It
In the book Tanon Sai Jai, author Bryan Thao Worra
writes about his life as a Laotian American in the form of poems where he
expresses his thoughts and feelings about a variety of topics including
identity and culture, food, nature, his homeland of Laos, and assimilating to
American society and culture. He does this by writing the poems in stanzas with
many of them being short and just a page long while some others are one to two
pages in length. Through Worra’s writing mechanisms, he does an effective job
at providing context and details about his life and how his journey as a
Laotian adopted individual has impacted his life and shaped the person that he
has come to be and embraced.
While
reading Tanon Sai Jai, one comes to
gain a better understanding of Worra through the topics and themes that he
writes about to describe his feelings, thoughts, and experiences. One topic or
motif that was consistently brought up in many of the poems present in the book
is change and the idea that change is possible in the world despite the many problems
and issues that exist in the world that tries to prevent it. Worra’s persistent
belief in change is supported through his optimism and positivity - feelings
that he continually emits and expresses throughout the book. His positive
outlook on life supports his notions of change because it explicitly
demonstrates that he believes in people and individuality and the idea that
anyone can make change and be the change that the world needs. His hope for
change and progress in society is evident through poems like “Notes Regarding
the Living Heart” or “Khao Jai” where he emphasizes on the importance of
believing in one’s self as well as others so that the positive change that
needs to happen in the world can finally begin. His notion of change implies that
with the combination of one’s self as well as with the work and collaboration
of others, this change can happen and progress can start to finally happen. In
“Notes Regarding the Living Heart”, Worra mentions about the different possible
methods one can use or do to start the change that they wanna see, such as
meeting a stranger or climbing a mountain. While the poem may seem like it was
written to Worra himself as a reminder of the things he can do to elicit the
transformation and progress in society he would like to witness, the poem is
also written to give the readers suggestions on Worra’s thoughts about change
and ideas that may work towards their favor in ending the perpetuation of
issues like racism or judgments. Through the words “With a khop jai and a
smile, do what you can...to change worlds, even one inch, one hand at a time”,
Worra strongly believes that change is possible and that even one little thing
can make a big difference in the long run (9). Worra continues to support his
opinion on change in “Khao Jai” where he speaks about the different barriers
that influences one to stop believing one’s self such as “a title, a grade or a
sheet of paper” which can therefore “...hold a soul back from all of the good
they can do in the world” (29). Through this poem, Worra demonstrates his
belief in individuality and the perception that everyone is unique in their own
way, that everyone moves and learns at their own pace, and that self-confidence
and self-esteem is crucial in creating change. Worra’s strong belief in change
is evident through many of the poems in Tanon
Sai Jai and provides a great perspective on the type of person he is and
how he feels about the way society is right now.
Another
topic that Worra constantly wrote about in the book was his experiences of
racism and the obstacles he came across for being an Asian American citizen
living in the United States. As a person of color, Worra was not an exception
to negative plagues like racism, stereotypes, and microaggression and wrote
about these experiences in his book. In poems like “Midwestern Conversations”
and “Surprises in America”, Worra describes his experiences with individuals
who teased him and placed in him a box of stereotypes, categories, and labels
all because of the color of his skin. In “Midwestern Conversations”, readers
are aware through Worra’s story that racism comes in all shapes and forms and
can happen to anyone from anyone. From being complimented to speaking “English
even better than some of the students who were born here” to being told that he
looked like “one of the bad guys”, Worra has been a victim and survivor of
microagressions and stereotypes that has affected him and shaped his life in
some way or shape (30). Worra continues to share his unfortunate experiences of
racism in the next poem “Surprises in America” where he is attacked and
questioned for being an American even though he was raised in America and lived
there for most of his life. He writes, “It struck me by surprise that many
people didn't believe I was an American, when I had lived here all of my life”
(32). While other people were questioning him and his identity, Worra was
questioning America and whether it was really the “Land of Opportunity” that he
had thought it was supposed to be. It is through these few poems that readers
discover Worra’s disappointment with America because of all the issues he’s
faced as an Asian American individual just trying to make it in the world and
his longing to live back in his homeland of Laos - the one place that provides
him with happiness and fulfillment that the United States can’t necessarily
provide him.
While
reading Worra’s poems, I noticed that he talked about a variety of topics and
created his poems to encompass many themes and motifs. I’m curious as to what
inspired him to write a book about his life and experiences and one where those
experiences are written in the form of poems. Authors usually just write an
autobiography about themselves by simply narrating the stories in paragraphs
and chapters, but Worra demonstrates his individuality by writing these stories
in poems. My question for him would be what inspired him to write about his
life, particularly through poems and not the usual common kind of medium that
readers are used to reading and writers are used to writing. Since Worra also
wrote about the topic of change many times in Tanon Sai Jai, I would like to know whether he thinks there is
change being made in society nowadays, what he believes change looks like, and
whether or not he believes it’s still possible for change to happen with all
that is going on in the world right now, especially with issues like racism and
poverty just to name a few.
Tanon Sai Jai is a book that explores
author Bryan Thao Worra’s life experiences and memories. By constructing these
stories in the form of poems, Worra presents different stories and memories
that he has experienced throughout his life, such as experiences with racism
and his beliefs about change, identity, and culture. In the book, Worra is able
to weave through and tie all the topics and themes together, ultimately
demonstrating proof of his intersectionality and his pride in being a Laotian
American individual who will and has made change in the world in many ways -
with one of them being this book.
Bibliography
Worra, Bryan Thao. Tanon Sai Jai: Poems. Minneapolis, MN: Silosoth Pub., 2010. Print
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