Typical American

Ralph has long, greased black hair, a new gray suit, a large face, and nervous eyebrows. He still has round ears. Ralph visits the Foreign Student Affairs office, where Cammy the secretary struggles to pronounce Yifeng. He flirts with her, telling her to pick an English name for him. She picks the name Ralph, and he is delighted. Later, however, he wonders whether he made the right choice.

Ralph’s Chinese friends seem to have chosen better names. He puts this behind him and dedicates himself to studying. Any scheduling struggles or administrative issues take him back to Cammy’s office. Ralph tries to forsake any romantic interest but finds himself spending more time in Cammy’s office. He runs small errands for her and helps her with her grim, severe boss, Mr. Fitt. She relies on Ralph to testify that she was at work on time.

Academic work takes up more of Ralph’s time. He is lonely, but work is a good distraction. Fellow Chinese students mull over problems with him, and they cook for one another. He encounters minor problems: He struggles with work, and some Americans dislike him. Soon enough, New York has “lost its gleam” (15). He returns to Cammy’s office to file a form and finds Mr. Fitt shouting at her. His heart rumbles.

Old Chao, one of Ralph’s friends who chose the name Henry, suggests that Ralph is only in love because he is struggling in school. Ralph remains infatuated with Cammy, even as Henry advises him to focus on his work. Ralph talks to more Americans and learns about the country’s history and culture. One man tells him that all women understand is presents, so Ralph buys gifts for Cammy.

A huge blizzard hits the city. When the snow melts, Ralph and Cammy go out for coffee together. One evening they talk longer than usual and then take a nighttime stroll through a riverside park. Ralph tells Cammy that she is “like star in sky” (17). Cammy deplores the cliché. She cries because Ralph is “just like the other guys” (18) who never truly listen to her. He hugs her and kisses the top of her head.

Their relationship changes. Cammy treats Ralph like any other student, so he tries to buy her more presents. One day, Cammy is fired by Mr. Fitt. She had hoped that her flirtation with the dean would protect her job. She returns to ignoring Ralph, and he wonders whether he should buy her expensive presents that he cannot afford. His friends tell him to forget Cammy. He mopes and indulges his misery. In China, the communist forces liberate Manchuria.

The Communist Party of China takes control of the country throughout 1948. They defeat the Japanese army and retake parts of the country from Japanese control. Their control expands and begins to defy expectations. Ralph’s parents send him a letter begging him to come home. The letter is the last one he will ever receive from his parents. He writes back to explain that the Americans worry that Chinese students will help the communists; he is not permitted to return home.

Ralph refuses to become an American citizen, an option provided to him by new laws passed in the United States. He is unsure whether he would return to China if he could. Letters from his family no longer arrive, and he dreams of saving his family but knows he cannot. The thought of Cammy still makes him anxious, and he finds himself reminiscing about his youth in China. He has stopped wearing his father’s watch out of superstition and comes to believe that his family is dead.

Ralph’s visa expires. His friends are shocked that he did not renew it. He has to go to Mr. Fitt to plead for help. Ralph worries that the stern man will treat him harshly. Weeks pass by while Ralph tries to concoct a plot to get Fitt to help him. He asks a professor to lie for him, explaining that he may be killed by the communists if he is sent back to China. Professor Pinkus refuses, explaining that “we all have to be a little careful” in the festering climate of Cold War paranoia (22). Ralph realizes that Pinkus is Jewish.

Ralph keeps quiet and the months pass by. He gets excited about the possibility of working on his doctorate. Soon Fitt begins sending him messages, which Ralph tries to ignore. He moves houses but does not like his new home. Fitt’s notes become letters from the Department of Immigration. Ralph moves again and again. He worries that he is being followed. A landlord named Mrs. Bellini agrees to pretend she does not know him. She does not care what trouble Ralph is in but insists that there is “no funny business in my house, or I kill you” (25).

Ralph moves nine times. He stops seeing his friends, and the only person with whom he remains in touch is Little Lou. They meet occasionally; their interactions are awkward but Ralph appreciates the company. Ralphs misses home and worries that he has ruined his past and his future. He works difficult jobs in busy Chinese restaurants for very little money. He kills and plucks chickens for hours on end in a basement and becomes used to the squalid conditions.

Little Lou visits Ralph with news that Pinkus was made head of his department. Ralph requests permission to finish his PhD, but Pinkus asks about the visa issue. Pinkus speaks about the need to be honest and promises Ralph that he will speak to Fitt on Ralph’s behalf.

Ralph waits weeks for a message from Pinkus. No message comes, so Ralph moves again, this time to an apartment nearer Pinkus’s home. Ralph watches Pinkus’s home and his family. He tries to muster the courage to talk to the professor and begins following Pinkus through the streets. One night he ducks into a bar to avoid being seen. The busy bar confuses him, and he turns to leave. Before he can reach the door, he bumps into Pinkus. The professor accuses Ralph of being a liar and a sneak, and threatens to have Ralph arrested if he keeps lurking outside the professor’s home.

Ralph runs from the bar. He reaches home, finds a meat cleaver, and uses it to cut open the palm of his hand. He imagines how easy it would be to kill himself like he kills countless chickens. He plans to kill himself in front of Pinkus’s house. Ralph falls asleep and is woken up by news of a phone call. Ralph ignores the call. He moves again, stops going to work, and stops caring about anything.

Ralph sleeps while the couple in the apartment upstairs moan incessantly. Their physical lovemaking shakes dust from the ceiling into Ralph’s ear. Everything he owns is covered in dust, and everything outside is covered in snow. Ralph is so hungry that he spends what little money he has on a hot dog with all the toppings. Then he has another and another. He eats four and then wanders the streets until he finds a park with a bench. He lays down on the bench and counts his money.

He is still slumped on the park bench when his sister Theresa finds him. She has traveled all the way from China and happened to pass by. Ralph is so happy to see her that he springs up and knocks her down, spraining her ankle. Ralph believes that their encounter is a miracle.

The novel shifts to recall Theresa’s adolescence. She grew up tall. At school she acquired a Western name and a love of baseball. Her parents were horrified. She was a misfit, much like her brother; in fact, Ralph and Theresa had always been close. As Theresa grew older, it seemed like she was poised to marry a young man from a rich family, but the love letters were written by her younger sister, and the boy had never laid eyes on her.

Her parents arranged for the boy to see Theresa, hoping to avoid any small objects to conceal Theresa’s large frame. She walked through a specific park at a specific time on a summer day. Theresa was too warm, so she dropped her parasol and found somewhere to sit, breaking the agreed-upon routine. The boy sent word that the marriage was off. Theresa was then sent to stay with friends in Shanghai, where she heard news that her younger sister was married. When the communists began to take over, she immigrated to America with her friend Helen to escape the danger.

Theresa tells her friends how she found her brother: She had searched for Ralph for some time, and Little Lou put them in touch. Later, Little Lou killed himself.

After the siblings reunite in the park, Ralph calls a cab to take Theresa to the hospital for her sprained ankle. After she is treated, Ralph takes her home. Theresa shares an apartment in a women’s residence with Helen. Ralph is struck by Helen from the moment he meets her and buys her gifts. Helen is appreciative; she uses and shows off the gifts in a way Cammy never did. She cooks for Ralph, and he feels homesick.

Ralph proposes to Helen with a family ring brought to America by Theresa. By this time, Theresa and Helen have helped Ralph find a well-paid job at a language school. Ralph fixes his immigration status and becomes an official resident. He and Helen marry in a simple, Western-style service.