Crickets

Side 1

1

“Crickets” by Robert Olen Butler (1993)

Key facts

Title: “Crickets”

Author: Robert Olen Butler

Type of work: short story

Publshed: 1993

Narrator: First person narrator

Point of view: The narrator Mr. Thieu’s point of view

Setting (time): Present day

Setting (place): by Lake Charles, Louisiana

Summary

Together with his wife Mr. Thieu fled from Vietnam to the USA. He was 18 during the Vietnam War and even though he was young, he kept fighting against the invaders. He ended up escaping to Louisiana. Thieu works as a chemical engineer at a refinery, where his co-workers call him Ted. Even though he isn’t proud of his real name, this nickname bothers him even more.

Mr. Thieu has a son, Bill, who at the age of ten, has already started to speak like the Americans. He does not want to call his father by his Vietnamese name, but is only interested in American cartoon characters and expensive brands. One day Mr. Thieu decides to show his son some of his own childhood and what games he played. He wants to show Bill how to train crickets to fight each other, something Thieu did as a child. Bill helps his father search for the crickets, but during their search, Bills sneakers get smudged by the grass and he loses his attention and focus. Thieu and Bill don’t find any black crickets, and when Bill isn’t really paying any attention to the game, Thieu decides to end it. In the end Mr. Thieu admits to himself that he lives in a new country in which he cannot expect to find the same species or values as in Vietnam.

Side 2

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Main characters explained

Mr Thieu/Ted

Vietnamese name

The main character and narrator in the short story is Mr. Thieu. He is not very happy about this name because it is the same as the former President of the former Republic of Vietnam. Despite of this, he does, however, prefer the name Mr Thieu to the nickname Ted, given to him by his colleagues:

“They call me Ted where I work and they’ve called me that for over a decade now and it still bothers me, though I’m not very happy about my real name being the same as the former President of the former Republic of Vietnam” (p. 24, ll. 34-37).

The name is the identity

The reason why the narrator prefers the name Mr. Thieu to the nickname Ted is probably the fact that his real name is related to Vietnam while the new name links to his identity to the American society.

Social status and self-image

Good job

The narrator has a good job and he is the best chemical engineer at the refinery where he works. This indicates that he is a man of standing:

“But I don’t let that out at the refinery, where I’m the best chemical engineer they’ve got and they even admit it once in a while.” (pp. 24 l. 43- p. 25, l. 1-2).

Self-image

Mr. Thieu is proud that he stayed and fought against the tanks coming from the North of Vietnamese. He threw rocks at the tanks and even though he is aware that it was an isolated and pathetic gesture, he is proud that he stood up and fought back. He knows that few people did likewise. He sees himself as a rebel:

“I stripped off my uniform and put on my civilian clothes again and I threw rocks at the North’s tanks when they rolled through the streets. […]At least my right arm had said no to them” (p. 25, ll. 5-11) Feels physically small

Mr. Thieu feels that he is the size of a woman because all the men in the USA are very massive:

“I am the size of a woman in this country and these American men are all massive” (p. 25, ll. 21-22)

Side 3

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Speaks fast

Even though Mr. Thieu feels physically smaller than the other men in the country, he knows that he talks much faster than them, even though English is their native language:

“they speak so slowly, even to each other, even though English is their native language” (p. 25, ll. 23-

25).

Bill

Bill is very integrated in the American society. This is shown in a number of ways throughout the text:

Talks like the other people in Louisiana

Bill speaks like the others in Louisiana and uses slang. He does not like when his father uses Vietnamese words:

“’Have a good day, y’all.’ Sometimes I say goodbye to him in Vietnamese and he wrinkles his nose at me and says, ‘Aw, Pop’” (p. 25, ll. 30-32).

He is an American

Mr. Thieu believes that his son is an American:

“He’s an American” (p. 25, l. 33).

Fancies super-heroes instead of nature

Bill is bored when he hangs around outside, and he would rather read cartoons:

“Now, my son was like any of his fellow ten-year-olds, devoted to superheroes and the mighty clash of good and evil in all of its high-tech forms in the Saturday-morning cartoons” (p. 26, ll. 17-19).

Materialism

Bill is not as absorbed in the Vietnamese game of the “Fighting crickets” as his father. When he detects a stain of grass on his sneakers, he forgets all about playing and his only concern is his expensive shoes:

“’My Reeboks are ruined!’ he cried, and on the toe of each sneaker was a smudge of grass” (p. 27, ll.

37-38).

Side 4

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Values in life

Mr. Thieu and his son Bill have very different values and their view upon what is important in life is very different. Mr Thieu represents the Vietnamese values while Bill is almost completely assimilated in the American society and does not appreciate any of his father’s values:

Thieu’s values Bill’s values

Fighting

He has fought in the Vietnam war and is proud that he stood up for himself:

“I stayed in the mouths of alleys so I could run and then return and throw more rocks” (p. 25, ll. 7-8).

Bill is very bored and he throws rocks at a stop sign because he has nothing better to do:

“throwing rocks against the stop sign on our corner” (p. 26, ll. 3-4).

Language

He tries to talk to his son in

Vietnamese: “Sometimes I say Louisiana: “My son is beginning to speak like the goodbye to him in Vietnamese and he wrinkles his nose at me” (p. 25, ll. 20-

31). 25, l. 30). “He doesn’t speak Vietnamese at all”

Bill has started to talk like the others in others here in Louisiana” (p. 25, l. 26). He uses the dialect: “he says, ‘Have a good day, y’all’” (p.

