Category: Reading Responses (Page 3 of 10)

The American playwright Lauren Yee delivers a satirical performance in the showing of “Ching Chong Chinaman.” Her creation displays an Asian American family trying to establish self-identity in the United States with each member of the household dealing with their own conflicting personalities. The title itself is provocative in manner already drawing the audience in on what this story on family could potentially behold. 

Of the entire group, the characterization of the father “Ed” resonated with me the most. Acting in a patriarchal manner, Ed is a character who has seemingly left behind his own culture in an effort to gain success in corporate America by acting more white-washed. This term is effective at explaining this father figure because he constantly refers to company activities like golf which is stereotyped as a white man’s sport. Furthermore, in the addition of the foreign character “J”, Ed requests him to be his caddy in a condescending fashion. The symbol of golf in American culture is associated with ideas of wealth and Ed believes that by conjuring an identity that is different from his own, he would be able to attain success in the United States.

After reading this play, Ed’s inner conflict conveyed a larger conflicting pattern that I did not see clearly before. Majoring in Finance at Baruch College, time and time again I have received advice from upperclassmen and professionals that I would have to adapt to the culture in the office in order to be successful. By mirroring the actions and behaviors of those who supervise me, would grant me access to the corporate elite that Ed is on the search for. It’s interesting that the advice given is to change oneself instead of the usual “always be yourself cliche” that has been told to us as children.  

Further developing this idea, we even see a separation of Ed and his cultural identity as a whole. Ed is clearly an Asian man to the audience but fully embodies the behavior of a white american. There is constantly a contrast between Ed and J’s character because Ed continuously condescends the foreigner in a racist manner. This is highly ironic because Ed himself is an Asian individual and in his journey to fully assimilate into American culture he seems to forget that.It seems this identity crisis drives the wedge between Ed and his family because the rest of the group likely has identified this disingenuous manner of living. 

Ed struggles with connecting his family together and believes by working and making more money will solve this separation. This mistake of identity leaves Ed delivering his emotional monologue at the end of the play displaying his power as he had throughout the play. Following the prompts his agreeable wife Grace to agree with him only for her to immediately shut him down and leave the play for good. With nothing but his golf skills, money, and broken family, Ed is left as a failure to the audience at the end of the play.

Desdemona’s aspirations to get into Princeton was made apparent in Ching Chong Chinaman. Throughout the whole play, Desdemona seemed to be on edge because she was trying to build the best college application that would get her into Princeton. For example, she was eager to discover a niche story about her family’s history to write about in her personal statement for her college application, and she was relentless on winning her school’s canned food drive because presumably it would build her resume and increase her involvement with the school. Apart from that, Desdemona even went against her own morals to maintain her grades; she assumed Jinqiang was good at math because he was Chinese, and she ended up throwing her math problems at him to finish even though she knew it was wrong of her to make Jinqiang work for her.

With that being said, I believe it is normal for students to have aspirations of going to an Ivy League, and I believe it is normal for students to work hard to ensure they get accepted into an Ivy League school. However, in the case of Desdemona, I believe the pressure she has put on herself to get into Princeton is unhealthy. Desdemona’s desire to attend Princeton has taken precedence over all aspects of her life, and this struggle highlights a larger issue among college applications today in the United States of America. Today, the criteria required to get into top colleges like Ivy League schools have reached an all time high, and these exceedingly high expectations for students to maintain good grades, uphold multiple leadership positions, have an exceptionally high SAT score, and start a non-profit organization just to be noticed certainly causes stress on students.

