How it Feels "Coming Home Again"

Reading “Coming Home Again” served as a personal journey. This journey originally for the writer slowly as I progressed through, became a journey for myself as well. A story focused around a less conventional Mother-Son relationship that unfortunately ends in great loss. In this short personal story the Author Chang Rae Lee does an excellent job in describing details so that I felt as if I was experiencing these things with him. He did this in such a way that at the end I felt a loss for his mother. So much so that I called my mother. Reading this piece two things came to the forefront: the voice of the writing and the story’s thesis.

While reading this piece I felt that the author was not only trying to convey a story to the audience. Along with the story about his relationship with his mother the Lee wanted to convey a feeling. This feeling seeped through the pages as I read. A feeling of loss and sadness however also a feeling of pride. Loss for his mother but also pride in the kind of woman that she was. This the author conveyed in his tone and choice of words. His detail and timing proved to further impact the voice of the piece. As I finished the reading I left with more than just a story, I left with a feeling. That feeling would not have been possible without the right tone and voice.

While tone and voice added to the story the point of it was what brought home “Coming Home Again”. As a young man who had a different relationship with his mother, Lee’s insight and thought struck a cord. I found myself placing my mother in his story and imagining myself in his shoes. I felt lose alongside him and ultimately realized what he was trying to convey. Through the story he wasn’t trying to convey his loss or his mother’s suffering but in fact the understanding for his mother’s actions. In the end Lee uses this story to show that he ultimately understood why his mother acted the way she did, and in the end he knew just how much she loved him.