The Confluence of Heinz Insu

In my reading of Memories of My Ghost Brother, my mind keeps circling back to the idea that Heinz Insu is a meeting place between two cultures. I should state this comes from my Havc. 80 class where the past lectures have been about composite cultures, but more specifically the Andean belief system of complementarity. I think Insu ties into this because he represents the connection between the European and Korean cultures, so in Andean terms he shows a "tinku," or a confluence and conjoing of complements. Even his name shows this because it is both a European and Korean name. The Andean belief system is very different than our own binary system where we don't have complements. The conjoining & coming together of complements and "hybridity" are viewed as powerful, so it is beneficial for Insu to be of two cultures. However, in this story, the binary system is more apparent so it shows how Insu can't fit into either of his cultures perfectly, he is an outsider. This gives Insu an interesting look into his world, but I think he stands out even more in his "father's world," when he first goes to American school because he doesn't has a full grasp on English. It didn't help Insu belong when then the school made the rule that they can only speak English while in school, which isn't right because they are taking away part of his inherent identity. I think this connects back into our binary system where English is viewed as the most important, so it comes at the cost of the second half of someone's identity. What right does the school have to say that the children aren't allowed to speak their native language? I mean, they need it in everyday life when they are not in school, so in the end it is still an important language that gives the Koreans more of an advantage. But even the fact that Insu thinks of the American school as his "father's world" and that he's "only trying to get by" shows that he is not as comfortable in this world as he is within the world he grew up in, even if he didn't quite fit-in in that world either (121). But he is still able to transition between his two worlds to make them both important parts of his everyday life, so he then enacts the idea of "tinku" between his two cultural identities. And if he is between these two cultures and identities, it would give him power in the Andean belief system.