Consider the structure of the novel. Why do you think Khong decided to write in the perspectives of these three characters and not others’? Did you notice any shifts in how characters are portrayed among the different segments? For example, how is May characterized from Lily’s perspective versus how May tells her story in her segment?
Lily did not know her mother’s backstory and life in China. Had she known details about May’s life and escape to America, Lily’s thoughts about her mother likely would have been different. Nick’s childhood was full of secrets about his mother’s life, father, etc. Secrecy and the unknown affected Lily and Nick’s perspectives. Perhaps the author is suggesting our perspectives of others, especially generational family members, is based not only on what we know but also don’t know. How many times have my acquaintances and myself said we wished we would have asked our parents more!
I think showing these different perspectives allows us to know each character on a deeper level. Lily feels her mother is distant, and she cannot understand why May turns her back on Chinese culture. But when reading from May’s perspective, not only do we see May’s great love for her daughter, but we also see the trauma she endured that led her to close off from her past.
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I think Mays perspective is the heart of the story. We get to know what happened to her in China and why she did what she did. I think if Lily knew her mother’s past things may have been different.
I believe this statement to be true of immigrant families, and it certainly plays out in Real Americans. When people come to America, they want to be Americans and leave their past behind. May’s life was complicated in China, and her work in America was her saving grace.
In my opinion I thought that it made the novel unique to so many other immigrant stories that have been written. Three characters serve to tell the story well without a lot of extraneous information. Each voice added another layer onto the story and help to complete the book.
I think Khong wanted to show the differences in how people are perceived by themselves and by others. Lily felt her mother was very distant and that she could not live up to her mother’s expectations. I think this is a sad situation that happens to many. One person cannot express how much they cherish another, leaving the other to feel unloved and not valued. Some stay closed off from those they love. Lily assumed that she would never be able to have her mother’s love, yet May deeply loved her daughter. Nick felt much the same about his father. I like the relationship that May and Nick developed. The extra generation probably made a big difference. The parent/child relationship can be tricky.
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You need multiple perspectives in order to understand what really happened. It is interesting to think that none of the characters had bad intentions, at first, but then lack of information and wrong assumptions led to such heartache.
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Lily never was told or asked about her mother’s life prior to coming to the United States. What a shame, it would not have been the same story however. What happened to communication between family members? It was not there, and I question why didn’t Lily ask the direct questions of her mother.
I wonder if other readers felt when reading this book’s last sentence “This is what I am thinking when the door opens, and my daughter walks through” Do they mend their differences or not? I like to think they finally got down to “brass tacks” and were able to understand each other at last.
Yes, Carol, I think Lily and her mother will set aside the past and focus on the present. Nick is their go-between now.
I felt like that last sentence was hopeful and depressing at the same time. It wsa wonderful that May was able to see her daughter again, but I am not sure that they have enough time left to mend what is broken between them. It is also sad that they missed so much of each other’s lives because they were unable to communicate.