Wondrous Woo Mental Health Issues

In Carrianne K.Y. Leung’s The Wondrous Woo a large majority of the characters are affected by psychological problems and encounter mental breakdowns. Certain mental health issues are portrayed more openly than others, while others are hinted at, but never entirely developed. Leung’s protagonist Miramar is challenged by eating disorders and her mental health in general, Sophia lies compulsively to make her life seem more appealing to others, while their mother suffers from attacks of paranoia and depression, for which she is hospitalized. Miramar’s love interest in the novel, Mouse, also struggles with his mental health and complex family dynamics. There are various complex factors that can be attributed to the development of mental health issues

Mouse is very private about his family and childhood, but near the ending of the novel, the reader is able to piece together the childhood events that motivate Mouse’s actions in his adult life. Before Mouse was born, his family emigrated from China to Duckbill (a prairie town) and gave birth to their son – Arthur Ga Yee Chow (216). After failed business attempts and immigration struggles, “Ma died. Cancer. It was quick” (217) and Mouse’s father left Canada to go “back to the four villages” (217). Mouse’s inability to cope with the reality of life seems to stem from his family leaving him in one way or another. Mouse creates a persona for himself, and believes “you make your own family as you go” (183). Mouse chooses to dissociate himself with Arthur Ga Yee Chow, and suppresses his childhood to a story seemingly about someone else. Although Mouse seems to be aware of what he is doing and suppressing, this coping mechanism, along with his eccentric personality, makes his mental state and health

The Woo family first moved to Canada from Hong Kong, Scarborough specifically, in the late 1970’s (3). Ma struggled with immigrating to Canada from Hong Kong, although she did so in order to please Ba. Eventually, Ma admits “I hated it here. I hated everything. I hated the snow, I hated the heat, I hated the people, I hated the house, I hated the sky” (124). Ma finally admits that she was not happy in Canada or leaving Hong Kong and “wanted to go home. Back to my friends” (124). Ma questions whether immigrating to a new place caused her to go “cuckoo” (124), which seems possible as only after Ba’s death was she able to admit this to anyone. Ma is not the only character who struggles with the challenges of immigration. As mentioned above, Mouse’s family moved from China to Duckbill and opened a Chinese restaurant, but “were not a big hit in the local community” (216). It seems that in Mouse’s family, the father immigrated to Canada to please his wife; therefore after she died, he had no reason to remain in Canada as there was, “‘Nothing left here’” (217). Miramar sympathizes with immigrants, and finds work at a community center helping them transition into Canadian culture. During this job, Miramar takes on false roles in order to help her clients – such as a city worker enforcing a Municipality code (137). Although Miramar does not have the authority to do this, her intentions are