Dragonwings

The first four chapters follow Moon Shadow’s first year in America. The narrative begins in China and immediately establishes the central theme of the Solidarity Between Father and Son. The mutual experience of being immigrants in America has a profound effect on the father-son relationship throughout the story. Because Windrider left for America before his son was born, Moon Shadow misses having a father figure in his life, and this longing is reflected in his constant questions to his mother about Windrider and life in America. His also grandmother explains the historical symbolism of the golden mountain and refers to the violence Chinese people endured from white people during the California gold rush. However, Moon Shadow is determined to follow his father to America. When Moon Shadow finally meets his father in person, Windrider is initially just as strange to him as the land of America, which he calls the “demon land” (9). The family remains separated as immigration policies prohibit the settling of Chinese families in the United States. Financial struggles oblige Chinese men to remain in America for work and send money to their families back in China, and many Chinese women are separated from their husbands and sons for years; Moon Shadow’s situation reflects this common reality of the times. Additionally, racial discrimination and violence against Chinese immigrants cause the family generations of trauma, as is demonstrated when Moon Shadow learns that his grandfather was lynched and killed by a group of white Americans (1).

Moon Shadow’s arrival in America introduces the theme of Forming a Bicultural Identity. As he begins a new life away from his homeland, he must learn to navigate San Francisco as a young immigrant in a foreign and hostile environment. This dynamic greets him at the very moment of his arrival, for the first challenge he must face is the dehumanizing experience of inspection and detention. As he finally enters the city, he must also deal with the disillusionment that results when he realizes that there are no golden mountains, only disagreeable white people’s houses and a barrage of ethnic slurs against him and the others in his community. Thus, from the very beginning of his journey, Moon Shadow is made to feel alienated by white American culture.

Despite these ongoing social injustices, the men of the Company and the Tang town provide Moon Shadow with a welcoming community that emphasizes The Importance of Community to the Immigrant Experience. The people, architecture, and culture of Chinatown feel like home for Moon Shadow. Uncle Bright Star, the leader of the laundromat, becomes an important figure in his life. As a man who has experienced the gold mines of California and the construction of the railroad, Uncle Bright Star embodies the early Chinese American experience. As he explains to Moon Shadow, “this Company is an idea” a principle that “[m]en must help one another in dangerous times and places” (25). In this way, the Company becomes a family for the young Moon Shadow. On the periphery of this close-knit family, however, there are still difficult individuals to deal with. These chapters also introduce the antagonist of the story, Black Dog. Involved in the criminal underworld, he is Uncle Bright Star’s son and has become detached from the Company’s community, working instead in the underworld of Chinatown. In his grim and ironic manner, he welcomes Moon Shadow to “the land of the demons” (30) after a violent attack in the laundromat by a mob of white men during Moon Shadow’s first night in Chinatown.

On Moon Shadow’s first night with his father, the two start navigating their relationship and immediately forge a strong bond. Windrider explains his symbolic name to his son, using a story about the Dragon King and describing his dream of flying. While seemingly fanciful, the dragon story has a wider significance and gains a symbolic meaning that grows stronger throughout the text, enriching the narrative with elements from Chinese mythology. For example, the act of healing the Dragon King’s wings represents Windrider’s skill in constructing kites and machines. The story defines Windrider’s character and his quest for freedom, for in a figurative sense, he must learn what it means to be a dragon in mortal life. Thus, by devoting himself to learning new technologies, Windrider constructs several machines and aspires to create an airplane and take to the skies, just like his mythological mentor. Accordingly, he deliberately blurs the boundaries between myth and reality by describing machines as being a “greater and purer magic” that belongs neither to white people nor Chinese people (33). Father and son therefore bond over the Dragon King story, and Moon Shadow develops a deep love for this father figure who was missing from his early life. The dragon story provides a catalyst for their connection and initiates the Solidarity Between Father and Son.

The tasks of coming of age and Forming a Bicultural Identity combine to create a long and difficult process for Moon Shadow, who finds himself caught between the expectations of two different cultures. As a young immigrant, he works hard to make a living and must learn to read and write Chinese as well as English. However, Moon Shadow is patient and courageous and does not balk at the daily struggles. Instead, he is thrilled to be with his father and is proud that the Company treats him “as a man and not a boy” (49), allowing him to gain a sense of responsibility in the community. Accordingly, Windrider works to expand his son’s horizons and takes him on wagon trips outside Chinatown to learn about white society. For Moon Shadow, white culture is still alienating, and despite his innate courage, he is afraid that somebody will attack him. This fear demonstrates the ongoing pressures and traumas that San Francisco’s systemic racism inflicted upon the Chinese community as a whole. In the face of these challenges, Windrider and Moon Shadow’s solidary grows as they both unite and navigate white American society together. During one of their wagon trips, they meet Mr. Alger, the first white man Moon Shadow encounters directly. Yep uses this meeting to introduce characters beyond the boundaries of the Tang town and to demonstrate that common ground can be found between white Americans and the Chinese residents of San Francisco. This dynamic becomes clear when Mr. Alger appreciates Windrider’s abilities in repairing machines and offers him the possibility of a job. Windrider stresses that this is “a lesson” for Moon Shadow (58). Because not all white people know how to build and fix machines, Windrider’s skills and abilities allow him to cross societal boundaries.

Despite these positive steps forward, further conflicts are revealed when Uncle Bright Star and Windrider argue over the flying dream that Uncle scorns, and Uncle Bright Star reveals Windrider’s other dream to bring his wife to America. Rather than developing this revelation further, however, Yep forces the narrative to take a different turn as Windrider and Moon Shadow go searching for the missing Black Dog and find him in dire straits in the alleys of the opium dens, where they learn that he is in debt to one of the brotherhoods for stealing. Windrider manages to bring Black Dog back to the Company, but his “edgy” presence casts an ominous tone over the otherwise close-knit community.