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A Gesture Life

A Gesture life is a rare, almost perfect novel that provides such an eloquent insight into the nature of human relationships and which is delivered in the most elegantly restrained pieces of fiction. The entire narrative is told by the first person narrator Doc Hata and comprises of flashbacks and other writing styles, which completes the artistic work done by Chang Rae Lee. The novel is not only about the imminent acquaintance got from Doc Hata as an immigrant from an Asian motherland but also his past, especially the experiences he made during the war that presently influences his actions. The issue of self-knowledge and genuine emotional connection influences Hata to make a whole life out of gestures and politeness.

Hata seems to be haunted by his past on the inside but he lives a life of gestures trying to gain a good reputation in the eyes of his people. Hata does not show an elevated level of appreciation for his close friends although at some point, three different women who were Sunny, K, and Mary Burns changed his life. Hata was a very introverted individual and this character of his was realized through these three women. Hata, as Sunny puts it, is a man who wanted his legacy as a perfect man maintained by having a goal in his life to maintain his reputation. (Lee 95). Because of the rocky relationship between Hata and Sunny it is quite evident that Hata’s main desire is to maintain a good reputation but than his attitude towards his own daughter.

He was more concerned with his life so much that he did not even know what to do to her daughter on arrival thus suggesting his lack of affection. (Lee 26). Hata’s inability to show affection and compassion manifestly showed that he did not actually care and this was the main reason for the downfall of his relationship with his daughter. Sunny opted to seek comfort from juveniles and druggies due to his father’s failure to relieve her.It was ironical adopting Sunny by Hata yet he knew tthat he embraced loneliness and enjoyed most when he was unaccompanied. Sunny regretted being adopted by Hata and she even asked him why in the first place she was adopted yet Hata enjoyed loneliness (Lee 336).

K who was a Korean volunteer sent to satisfy soldiers in the battlefront also felt uneasy on the first day she met Hata yet he could not comfort her just as he did to Sunny. After developing feelings for her, Hata could not express himself to her and this eventually made him rape her. Hata talks about how he was “drawn to her, drawn to her very presence, which must finally leave even such a thing as beauty aside” (240). Hata’s powerlessness to express his feelings resulted into hurting yet another woman by doing remorseless act.

Additionally, Mary Burns was another woman who defined the life of Hata and brought out another carelessness character of him by issuing poorly thought out response to a sensitive situation (Lee 348).Hata was talking about inheritance even before the death of Mary who tried as much as possible to reveal her feelings towards Hata’s statement. Interestingly, those people he hurt most described Hata as a good man and this justifies his goal of maintaining a good reputation.

Work Cited

Lee, Chang-rae.A Gesture Life. New York: Riverhead Books, 1999. Print.