Examining The Book of Salt as a Migrant Narrative

The Book of Salt by Monique Truong is a narrative centered around Binh, a gay Vietnamese cook who explores the world (French-colonized Vietnam and Paris) and reveals his perspective with his stream of consciousness and a constant inner struggle with his father’s unmet expectations. While the novel brings out many interesting characteristics through the narrator's thoughts, Binh’s troublesome relationship with his father, his distinguishable cultural and linguistic differences with his employers, and the expressive connection to food evidently mark the unique qualities of a migrant person in Truong’s work.

As Binh narrates his experiences, he thinks quite a lot about his father, the “Old Man.” The way that Binh refers to the Old Man is as if he is a ghost who continues to traumatize and haunt him. Although Binh and the Old Man are physically distant, Binh’s thoughts show that the Old Man is still part of his present moment as he argues with his father in his head. The expectations of a Vietnamese father who is deeply catholic is clear when the Old Man shouts, “Old whores become cooks on boats, not any son of mine” (12). The Old Man negates not only his son’s sexual identity and his career choice but also Binh’s identity and his very existence. The hatred and shame of his son are consistent through the book as the Old Man states, “It sickens me to think about what you do, shaming my name” (193). These abusive comments reflect the irreconcilable relationship the two have. Moreover, even though Binh wants to believe that the Old Man is dead to him, he cannot escape his father’s shadows. He is haunted by the hurtful comments that are inside his head. Binh points out, “Every day, I hear the Old Man’s voice shouting at me from beneath the earth, where, I tell myself, he now lies” (193). Binh goes on further to say to his father in his head that “This is my story. I will tell it, and you will lie there mute” (Truong, 196). This shows that Binh is desperately trying to rid himself of his father by treating him as if he did not exist at all, but struggles from eliminating him. 

Another aspect of the novel that reflects the migrant experience is the cultural and linguistic distinctions that Binh points out through his narrative. In an early part of the novel, Binh states “all my employers provide me with a new moniker” (32). One of his employers, GertrudeStein calls him “Thin Bin.” While she does this “merrily” and might not mean any particular harm (from her perspective), this purposeful mispronunciation and desire to rhyme in English Binh’s very name exemplifies the underlying theme of colonization. The white-dominant American does not even make an effort to understand or learn about a different language or culture. Even though Binh wishes to hear his name said correctly, he does not get to hear it because his employers do not bother to meet him in the middle despite his limited French.

Last but certainly not least, Binh uses food analogies to strongly portray his alienated experiences as a foreigner and a colonized subject. Among the foods Binh mentions, salt is one that consistently reappears from the title of the novel to the end of the narrative. According to Binh, salt is symbolic of and part of many things: labor, desire, sea, tears, and food. Binh directly notes the multidimensional aspect of salt with his life experiences (as a cook, on the sea, and in his tumultuous relationship with his father) can reflect with all of these points. Furthermore, salt complements his life as it “enhances the sweetness” of a meal (185). In this way, it seems as though Binh is describing his life as a whole in which his moments that reflect the “salt” amplifies his sweeter moments in life. All the while, Binh’s descriptions of food are helpful as he himself works with food and is a cook. 

Overall, Truong uses various rhetorical elements to produce a distinct and personal migrant narrative in The Book of Salt. She captures the inner struggles of a queer Vietnamese man who is disowned by his father. Truong recognizes the external discomfort and wishful thinking of Binh to be called by his real name. And she connects Binh’s dynamic life experiences through symbolic food elements. In this way, The Book of Salt evokes a sense of alienation a minority or foreigner might feel, but it does so in a way that makes it specific to the narrator. Perhaps, Truong purposefully balanced the emotions of the narrative and the experiences of the narrator not as a collective experience of any Vietnamese migrant but a singular experience of Binh that allows the reader to deeply connect with particular points of the story.

Works Cited

Truong, Monique. The Book of Salt. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. Print.