As someone who just recently applied to colleges, I can attest that this growing issue in the US is true. For a large amount of time, I always perceived that going to a top college like an Ivy League would ensure an easy way to success. Success to me was landing a job that provided a stable income because my goal in life has always been to be able to provide for my parents who have worked hard and selflessly to provide for me. In the midst of trying to apply for these highly sought out schools, I found myself feeling unqualified even though I had good grades, was the captain of my school’s Badminton Team, was the cofounder of the Mental Health Club, and was an SEO Scholar who attended an additional 720 hours of classes to prepare for the SAT. With that being said, while reading Ching Chong Chinaman, I heavily related to Desdemona who was feeling insecure about her own qualifications to get into Princeton, and I assure many other students must have related to her because the criteria to get accepted into these top colleges have become absurdly hard. It is a duty of our society to address this issue. Thought some competitiveness is valuable because it encourages students to work hard to seek out the goals they want, too much competitiveness can be negative. The mental health of students can become negatively impacted if they are continuously exposed to the relentless competitive nature of college applications. To protect our students and ensure they have an abundant life that isn’t solely focused on getting into these top colleges, the college admission process must be heavily examined and altered to prevent relentless competitiveness and exceedingly high expectations that only a few can meet.

Kindness Can Be Found in the Most Unlikely Places

When I think of exploring the identity of oneself, I usually don’t think about using derogatory terms to explore identity in a comedic way. However, Lauren Yee’s Ching Chong Chinaman does exactly this, where a Chinese American family grapples with their individual identities, specifically their cultural identity. Known as the Wong family, a couple with two children embodies a near typical American family, like how the father, Ed, is obsessed with playing golf, while the daughter, Desdemona, dreams of getting into Princton University, doing nearly anything to get in. Each family member has their cultural identity explored in some way, the catalyst for this exploration being Jinqiang, a Chinese man that Upton, the son in the family, brought to America in order to do his chores and homework while he plays videogames. It is worth noting that the derogatory terms start with Jinqiang, since the family confuse him for Upton, and pay no effort to say his name correctly, calling him “Ching Chong” out of their American ignorance. The most interesting family member that was explored to me was Upton, who has dreams of becoming a champion in the world of gaming. While he seems just like the rest of his family members, driven deep into their own endeavors, it’s later revealed there is much more he cares about then his drive to become the champion of a World of Warcraft international arena tournament. His character is one that subverted my expectations, since I originally thought would be a far more selfish character. However, he ends up being a character with some of the most impactful moments throughout the few moments that he had.

Interestingly, Upton’s full name is Upton Sinclair Lewis Wong, clearly named after an American writer of the same name. Throughout Ching Chong Chinaman, he introduces essays that he has written regarding his plan to become the World of Warcraft champion. One essay in particular delves into his inspiration for the idea of bringing Jinqiang to America, where he points out Charles Crocker and how he hired foreign Chinese workers to work on building the transcontinental railroad, “They complete my homework, my chores, and my familial obligations. Like Crocker, I am able to achieve my goals painlessly, and they recieve opportunites far beyond what they could get in their home countries” (Yee 24). This whole introduction to Upton made him out to be selfish and self-centered, only caring about his own endeavors and what he wants. In addition to this, the selfishness of other characters like his sister Desdemona only amplifies the idea that this family genuinely does not care much for others, exemplified by the actions of the family as a whole towards Jinqiang, since they simply accept Upton’s excuses for bringing Jinqiang and also ignoring their racism towards him. The development of Upton only seems to lead further down this road, since later on he ends up fantasizing about an asian schoolgirl obsessing over him and his interest in gaming. He ignores his family completely in these moments, although when his family does say things like “You know we’re kicking you out of the house once you hit eighteen,” and “I just don’t think Koreans would find you attractive and an American unless you were white,” it’s understable why he may be ignoring them (Yee 46). It begins to paint a clear picture of what is actually going on with Upton, since his family only seem to encourage his behaviour by attempting to stifle his ambitions to compete. However, who Upton truly is begins to be revealed later on in the story when the family decide to go on a trip to Mexico, while he goes to the tournament in South Korea to compete.

