A Step from Heaven

A Step from Heaven

A Step from Heaven by An Na is a heartbreaking and moving novel. It represents painful, fear, reality and dream. A Step from Heaven tells Young Ju’s, a Korean girl, depression and confusion as she struggles to grow up in two very different cultures. As the story goes, Young Ju and her family encounter many difficulties, such as the language problem, the financial condition, the balance of the traditional custom and American society, etc. An Na uses easy but powerful language to indicate the development and growth of Young Ju’s early life.
Language is the major problem at being in a totally different country for all of a sudden. When Young Ju first came to America, she did not know and understand anything about English “I shake my head because I do not know how to talk Mi Gook” (p.30). Young Ju was like an outsider in her new environment. To learn the language and communicate with it was the biggest challenge for her. Luckily, her English improved a lot during the novel, even her parents, Apa and Uhmma, still had a problem for speaking in English “he stands there trying to read the words……Apa jerks his thumb at the door and asks, what does this say?” (p.82). For most of the new students in my school, language is also a huge obstacle for the first time. To develop the speaking skill requires a lot of hard work, so we can reflect that Young Ju had put a lot of effort to progress her English.
Mi Gook is a heaven for the Park family, especially for Apa and Uhmma. They think that in America they can have a better life, but instead, they got sorrow. They lived with their relatives and her parents worked two jobs each, still they could not provide the family well enough. Apa and Uhmma often argued because of money “this is all your fault. You hear me? Your fault I had to take a second job picking up those lawyers’ trash like some beggar” (p.34). Young Ju was also ashamed of the poverty of her family. She did not want to bring her best friend, Amanda, to her house and...

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