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Julian Duenas

Professor Orta

English 123

7 May 2018

Repercussions of Care

Compassion, generosity and the desire to protect and care for others are the traits of a

character who embodies the archetype of The Caregiver (Golden). In the novel, “Steer Toward

Rock”, Fae Myenne Ng tells us the story of Chinese immigrant Jack Moon Szeto living in the

debt of his fake “Father”, Gold Szeto. Throughout the novel, Jack experiences the hardships of

living as an illegal immigrant in San Francisco. Some of these hardships are direct results of the

compassionate decisions Jack makes to lead him and those he loves toward a happy life. At first,

Jack can be seen as The Lover because of his intimate love for Joice and his daughter. But at a

closer look, it’s the decisions and actions that Jack makes that leads him to be The Caregiver.

The theme of this novel suggests that a caregiving and compassionate nature is a double-edged

sword that aims at providing a better life for yourself and others but can have unpredictable

repercussions. Myenne Ng uses conflict to help express how Jack’s compassionate decisions end

up costing him a life of true happiness with himself and the people he loves but continues to help

and protect the people he cares most about.

Jack’s care for others is first seen with his relationship with his fake wife, Ilin. When Ilin

took the job as a butcher, Jack noticed her inexperience with a cleaver and went out of his way to

help her. He took pride and joy in helper her learn how to wield a cleaver and cut meat. “I tried

to teach her hand-eye exercises to toughen her grip and improve her aim.” (Ng 80). “She tapped

blade to bird. She took in a big breath. She threw her cleaver back. She slammed through wood. I
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was pleased; I taught her well.” (Ng 81). This initialized Jack’s caregiving nature and gave us a

glimpse of his willingness to help those in need. I believe one of the driving forces for Jack’s

caregiving nature is happiness. This is seen later in the novel when Jack is talking to Veda and

says, “Guard your heart. Nothing is worth unhappiness.” (Ng 178). This is the advice that he

constantly lives by.

Jack’s love toward Joice led him to make a life-changing decision. Because of Jack’s

complicated predicament with Gold Szeto, Jack couldn’t have an open relationship with Joice,

whom he truly loved. His only solution was to denounce Gold Szeto and confess his illegal

residence in the U.S. Only then would he be free of Gold Szeto’s debt and be free to live happily

with Joice. “You don’t even understand, I said. The Confession Program will give us a new

beginning. We can be a family. If I confess, I’m not bound to Gold Szeto, we can have a new

start.” (Ng 54). It is later seen that Jack’s decision to denounce Gold Szeto not only lost him his

hand but did not lead to the happy life that he expected to live with Joice. Following the

confession, Joice grew more and more distant from Jack. “As for Joice, distance became an

easier measure of patience…. As Old Lady Qwan came in for her soup bones, I treated her as I

always did and if I saw Joice from afar, I learned to be content with that glance.” (Ng 65). As

time went by, Jack was aware that his relationship with Joice was drifting. He makes the choice

to respect her decision because in the end, it’s what would make her happy.

Another concept of the double-edged sword comes into play as Jack’s protective nature is

expressed. In an attempt to protect his daughter, Jack confronts Veda’s boyfriend about their

relationship and lays down some ground rules that Nolan must follow in order for them to

continue dating. “Listen to me. If you want to be friends with my daughter, I have two

conditions…. The first, You must study. The second is this, You must break with these Crumb
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Boys.” Because Nolan was a part of this gang Jack referred to as “Crumb Boys”, Jack saw Nolan

as a threat. As Nolan respected Jack wishes and cut ties with the gang, this led to consequences

at Nolan’s expense. Jack witnesses first-hand the attack on Nolan who is stabbed by a member of

the gang and is ultimately at fault for his death. Jack made this decision with the intent on

protecting Veda, but it ended up in conflict with the death of Nolan and an even more

complicated relationship with his daughter.

In the end, Jack’s intentions are pure of heart when it comes to making compassionate

decisions for the people he cares about. Whether it be the simple task of helping Ilin with work,

giving into the confession program to provide a clean slate and better life for him and Joice, or

protecting his daughter through suggesting Nolan leave his gang, Jack is looking out for those he

loves to provide happiness. Despite his pure intentions, some of these actions came with a price.

Not only did Jack lose his hand as a repercussion of essentially turning in Gold Szeto, Joice

became more distant toward him. The grave consequence that came with trying to protect his

daughter led to the death of a young man and also caused Veda to develop a greater sense of

resentment toward him.

Works Cited

Golden, Carl. The 12 Common Archetypes, Soulcraft,

www.soulcraft.co/essays/the_12_common_archetypes.html

Ng, Fae Myenne. Steer Toward Rock. Hyperion, 2008

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