Native Speaker

New York City functions as both a setting and symbol in this novel. New York City is a symbolic setting because the themes of the novel are inherent to New York cosmopolitan identity and culture. New York is a location in which hundreds of different cultures and languages live together but are also segregated. New York both celebrates and subdues its diversity. This novel is very much a New York City novel because it explores the farce of cosmopolitanism, particularly in the political space. Lee provides this symbolic meaning of New York then subverts it by showing that New York is also a symbolic setting for metamorphosis. In New York, Henry can fit in, find a home, and change his perspective of himself.

The bombing of Kwang’s offices, in which three people are murdered, is a symbol. The action itself is symbolic of the myriad threats politicians (specifically minority politicians) face. When the bombing occurs, New Yorkers are eager to find another racial group to blame. Because Kwang is Asian American, it is easy for people to assume that the bombing is racially motivated. A bomb is not an assassination, so it acts as a message to Kwang and his followers.