Callous Behavior In Lisa Ko's The Leavers

Trying to find a home is more than finding a physical space, it’s about finding people who can support you. The book The Leavers, written by Lisa Ko, portrays the story of Daniel. Daniel is a Japanese kid who grew up in New York and was adopted by Peter and Kay Wilkenson after his mother was deported. Throughout his life, Daniel struggled with finding his identity in the places he lived. The Leavers by Lisa Ko depicts Peter and Kay Wilkenson's unsuccessful attempt to reinvent themselves as transracial adoptive parents as a result of their insistence that Daniel conforms to a limited definition of a perfect adult. Ultimately, they failed because of a pattern of callous behavior that undermines individual values in favor of social norms.

First,

On Father's Day, after Daniel made it through his first semester, the Wilkinsons decided to take him out for dinner. Peter saw the famous Ridgeborough oxbow. This leads him to explain his family history, especially his great-grandfather, Jacob Wilkinson. He describes how Daniel is the last in the family line when Peter claims that “He had to do something special to live up to Jacob Wilkinson” (262). As we learned previously in the book, Peter always felt the need to prove himself to his father and other family members. This demonstrates Peter's values as a parent are clouded by the fact that he wants to prove to his family that he is important. Peter was raised in a toxic environment where he was constantly trying to fit in and be someone he wasn't. This caused him to worry about not being flawless. Then, when he was parenting Daniel, he began making the same mistakes as his father. We can understand his reason for applying so much pressure to Daniel since it will undoubtedly impact his physical well-being. If Peter's values were not so focused on proving people wrong, then maybe Daniel would not feel less than others. Earlier in the story, Daniel's adoptive parents wanted him to go back to school to further his education. He was stressed because he lost the college essay to get into the program.

After Peter and Kay Wilkenson initially adopted Daniel, they are nervous about becoming his adoptive parents. They want to find a way to connect with Daniel, but are finding it very hard to do this. This leads Kay Wilkenson to exclaim, “I mean should we cook Chinese food or start Mandarin lessons again” (75). From an outside perspective, it looks like the Wilkinsons wanted to try and help. But they were so stuck in their ways that they neglected Daniel's heritage of being Fujianese, which means he speaks the language Fujian. By having a very narrow mindset, it shows that they are grouping all Asian people into one category. It is important to note that Daniel will face the challenges of trying to fit into their idea of what a Chinese-American should look like. This will lead to a disconnect for Daniel trying to prove himself, rather than his adoptive parents wanting to understand his culture and him. An additional instance that demonstrates this idea is when Daniel has a call with his biological mom's ex-boyfriend Leon. It has been a while since Leon and Daniel have talked and Daniel is now grown up. Leon reminisces about their life together. He wants Daniel to visit, which leads him to say “I'll take you out for real Chinese food, none of that pretend sh*t they have in New York. By the way, your Chinese