One of the books I recently read for an Asian American History class was the novel, A Cab Called Reliable by Patti Kim.  The following is an analysis of the book based on an assigned prompt.

The novel written by Patti Kim, A Cab Called Reliable is a love letter to the recognition that growing up in the United States but born in Korea made for a painful and chaotic life but affirming. The character, Ahn Joo, grows from childhood to adulthood and embraces both of her heritages or rather her dual cultural experience of being Korean and American.  Ahn Joo’s love of writing stems from elementary school achievements; her writing allows her to handle life’s obstacles.

The opening scene of the novel is of Ahn Joo day dreaming on her way home about her 3rd grade class and the upcoming assignment to lead her class in the Pledge of Allegiance.   The main character merrily makes her way home like most 3rd graders full of joy and anticipation thinking of Miss Washburn and then the older girls head to the drug store,  Ahn Joo turns the corner and spies her mother sneaking off with her little brother in a blue cab with word reliable imprinted on the door.  The moment edged in both her conscious and unconscious leads to Ahn Joo asking Miss Washburn, the 3rd grade teacher, where reliable was located.

Miss Washburn used pneumonic devises to teach her students.  For example, how she used words to list out rules for the class. So when Ahn Joo inquired where Reliable might be, Miss Washburn explained that reliable was an adjective not a noun.  The discussion between student and teacher resulted in the recommendation that Ahn Joo “write the word up and down, and think up others that start with the same letters.”[1] Ahn Joo pneumatics writing started with “R is for rain.”[2] Miss Washburn was so impressed with Ahn Joo worked she asked her permission to share with the rest of class which in turn started a project for each student, word of the week. Imagine the joy a 3rd grader would feel at their work being recognized and in the case of Ahn Joo the recognition encourages her to keep writing.

Ahn Joo, as any precocious child, now realizes how being acknowledged as a good writer can help when she needs an excuse.  One of the benefits of Ahn Joo’s focus turning to writing was her creative ability to use the writing as a justification to her father about why her chores were not completed.  For example, one afternoon Ahn Joo spent time with her friend Boris and not going home; as she hurries home she processes creative excuses to give her father: “Got to think of an answer when Fathers asks…got to tell him about volcanoes, long division, and   Christopher Columbus…got to tell him the principal needed help making posters for the class for the entire school and she picked me because I had the best handwriting. Twenty posters in all because the school needed posters in the classrooms and Mr. Albert asked me to write out the rules because I had the best handwriting. He’ll like that.”[3] The influence of living in America is directly reflected in how Ahn Joo processed her reasoning to make a creative excuse on not completing her chores.

Ahn Joo’s father recognizes and uses her writing skills.  The ex-girl friend, Loo Lah, had provided the motivation to Ahn Joo’s father to buy a food vendor truck. Loo Lah had constantly complained about her father’s lack of ambition and questioned why he was satisfied with status quo.  Despite Loo Lah leaving, the result was that after she left Ahn Joo’s father buys the business.  The father asks Ahn Joo for help: “Joo-yah, I need your help…you get good grades in handwriting, don’t you? And you’re good a spelling, aren’t you?”[4] Ahn Joo makes all the signs her father needs for his business.  Her father appreciates the work and acknowledges Ahn Joo’s contribution.

On the weekends, Ahn Joo accompanied her father in their food vending vehicle.  Throughout the story, many times Ahn Joo is mentally conversing with herself or daydreaming.  Ahn Joo has one ear to how her father is handling the customers about the back of the truck while at the same time she is planning her entry into the school’s annual young writer’s competition.  The conversations between Ahn Joo and her father about his life and family back in Korea stimulated her imagination and writing.  Ahn first draft for the writing competition was a three page summary of her aunt’s life.  Ahn Joo was disappointed with her teacher’s response but her comment: “Ahn Joo, do you ever hear voices? Without giving me a chance to respond, she told me to listen to them.”[5] In other words, the teacher was encouraging Ahn Joo to take a moment or a few minutes to listen to her own unique inner voice.

Ahn Joo won her elementary school’s young writer’s competition.  Ahn Joo wrote a poem titled, The Voice of My Mother. Her teacher acknowledged Ahn Joo writing as “mature, honest, powerful, poignant and sophisticated piece of writing.”[6] The writing of the poem helped Ahn Joo verbalized the loss of her mother leaving her behind when she ran away and only took her little brother. Ahn Joo read her poem at her graduation from elementary school, but her father’s initial reaction was when you graduate from college it will be worthy of celebrating.  The attitude expressed by her father could be considered reminiscent or common of the average Asian American family; the expectation of the children to graduate from college.

Through the novel, Ahn Joo spends much of her time expressing her experiences through creative expression.  For example, Ahn Joo wrote a series of letters to her mother sharing details about her father and their life.  The letters range from sharing their new address to sharing how much food is in the freezer.  Since Ahn Joo did not have an address for her mother or know where she was at the letters were not mailed.  The letters themselves were a fine piece of creative writing about the fictional ‘it’s a wonderful life’ Ahn Joo lived. The letters were a testament and creative outlet to the inner suffering Ahn Joo underwent growing up with her father and without her mother.

In sum the novel, A Cab Called Reliable and the main character Ahn Joo express herself about the trials of growing up with painful experiences through creative writing.  Ahn Joo’s story expresses how her love of writing started in elementary school and how the writing was a mechanism to put her experiences into perspective and allow her to have peace and a successful life. In other words, the character completed her schooling including college with the support of her father despite their many difficulties.