Once Upton gets to Korea, I expected his mind to be completely taken by the drive to win at the tournament. Instead, I found that Upton was one of the only people trying to talk to his family members, who now shut him out. He frequently calls his family members, wanting to tell Desdemona about how she made it into Princeton, only to get disconnected by Desdemona as she celebrates without even hearing everything Upton has to say (Yee 67). Later on, Upton also tries to talk to his mom about the championship, but she doesn’t answer. She barely even listens to the voicemails he left before skipping through them (Yee 71-72). He really does seem to care for his family at the end of the day, and Ed makes clear why Upton has beent he way he has, “He knows what he wants in life and he doesn’t need me there to hold his hand. (Lights up on Upton, eating a Korean snack. Or several snacks. He waits for his cell phone to ring)” (Yee 74). Throughout the story, Upton was really misunderstood rather than a selfish, self-centered person. Even at the beginning of the story, he tries to correct his father on the pronounciation of Jinqiang name, and when that failed, he still wanted to respect him as simply “J”. While essentially putting Jinqiang into “indentured servitude”, he also actually does find his opportunity, as he is actually a dancer who finds his shot at tap dancing in America. While Upton may have ignored his family as they criticized him for playing World of Warcraft all day, he may have actually just wanted attention for his passions and interests, which is why he fantasizes about the asian schoolgirl. Once all his hard work finally ends up paying off at the tournament, he returns to his family in a sense, desperately wanting to hear from them, only to recieve barely any response. He even wants to congratulate his sister on making it to Princeton, merely mentioning his impressive tournament victory as a simple win before moving on to praise her and her hard work. In short, with each and every moment in the story, Upton’s character begins to shine because he begins to outdo the viewers expectations of him, and this makes the viewers think further about Upton’s actual motivations and what he really seems to care about.

Works Cited

Yee, Lauren. Ching Chong Chinaman. Samuel French, 2011.

“Ching Chong Chinaman” by Lauren Yee highlights the personal struggle of trying to find ones identity, while offering a satirical exploration of specifically cultural backgrounds and the manipulation of these identities to achieve selfish intentions. Throughout the play, we are introduced to Desdemona who is the family’s eldest daughter and is determined to make it into Princeton University. We are shown time and time again exactly how Desdemona believes she is to get into Princeton: the usage of cultural backgrounds that she does not necessarily understand the hardships those of that community have gone through.

An example is Desdemona’s relationship with Kim Lee Park, a Korean orphan that Desdemona sponsored. Kim Lee’s sponsorship was for Desdemona’s own personal gain rather than trying to relieve Kim Lee’s suffering and difficulties. That is evident when Desdemona slaps Kim Lee due to the fact that Kim Lee did not give her enough words for her essay. “Now listen, you stupid little girl, I need an essay and I can’t wait till you FEEL like it!” (Yee 22). Kim Lee is only wanted by Desdemona when she has a need for Kim Lee, like when writing the essay, but when doing other things, Kim Lee is deemed irrelevant. “Desdemona…Desdemona…I am so hungry.” “Go eat your yak.” (Yee 66). This interaction between Desdemona and Kim Lee emphasizes how Kim Lee is only of use and basically cared for when helping Desdemona and practically neglected otherwise.

Not only using other people’s identities, Desdemona takes advantage of her own family’s. After taking a heritage test, she finds out that her family had lived in Mexico and is immediately thrilled due the fact that if “she is Latino”, she has more of a story to tell to college admissions. “About being Latino? Are you kidding? This is SO much better. I’ve researched it: Hispanic girls like me face huge obstacles in their lives. Discrimination, lack of access to education and contraception” (Yee, 56). Even though Desdemona has never gone through any of these struggles in her life, it is the idea of “being Hispanic” that is alluring to her because then she will be able to add this onto her application.

This is something that however is prevalent in our society today. People want to claim that they have a cultural identity that they either don’t have or have no understanding of the struggles in order to gain a step ahead. There is a stigma of how colleges love sob stories and with that, one can get into the best possible universities. There is some truth in this and if this continues, then it will begin to deteriorate the meaningfulness of having gone through that suffering. If there is a reward for having a unique background, the very idea of it being unique could eventually lose its meaning.

In the play Ching Chong Chinaman by Lauren Yee, Grace is the obedient housewife that often gets overlooked. From the start of the play, Grace desperately tries to conceive a child with Ed. She believes having a newborn can provide her with a sense of purpose.

