"How I Got That Name" deals with the influence of family on identity. After all, no matter how "assimilated" we are, no matter how far away we move from our family, we're still ultimately our children's parents. They're the ones who name us and raise us, and teach us how to live in the world. (Aw, thanks guys.)
Chin's poem suggests how family determines our destiny. Not only do our parents have the power to name us, they also have the power to take us to new places. The speaker ends up in America because her parents took her there as a baby—and this changes her life in a super-huge way.
Questions About Family
- How does the speaker relate to her ancestors? How does she think they relate to her? Why is she concerned about what they might think of her?
- The poem suggests that family relationships shape our identity in what ways?
- How does the immigrant experience alienate family members from one another?
- What sorts of expectations and pressures do children of immigrants confront, according to the speaker of this poem? Are these pressures placed on them by parents, or by mainstream society, or both?
Chew on This
What matters is not what culture we belong to, but what family we belong to. Family is what determines who we are.
The immigrant experience alienates us from our families. It takes us away from our mothers and fathers.