Moving to a new country is challenging, because you have to become a part of a new culture. A culture you may not find perfect. Even though you not may find seem to fit in, you have to try – your new surroundings will not change because of you, you have to change because of them. If you have to change yourself it can be difficult, because you may not have your family and friends with you to support and believe in you. Besides being lonely can a new language be hard to learn, but without knowing the language it would be impossible to make new friends. If you choose to bring your child with you to a new country, you have to be willing to see them change too. It is not easy for a mother to see her child grow up in a world, that she does not feel apart of herself. The short story “Where the Gods fly” narrates this conflict.
The short story “Where the Gods Fly” is written by the Chinese writer Jean Kwok in 2012. Kwok was born in Hong Kong, but at the age of 5 he immigrated to the US, where he lived in Brooklyn. It can be assumed that Kwok has written this short story, because of his own experience with moving to a new culture as a child. The short story is told from the mother’s point of view, and therefor does the reader only hear her opinion to the situation. The short story starts in media res with a flash forward, which catches the reader from the start: “I kneel here before the gods and the thought of what I am about to do stings my eyes like incense. I can already hear the protest from Pearl’s ballet teacher”. Though the whole short story
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