Grace is a character that lacks self-confidence. She struggles to validate herself and her efforts. She sees herself as someone who lacks interests and talents. Grace often feels self-doubt; “No, really. What do I do well? Who needs me?” (Yee 27). Grace fears that once Desdemona and Upton leave the house, she will have nothing to do. Although her children are flourishing in their academic and gaming careers, she seems to be stagnating.

As the play progresses and J becomes a more prevalent character in the story, we can see that Grace is slowly finding her passion and becoming more confident. The turning point for Grace was when Ed suggested she try tap dancing. Even though the tap shoes were too big for her, she quickly found interest as she tried them on and took her first steps. It is then that J appears tap dancing and responding to her moves. Her loneliness weakens as J communicates with her through body language. 

Towards the end of the play, she calls J by his name, “Jinqiang needs a ride to the border, dear” (Yee 72). She does not call J “Ching Chong” like her husband anymore but sees him as a respectable human who should be able to pursue his dreams. Through their bond over tap dancing, the two overlooked characters join together to create their own futures. Grace finally became pregnant after her entanglement with J. Grace’s pregnancy represents a newly found purpose and passion for herself. She is no longer the obedient housewife who does whatever her husband says, but a woman that knows what she wants. She found her passion for dance, and she can comfortably leave her family behind to pursue her own happiness.

Grace’s story shines a light on the issue of women having to prioritize between self and family. Around the world, it is generally accepted that women are supposed to devote their time to their families while men work to bring the money home. In the play, Grace is growingly unsatisfied with her circumstances and feels bored at home. Instead of finding a hobby, Grace first thought of having another baby. She is so used to prioritizing others that she struggles to care for herself. Finding a balance between self and family is extremely difficult and is an issue for many women today.

In the satirical play Ching Chong Chinaman by Lauren Yee, Desdemona Wong is a 17-year-old going through the bane of every high schooler’s existence: the college admission process. Beyond the surface irony posed by Desdemona’s seemingly perfect life being the very thing setting her back from achieving her dreams of getting into Princeton, Yee points to a deeper issue at play. Through the character’s journey writing her personal narrative, we are brought to question the societal and self-imposed pressures that surround academic success and the pursuit of Ivy League acceptance. These pressures can oftentimes push students to tie their self-worth solely to their academic performance and even compel them to make morally wrong decisions to increase their likelihood of getting admitted. 

Personally, Desdemona’s storyline resonated with me the most, having gone through the college admissions process quite recently and seen firsthand just how many of my peers embellished their applications. Many students believe that unveiling some sort of trauma or obstacle in their life is the key to crafting a successful personal statement and, frankly, the only interesting thing about them in the eyes of an admissions officer. This belief evokes Desdemona’s desire to have experienced some sort of turmoil in her life just to have something of substance to write about: “If I had cancer, if you disowned me, then I could be myself. Then I’d have a chance. Then I could say something interesting in my personal statement.” But “unfortunately” for her she’s from an upper-middle class background, sheltered from any hardships that she could exploit. This brings out another irony of the play as being privileged is seen as undesirable by Desdemona; she goes as far as to say, “I’m an Asian-American female with a 2340 and a 4.42 GPA at an elite public high school. That’s like the worst thing in the world. Nobody’s gonna want me.” Desdemona is not alone in her sentiment as many students cater to what they think admissions officers would find of interest or value, now more so than ever. This makes it easy for applicants to forgo authenticity for marketability, much like in the play, as a stellar GPA, multitude of extracurricular activities and accomplishments no longer seem to be enough to get accepted.

