Abstract
The paper discusses the literal and figurative developments of Bongbong in Jessica Hagedorn's "The Blossoming of Bongbong" and argues that Hagedorn may be making a case for figurative causes in Bongbong's development of schizophrenia. The paper explains how Bongbong has no sense of Filipino cultural identity, and, because he accepts western culture and other's opinions into his very self, he has left no room for him to develop his own identity, thus causing him to go insane.

From the Paper
"From the beginning, the reader understands that Bongbong places heavy emphasis on fashion and what's popular in fashion when he tells his sister to wear "navy blue" on her nails because it will go with her "sallow" complexion, something he says is "in style" (2857). Later on, Bongbong obsesses over the platform shoes people are wearing and spends the money his parent's send to him for college on platform shoes for his girlfriend, Charmaine. He wants to be a "movie star"; he wants to play the saxophone well; he cooks recipes out of only one book, Vibration Cooking; he watches television for hours on end; and he has no job (2858). For all of Bongbong's superficial interests in becoming famous or interesting to others, he simply becomes one of the "artists" that he never sees "doing anything" (2860). Even more, Bongbong doesn't read books to understand them, but does so because the "names and events [fascinate] him" (2858). Ultimately, he doesn't understand what he's doing, but does so because everybody else is doing the same thing: indulging in music, fashion, and food."

Tags:Phillipines, Filipinos, hallucinations, superficiality, American, values

Abstract
This paper compares and contrasts the short story, "The Blossoming of Bongbong," by Jessica Hagedorn, an established Filipino American writer and a first-time novel, "My Year of Meats," by Ruth L. Ozeki, a Japanese American writer. It looks at how both consider the issues raised about the complexity of being Asian-American.

From the Paper
"This paper is a consideration of issues raised in two works of fiction by female Asian American writers. The first is a short story written by an established Filipino American author Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn entitled "The Blossoming of Bongbong". The second is ..."

Tags:Bongbong, Hagedorn, Jane