Native Speaker

Content warning: This section contains quoted racial slurs directed at Asian Americans that appear in the source text.

Henry Park struggles when his wife, Lelia, leaves him. Lelia had been stressed at work. She works as a speech therapist for children, many of whom are immigrants who do not speak English. Lelia also travels often. Before she leaves on a trip to Italy, she gives Henry a piece of paper to read after her departure. Lelia, who is white, has written a list of mostly negative character traits she perceives in Henry. In the list, she calls Henry “a B+ student of life, […] great in bed, overrated, […] follower, traitor, spy” (5). The list also includes spins on racial and anti-immigrant slurs: “illegal alien, emotional alien, […] Yellow peril: neo-American” (5). Henry makes three copies of the list, one of which he keeps in his wallet. While cleaning their apartment in New York City, he finds another note by Lelia calling him a “false speaker of language” (6). Lelia knows him well, and even know the secret of what he does.