Moreover, Desdemona’s struggle with her personal narrative mirrors her family’s broader struggle with the loss of cultural identity. From her name to her family’s dynamic, Desdemona is completely assimilated to American culture and has dismissed much, if not all, of her cultural identity. Although the family originated in China, they have no personal connection to their roots or speak the language. Only when it becomes of benefit to her does Desdemona begin to consider her heritage for the sole purpose of exploiting it in her college statement, further underscoring the hollowness of the connection she is attempting to form. In a telling scene, she finds herself at a loss for words when coming up with hardships Chinese Americans have faced during her interview for Princeton, as she had not personally experienced any of them. In scene 19, Desdemona resorts to Wikipedia to fabricate her struggles of “discrimination, lack of access to education and contraception, [and] machismo.” Through this dialogue, Yee exemplifies her blatant ignorance in trying to paint herself as a marginalized and oppressed individual and points out her insensitivity when it comes to the people who are actually struggling and dealing with these issues. 

In a twist of irony, Desdemona does get admitted to Princeton with her fabricated sob story, exemplifying Yee’s critical stance on the admission process. However, by the end of the play, Desdemona begins to see the fallacy of her sentiment that “there is nothing more important than school” once the news of getting into Princeton becomes a forethought in her journey of finding her true identity. As she ultimately finds herself grappling with the realization of what truly matters in her life, and the extent of her disconnection from it, I couldn’t help but feel empathy for her character.

Desdemona struggles with the severe disagreement between her parents’ conventional assumptions—symbolized by the requirement that she enroll in Princeton University—and her own desires, which originate in a desire for self-discovery, innovative independence, and the creation of an unusual career path—in Lauren Yee’s “Ching Chong Chinaman.” This disagreement is a reflection of the broader social dispute between multigenerational beliefs and emerging notions of what it means to succeed in the context of the American Dream. Desi’s story reflects the larger conversation about cultural identity, family relationships, and the variety of paths to success in the United States, highlighting the importance of understanding the complexities of the American Dream and appreciating the importance of personal interests and self-realization in addition to conventional measures of success. I can readily draw comparisons between the play and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” which is often regarded as a negative indictment of the American Dream. In the book, Jay Gatsby rises above his impoverished origins to acquire an incredible amount of money and a modest bit of social cache in 1920s New York City, only to be shunned by the “old money” set. Fitzgerald is critical of the idea that anyone can achieve success in America if they work hard enough.

Like many other parents of immigrants, Desi’s parents see an Ivy League education as the ultimate level of accomplishment. Their desire for her to realize the American Dream in its entirety—a prestigious school, a stable career, and financial security—is represented in the pressure they put on her to get accepted to Princeton University. This parent’s desire that their child attend Princeton University reflects a widespread American immigrant family expectation. It expresses the idea that receiving an advanced degree from reputable schools is crucial for securing a brighter future. For many, enrolling in a prominent university represents not only professional success but also a means of overcoming social and economic restrictions. My parents share the same philosophy as Des’s parents: they believe that if you work at a reputable company and attend an accredited school, you are successful. By virtue of our success, they will get recognition from the community and be recognized by others. Because my parents had great expectations for me, I applied to Ivy League schools during the admissions process even though I knew I would be rejected. Why?” they inquired. When I informed them, they would reject me. “Are you not smart enough to go there, or what? Everyone can, even you.”

Desdemona’s awareness that she might not be “Chinese enough” emphasizes the prevalent pressure from society to fit into an established ethnic group, which is connected to the popular idea of the American Dream. The ideal part was frequently at the center of the American Dream, where success was associated with belonging to the majority social standards. Desdemona’s journey, on the other hand, disproves this idea by highlighting the significance of accepting one’s own unique heritage. Desdemona’s realization that she is adopted and actually Korean serves as an effective metaphor for the delicate issue of identity in today’s America. The American Dream has grown to include people from an array of backgrounds and experiences, demonstrating that success can be measured by a person’s sincerity and enlightenment rather than by cultural uniformity.

In a moving way, “Ching Chong Chinaman” eloquently explains the intricacies of modern-day family dynamics, individual goals, and the search for the American Dream. The play delivers a strong message—that the American Dream is not a generic idea—through Desi’s character and her concurrent conflicts with parental pressure and essay writing. It emphasizes how acceptance of multiple identities, appreciation of personal authenticity, and knowledge of the many facets of the American Dream are what characterize success in the modern United States rather than conformity to established standards. 

