46 pages • 1 hour read
Qian Julie WangA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Loss of voice is a powerful and persistent motif throughout the memoir. Qian often felt squelched: Ma Ma frequently admonished Qian be quiet, a refrain that punctuated her childhood. At the employment agency, the man behind the desk did not listen when Qian tried to defend her mother’s abilities. At home, her parents told Qian to be quiet during dinner to stymie their eavesdropping landlady. Before starting school in America, Ba Ba told Qian that she must not say anything about her upbringing in China—that she should always lie that she grew up in the United States.
Qian was not the only one who experienced this loss of voice. Ba Ba, once a joyful and vibrant English professor, was silenced by his experiences in the United States. Qian watched as her father acted deferentially toward Lao Jim and the surgeon at the hospital; his interactions with white men revealed his own loss of voice.
In the memoir’s opening chapter, “How It Began,” Wang writes that Trump’s presidency inspired her to recapture her voice and share her story. Her memoir explores the importance of that voice and the value in speaking up.
American Literature
View Collection
Chinese Studies
View Collection
Coming-of-Age Journeys
View Collection
Daughters & Sons
View Collection
Education
View Collection
Immigrants & Refugees
View Collection
Inspiring Biographies
View Collection
Memoir
View Collection
Mothers
View Collection
Popular Book Club Picks
View Collection
Poverty & Homelessness
View Collection
Pride & Shame
View Collection
Safety & Danger
View Collection
The Best of "Best Book" Lists
View Collection