Chinese-Americans’ Confusion and Pursuit of Their Ethical Identity in Steer Toward Rock

Steer Toward Rock, a novel written by the female Chinese- American writer Fae Myenne Ng, presents the process of Jack’s confusion and pursuit of his own ethical identity during The Chinese Confession Program period. Because of the special historical period and his personal experience, Jack, as a Chinese immigrant, is in displacement and confusion of his family ethical identity as well as in absence of biological and social ethical identity, which puts him in an ethical predicament. The displacement and absence of Jack’s ethical identity coupled with his hard pursuit are closely related to the special ethical environment of Chinese-American immigrants in the middle of 20th century, which show the traumas and disasters caused by American racial immigration policies — the Chinese Exclusion ACT, and uncover the early Chinese-American immigrants’ history of silence.