Peter Nathaniel Malae’s debut novel What We Are is a rough and tumble ride through the mind of a half-white, half-Samoan man on a journey to find himself in America, a country he despises, and as part of a generation he can’t stand, the “me generation.”
Malae was a finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction award for his compilation, Teach the Free Man, stories from modern day inmates, and has been honored for the Best American Essays and Best American Mysteries awards for his work.
What We Are tells the jarring story of Paul Tusifale. As illustrated in the stories of his experiences, Paul’s identity as a half-Samoan man seems to haunt him as much as the memories of his father who returns to Samoa, leaving Paul, his mother, and sister in America.
Throughout the novel, we see Paul’s criticisms of life in America, mostly through his own critiques of never feeling like he fits in. Paul recalls filling out college applications and not knowing what to put for the race category. He never fully accepts himself as Samoan, white, or both.
Paul seems to be a walking contradiction through the way he acts and talks about multicultural identities. On the one hand, he violently defends his Persian co-worker and friend Cyrus when he’s about to be mugged, but is arrested for a hate crime after beating up a Mexican at a march for immigration reform on Cinco de Mayo. Paul also speaks fluent Spanish.
It’s safe to say that Paul thinks with his fists any chance he gets. This makes for a puzzling understanding of the character who seems to be highly intelligent but sometimes acts like a child. He will go from quoting William Shakespeare, calling him Sir Willie Shakes, to quoting Tupac Shakur.
Paul is a character you’re not sure you love to hate, but you find him intriguing nonetheless. He’s undoubtedly a know-it-all, pretentious and arrogant at times.
He lives the life of a drifter throughout most of the novel, posting up in a Motel 6, in an all-expense-paid room provided by his “muse,” Beatrice La Dulce Shaliqua Shneck, a Haitian immigrant, who pays for his expenses as long as he continues to write poems about her.
La Dulce, who later bails Paul out of jail for his hate crime arrest, brings him back to her house where he lives, doing nothing but pleasuring her before she leaves the house, and again when she gets home.
After the life of a drifter catches up with Paul, he trades in his metaphorical boxing gloves towards the world and gets himself a real job. Surprisingly, it doesn’t work out for him.
In What We Are, it’s hard to gauge the sincerity of Paul, but we see his generosity as he helps a drug addict by buying him some food, or gives his cash and ATM card to a Mexican immigrant.
Even with the contradictions and puzzling aspects of Paul’s character, he still proves to be a well-developed, complex character in a book that makes for a good read. Malae’s writing keeps you engaged in Paul’s story, page by page.