(p. 25, l. 32-33).

Nationality

Wants to preserve his old Vietnamese where I work and they’ve called me that for over a decade now and it still bothers me” (p. 24, l. 34-35).

He is proud to have been born in America and

Mr. Thieu thinks that his son is an American: “He is proud to have been born in America” (p. 25, ll.

28-29) and “He’s an American” (p. 25, l. 33).

Entertainment

As a boy, he has played “Fighting crickets” and watched a game of life and death: “the real clash – real life and death” (p. 26, l. 34).

Bill prefers his superheroes in the cartoons even though his father does not understand it: “Why should the stiff and foolish fights of the cartoon characters absorb him […]” (p. 26, ll. 32-33)

Nature

As a child he used nature as his playground: “We’d have a little tunnel made of paper and we’d slip a sliver of wood under the cowling of our cricket’s head to make him mad […]”

(p. 27, ll. 8-10).

Bill is bored in nature and prefers to read comics.

He waits for his father to grab the crickets: “but he waited for me to grab them” (p. 27, ll. 20-21) and “it was clear that my boy did not want to touch the insects” (p. 27, ll. 22-23)

Side 5

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Materialism

Nature itself was a toy for him as a boy. To him the crickets were precious: “A fire cricket was a very precious and admirable thing” (p. 28, ll. 9-10)

To Bill the materialistic objects are very important: “’My Reeboks are ruined!’ he cried, and on the toe of each sneaker was a smudge of grass” (p. 27, ll. 37-38).

Themes and symbols

Immigration and integration

The main themes in the short story are immigration and integration. The main character Mr. Thieu has emigrated from Vietnam to the US and therefore he is attached to both places. His son Bill, however, is not interested in the Vietnamese culture, but is very proud that he was born in America. Mr. Thieu thinks that his son is too assimilated in Western society and tries to teach him a Vietnamese game. However, he ends up accepting that there is nothing he can do about his son being integrated in the new culture.

The crickets as a symbol

A symbol of Mr Thieu’s childhood

The short story is called “Crickets” and the cricket fight does play an important role in the story. Never before has Mr. Thieu told his son anything about his childhood, but when he does, he tells the story of the cricket fight and encourages his son to play the same “game”. It can be seen as a symbol of Mr Thieu’s childhood and his memories about Vietnam:

“This place is rich in crickets, which always make me think of my own childhood in Vietnam. But I never said anything to my son until last summer” (p. 25, ll. 42-43).

Symbol of the Vietnamese- vs. the American people

Mr. Thieu nearly forgets to tell his son that there are two different kinds of crickets. It is, however, very important to him:

“I still hadn’t told him about the two types of crickets and I suddenly knew that was a real important part for me” (p. 26, ll. 39-41).

The two different types of crickets are the charcoal crickets and the fire crickets:

“One type we called the charcoal crickets. These were very large and strong but they were slow and they could become confused. The other type was small and brown and we called them fire crickets.

They weren’t as strong, but they were very smart and quick” (p. 27, ll. 2-5).

Side 6

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The two different kinds of crickets can be seen as a symbol of the American and the Vietnamese people.

The “charcoal crickets” are very large and strong, but also very slow and get confused very easy. This resembles Mr. Thieu’s characterization of the American people who are huge, but very slow talkers. The

“fire crickets” are small, quick and smart which resembles Mr. Thieu’s self-image.

Creating his own war

By exciting the crickets, Mr. Thieu created his own war between the insects. In a way he also creates his own fight by not excepting his son being assimilated in American society. Even though he has a good job and friendly colleagues he refuses to let himself get fully integrated in the country and he also encourages his son to stay true to his Vietnamese background.

Perspective

There are different ways of putting the text into perspective.

Discussion – Is assimilation a good thing?

Mr. Thieu does not want his boy to get completely assimilated into the American society. In the end, however, he accepts that there are certain things he cannot change. Consider:

• To what extend can you control and direct how your child’s life should be?

• Is assimilation a good thing?

• Should cultural differences be equalized?

• Is it important to maintain some part of the culture you come from if you want to maintain your personality and identity?

• To what extend is identity connected to your culture and your name?

Other themes

You can consider which additional themes could be related to this short story. Some of them could be:

• The raising of children

• Tolerance level

• Identity

• Social status

• Nature vs. culture

• Materialism

• Westernization

Side 7

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• A good life

• Refugees

• Integration, segregation and assimilation

• Clash of cultures

Glossary for the text

It can be very useful to know exactly how you pronounce the words in the text. If you click the words below you can hear how to pronounce them correctly.

Uncommon: Ualmindeligt Bullion: barrer (af guld) Refinery: Raffinaderi

Muster: Mønstring Scorn: hån, ringeagt Bayou: vandløb

Paddy: nedsættende om Irer Slouch: luden Ploy: finte, kneb

Porch: veranda Prowl: snuse, luske Sprout: rodspire, skud

Sliver: split, flis Squirming: vride sig Cut to the chase: komme til sagen

Charcoal: trækul Twirl: hvirvle rundt Faucet: vandhane

Inert: ubevægelig