Growing Up With Expectations In Chemistry, By Weike Wang

Growing up with expectations is a universal experience. Some people use that as a way to get ahead, regardless of the trauma leading them to carry on. Stereotypically Asian families are known to have a set of ideals enforced on the kids, leading to literature and art created by writers who want to tell their stories. The purpose of the story can be different for each writer. Chemistry by Weike Wang follows the story of the narrator (with no name), who questions her small decisions as we follow through with her life. She mentions her boyfriend Eric, and her indecisiveness regarding their relationship. As well as stories of her growing up. There are themes of finding her post-identity, as she places herself in different situations as she tries

Weike Wang goes through the story following a no-name narrator, who from time and time describes events from her childhood. One instance of this can be seen, as the narrator describes how her parents worked to support themselves and how hard her father worked, she claims, “You work the same amount as twelve full-time graduate students…I do not see my father much” (Wang, 20). She reminisces about her childhood and feels nostalgic when thinking about it. She mentions how hard her father works to get his Ph.D., which is what she is also doing, which can be interpreted as a pastiche. Pastiche as described by Jameson is a form of imitation, like a parody, but without the mocking nature of it. As she works hard to achieve her goals, she follows her father's footsteps accompanied by the pressure he continues to put on her. Her ‘imitation’ adds another layer to the nostalgia in the story, as the narrator is not only looking back on her own childhood but also mirroring her father's experiences. Post-modernism seeps its way into the story through nostalgia and pastiche. The uses of nostalgia and pastiche in the story serve to add complexity to the narrative. Nostalgia makes her realize her childhood may not have been exactly as she remembers, and Pastiche serves to remind her that the present is actively being influenced by the

Even if you grow up with immigrant parents, there are cultural beliefs that linger on making an impact. Chemistry by Weike Wang follows a Chinese-American woman. She grew up in America, but due to her parent’s influence, she is heavily influenced by the culture. The way the novel is written takes a Post-Identity approach, as the focus of her identity is not her ‘Chinese-ness’, which she fears losing, but continues to describe her struggles and her life, without always coming back to her race. She mentions her boyfriend Eric learning Chinese, yet refusing to speak it in front of her parents, which leads to them fighting, but it is rather about him losing his ‘humor’ rather than the language itself. The narrator continues to find herself, without relating it to her race. Post-Identity can also be seen in Three Women of Chucks Donuts by Anthony So, as he writes about a family running a donut shop. The girls have been told they are Khmer, but certain traits or quirks they have are deemed not Khmer by their father. Kayley and Tevy do not give their race much thought, as compared to their mother, and rather continue to probe around the strange man. As Tevy writes her paper on what it means to be Khmer, she does not relate to herself. Rather than using herself for her paper, she decides to interview the man who seems to have these Khmer traits. The girls are young and do not acknowledge their