Essay on Golden Child

Golden Child by David Henry Hwang brings many different themes to the table, themes which almost anyone can relate to. Central themes in this play would be the transformations that occur in the lives of the characters. The transformation can not be taken lightly; it is the way of life that has changed for these characters. Traditions and history are forgotten, or pushed aside.

A major theme in this play is respect. Either respecting traditions, or respecting a person, respect is a major theme found throughout the play. At the very beginning of the play Ahn, the daughter of Tieng-Bin says, “You forget – I am Chinese Christian. Best of east, best of west.” (pg. 7.), she stated after her son Andrew tells her she cant be real because she is dead, and also a Christian, continuing by implying that Christians don’t come back from the dead. Ahn’s meaning behind those words are words which shows she has not lost her past, though a converted Christian.

Ahn’s attitude toward her son Andrew is very stern and aggressive, as her mother and aunties were to her. The respect shown by Ahn to her mother and Aunties was respect from pain and suffering, as well as mercy. Ahn was the first of the new generation; Andrew did not know what suffering Ahn and her family went through during the conversion to the Christian religion, and the struggle which was placed upon her after her mother’s death.

The change from one way of living, the life of the master, and the slave by the traditions of his ancestors, Tieng-Bin, he wants to change the way of his life, by so changing the lives of his wives. Ahn, who was, at the time, a small child was affected, one instance was the foot bindings being removed and approved by her father Tieng-Bin. For hundreds if not thousands of years, the tradition of keeping young women’s feet bound to mold them into a certain size and shape was kept in Tieng-Bin’s family. This transformation of the feet was unbounded by Tieng-bin, as were his family’s life being unbounded from the regular transformation to Chinese traditions. A new transformation, a transformation to a life with more choice with a western outlook was in place.

Reverend Baines was a Christian missionary who communicates in Chinese with the Eng Family and does well enough to convert Tieng-Bin to Christian. Baines tells Tieng-Bin how you must love someone who is also a Christian, then you may marry. Tieng-Bin sees his life a duty to his ancestors, though he has the utmost respect for his ancestors, he feels he needs change, he wants true love in his life. The death of Eling, the woman Tieng-Bin loved died during labor, after this tragedy, Tieng-Bin shortly got baptized and began his journey as a Christian. This is also the start of a new life for Ahn, who had later promised her father that she will carry on the great stories of the conversion to her son. Tieng-Bin does not yet see how much of a change he’s made for Ahn, Ahn is no longer bound, she is can get educated and not have to follow a strict tradition of assigned marriage. Ahn is later sent to America and able to attend school and choose her own husband. At the end of the play, Andrew understands that he must keep the legacy and stories in the family. Andrew must tell the struggle that occurred in his family to become Christian, especially how important traditions in his family.

This play covers a variety of themes, all themes which can be related to anyone, people of different cultures, and likes genders. This play demonstrates how some people cannot change, as with the first wife, they could not be molded again to a new way of life. The transformation in this play made by Tieng-Bin was an earthquake that was still felt generations down his line.