In Lauren Yee’s Ching Chong Chinaman, she writes the play in a way that balances humor and the critiques of Chinese American stereotypes. In her play, she emphasizes the racist and offensive language that most Americans use when stereotyping Asians and Asian Americans.

One scene that touched me specifically was the part where the Wong family was trying to pronounce J’s name and instead of pronouncing it like “JIN-qiang”, the father pronounced it as “Ching Chong.” (Yee, 10) People usually view this as offensive language, one to mock Asians and Asian Americans and their accents and names. I especially resonated because of the dread that comes when people try to pronounce my name. My name is spelled uniquely so people often pronounce it incorrectly. In Chinese, it’s pronounced differently than how people pronounce it in America. The x sound is hard for people to pronounce so most people resort to pronouncing it as Jin, Shin, or Zin. To make it easier for people to pronounce, I usually just go with their pronunciation or correct it to Zin. However, whenever my friends hear other people try to pronounce my name and they hear Jin or Shin, they would make fun of it. I don’t think they realize how offensive it can be even though they are also of the same ethnicity. Reflecting back on my own experiences kind of answers the question of whether or not you can be racist to your own race. My answer would be that some people are racist towards their own race.

One example of this sort of racism is how the Wong family is ethnically Chinese but they are so Americanized that they cannot assimilate with their Chinese side. They couldn’t even pronounce J’s name or know what Chinese people eat and how they behave. They have lost all of their Chinese cultures and instead acts as if they are not themselves associated to be Asian. In the play, Desdemona says “We need return him to his natural environment. We don’t know anything about his diet, his lifestyle, his basic wants. We don’t even have the right sensitivity training to even begin to cater to his needs as a displaced person.” (Yee, 11) Her remarks on J and his situation can be interpreted as humorous yet offensive because it’s weird to say that they need to return J to his natural environment as if he were some animal that needs to be sent back to where he came from so that he can survive. It’s mocking J yet it’s also humorous in how unaware Desdemona and the rest of the family is of their own identity.

Another scene that I personally found humorous yet offensive was when Grace was struggling to ordering Chinese takeout on the phone. She ended the call by saying “doomo arigato…thank you.” (Yee, 15) She said thank you in Japanese and English but it was a Chinese restaurant that she was ordering from. Yee uses this scene to highlight how stereotypical people can be when they think of Asians, they usually refer to Chinese, Japanese, and Korean but Asia is such a big continent, with many different countries, each one different from the other.

Personally, this play highlighted a lot of the different stereotypes and offensive language that we encounter in our lives but Lauren Yee balances it out with humor to make it less serious. Her choice of language and characters really helped to highlight the problems of society.

The play Ching Chong Chinaman, written by Lauren Yee, highlights several personal conflicts and developments through the use of dramatic irony and comedy. Desdemona, the daughter of Ed and Grace, was tightly focused on achieving her goal of being accepted into Princeton. Throughout the play, Yee uses irony in order to bring to the audiences’ attention the lengths that a student might go to in order to attempt to stand out against other applicants. Her burning desire to get into this school and to pursue the American Dream also caused her to be incredibly disrespectful to Kim Lee Park, who was a seventeen year old Korean orphan who she was sponsoring.

Over the course of the play, Desdemona turned much of her attention to what she could use for her college applications in order to create a sob-story or to stand out. To include topics such as teen marriage, drug abuse, adultery and a unique background were all appealing to her. This relates to the issue in the American college application process today, where students deliberately try to use a quirky or devastating topic in order to increase their chances of being accepted into a top college. The play also hinted at the theme of having selfish intentions behind seemingly good actions through the absurd interaction between Desdemona and Kim Lee Park in scene 5. Desdemona exploited Kim’s personal story of being abandoned by her mother for her own personal gain in order to create a certain image in the eyes of admissions officers. When Kim was too tired to help Desdemona write an essay that was written with no sense of respect toward Kim’s circumstances, Desdemona called her a “stupid girl” and guilted her into continuing.

