Robert Olen Butler’s “Mr. Green” tackles many issues between families of different religions and cultures. While the ethnicity of the whole family is Vietnamese, the old generation, specifically the grandfather, subscribes to Confucianism and the younger generation is Catholic. This puts the female narrator in the middle of a horrible battle between her parents and grandparents, both sides wanting to do right by the child but also wanting her to follow their religious beliefs.
One part of following the way of Confucius is honoring your ancestors. The grandfather follows this with a small, private shine for his late father. In order to show the shrine to the young girl, he sets up the facade that they’re going to see his parrot, Mr. Green, to keep it from her father. He explains the how and why of the shrine and, by the end, the girl is very excited by this practice, even saying she will keep a shrine for him when he passes. The grandfather’s response is heartbreaking. He says that it’s “not possible. […] only a son can oversee the worship of his ancestors.”
Every little girl gets told she can’t do something because she’s not a boy, from silly things like sports to things as important as religious practices. We grow up thinking we’re not enough struggling with knowing that we are missing out on many things, sometimes things like unconditional love from our families, because of our gender. Throughout the story, this poor young girl is reminded of that from someone she loves. The grandfather’s disappointment is clear in the shrine room and on his death bed; it even comes through in the form of Mr. Green. Even after his death, the narrator has to suffer, thanks to her grandfather’s voice echoing through a bird. The animal taunts her, and the memories haunt her daily, doing her best with what life has given her and trying to enjoy it. Eventually, she has had enough and sacrifices the parrot for her own good.
The obvious comparison is that the shrine and the bird represent the same thing, honoring one’s ancestors in some way. Throughout the story, you can see how much distress this causes her, knowing the bird is not good for her but wanting to keep him as he is the last part of her grandfather. When she snaps all that, distress immediately turns into confidence. Saying goodbye to Mr. Green is letting the grandfather go but also letting go of the insecurities caused by the misogyny she lived around since childhood. The narrator is able to appreciate her life more, not feeling like she is second best anymore. Finally, she is comfortable being a woman.
Sara-Jane: Excellent work. This is exactly the kind of post I want students to write.