The Two Worlds

In M Butterfly, one of the predominant themes that David Henry Hwang builds throughout the entire play is the perception that the Eastern culture is ancient and deteriorating while the Western is new and thriving. While reading the play, a few characters bring up the fact that the Chinese people always mention how old China is - Helga: “What is it that Madame Su says? ‘We are a very old civilization.’” And then Gallimard comments from a Western perspective: “I walk around here, all I hear every day, everywhere is how old this culture is. The fact that ‘old’ may be synonymous with ‘senile’ doesn’t occur to them” (Act 1, Scene 7, p. 18). The way the east perceives itself is completely the opposite of what the West sees it as. While the Chinese believe that they are preserving their “ancient” culture in modern times, the West sees it as being arrogant and unwilling to adapt to a changing time. But it is surprising when Song, while talking to Galliard, states:

“France. France is a country living in the modern era. Perhaps even ahead of it. China is a nation whose soul is firmly rooted two thousand years in the past. What I do even pouring the tea for you now…it has… implications. The walls and windows say so. Even my own heart, strapped inside this Western dress… even it says things – things I don’t care to hear” (Act 1, Scene 10, p. 29).

Everything in China somehow relates back to their culture, from pouring a cup of tea to the windows. There are few aspects that make Song’s statement interesting. First is the fact that he is going against what the Eastern world treasures - its ancient culture. Even though he understands that the culture is within him and there is nothing he can do about it, he doesn’t want to listen to that nagging voice. This shows that the culture stereotype the West imposed on the East is truly just a stereotype. China might seem to hold on to its culture but many citizens actually would like to step aside and enter the modern world.

Globalization

During the last few decades, the concept of globalization started to surface in conversations more and more. When one thinks of globalization enormous corporations, such as Wal Mart and McDonalds, come to mind and then only talks about its negative aspects. In the novel Pattern Recognition, William Gibson shows the audience a different side of globalization that people often forget to look at or simply choose to ignore.

Throughout the entire novel, Gibson emphasizes the massive effect that globalization has on the identity of a society or even the types of brands they use. This theme is so predominant that it can be seen within the first three pages of the novel. The narrator uses the name of the nationality in the description of objects (that Cayce notices in Damien’s apartment) to bluntly show the globalization of products. The first sentence of the novel, “Five hours' New York jet lag and Cayce Pollard wakes in Camden Town…” (1) contains the first of the many nationality descriptions. Later she notices the “German fridge” (1) and then the narrator comments on her clothes that seem to be from an “English prep school” (2) that have buttons that puzzled a “Korean locksmith” (2). The first chapter isn’t over, yet Gibson mentioned eight different objects from various parts of the world. It is even more interesting that Gibson decides to bring the concept of globalization into the novel while describing the heroine of the story. By doing this, he once again shows how globalization has an impact not only on Cayce’s life but also on the reader’s life.

Gibson used the first three pages to make sure that the reader noticed the presence of globalization and then discusses the different aspects of it in the rest of the novel. The first aspect of globalization that Gibson discusses is its effect on third world countries. When Cayce rejects a potential footwear logo, she

“briefly… imagines the countless Asian workers who might, should she say yes, spend years of their lives applying versions of this symbol to an endless and unyielding flood of footwear… Would it work its way into their dreams, eventually? Would their children chalk it in doorways before they knew its meaning as a trademark?” (12)

Large corporations often manufacture their products in third world countries because the labor force is cheaper. This is often the reason why people are against globalization. Which then brings the reader to consider that through Cayce’s thought process, Gibson might be creating an anti-globalization tone. But at this point in the novel it is too early to differentiate his true tone because later on in the novel Gibson employs specific situations to suggest otherwise.