Yee’s goals to highlight this personal struggle for Desdemona became especially evident when she ended up being admitted to Princeton and finding out that she herself is adopted from Korea immediately afterwards. This not only proved to her that she did not need to search deeply for a ‘unique enough’ background, but also that she should have been more respectful toward Kim’s background. Desdemona developed a superiority complex, believing that her personal goal of attending an elite institution was far above what someone in Kim’s position could achieve. The American Dream rests on the reputation that immigrants who came from nearly nothing work their way up to success. Desdemona was an example of how people in today’s society fight to stand out using their backgrounds as support, while completely disregarding the true hardships that actually accompany being part of a certain community. Her superficial standpoint on how she viewed her culture was a character flaw that Yee worked to bright to light.

The unconventionally comedic play, Ching Chong Chinaman by Lauren Yee, exemplifies the loss of cultural identity through the account of a very Americanized or “whitewashed” Chinese American family. The most notable example is their normalization of referring to Jinqiang as the “Chinaman” or mostly “Ching Chong,” regardless that this would be offensive to themselves as well. Additionally, each family member–Ed, Grace, and their children Desdemona and Upton–embodies certain characteristics that stand out as nonstereotypical. Honing in on the daughter Desdemona, her yearning to get into Princeton isn’t atypical, but unlike the stereotype, she is bad at math. 

Through Desdemona’s Princeton application process, we are able to analyze her character, or lack of character. When her brother, Upton, tells her that he uses Jinqiang to do his math homework, Desdemona initially disapproves. However, when she realizes she can take advantage of this to fix her poor Calculus grade, she disregards this violation and proves to be just as self-serving as Upton. Similarly, when answering the essay prompt “Tell us about a person who has influenced you in a significant way” (21), she writes about Kim Lee Park, her Korean “independently sponsored child” (17). Kim appears in the scene to tell her story as an abandoned girl “headed for a life of emptiness and sadness” (21), narrating it as horribly tragic only so Desdemona can present herself as a savior, and segue into egotistical topics like her “near-perfect SAT score” (22). She even slaps Kim when her sob story isn’t long enough to meet her word count, when in reality she’s just exploiting Kim to mask her lack of cultural awareness and authentic experience.

It’s only during her Princeton alumni interview that Desdemona realizes her disconnect from her Chinese heritage. The Princeton alum sympathizes with the “hardships” she must’ve faced as a minority and a woman, even comparing her life to those of the women in the Joy Luck Club, a book and movie adaptation about the social and cultural struggles of Chinese immigrants. In an attempt to relate to her culture, she goes home and immediately listens to a Chinese lesson, watches the Joy Luck Club, and asks her dad Ed about their ancestors. When his answers are insufficient, she takes a DNA test only to discover she’s Mexican, then proceeds to engage in a tequila drinking game and throw herself a distasteful quinceañera. As I read this play, I thought back to Elena Franchi’s article “What is cultural heritage?”, and her description of it as “our belonging to a community” and “our bond to the past.” Although Desdemona’s parents clearly didn’t pass down tangible or intangible heritage to her, even when she strives to immerse herself in a culture, it’s so offputting and offensive to the true culture. She’s not trying to explore a community, she’s only concerned with “finding meaning” and being a “person of ‘color’ color” to make herself more appealing to Princeton.

After chasing an identity for so long, Desdemona’s parents tell her that she’s adopted and she’s not Chinese or Mexican, but Korean. I’m adopted too, so I’m familiar with feeling lost when it comes to your identity, or grappling with wanting to continue living the way that feels natural to you, the way you were raised, but also wanting to discover more about your background. In this moment I felt compassion for her and found her actions that followed–her fit of rage–justified. When destroying the persona she created, I interpreted that as her finally becoming content with being herself, as well as opening herself to opportunities for true self-discovery. Overall, I took Desdemona’s conflict and character development as a personal reminder to enjoy the life my parents and I have created here, but to continue educating and revisiting my roots as they are both a part of my identity.