Everything I Never Told You Quotes

In the novel “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng, James is arguably one of the roundest characters in the family. Being a successful Chinese immigrant with a wife and three children, he hoped to live out the American dream and lead an easy life. Sadly, James faced racial aggression and family issues, which weren’t always mutually exclusive, that affected his entire life. He married a white woman, which was looked down upon, and they had relationship issues that eventually lead to her leaving but then returning to the family. James’ pride and joy was his second child, Lydia, who wasn’t nearly as perfect as he wanted her to be and ended up dying. He had a strange relationship with his other two children. Since Nath reminded him of a

By living through several racist and microaggressive situations in his life, he learned to assimilate and be quiet. This is shown when Nath is being bullied at the pool at the YMCA. The other children refuse to play with Nath and taunt him because he is Chinese, and James doesn’t do anything. James wondered “could he make the children get back in the pool? Saying anything would draw attention to the trick” (pg. 90). Even though he was the adult in the situation and he could have stood up for his son, he decided to do nothing. This shows how scared James is to stand out or draw attention to the fact that he and his children are Chinese. James has always tried to fit in, and marrying a blonde white woman made him feel more ‘normal’. However, he was still aware that he was “too different” (pg. 242). He gets angry at Marilyn for always trying to stand out, and tells her: “You think it’s such a good thing, standing out. But look at you” (pg. 242). Here it is evident that James just wants to conform and assimilate so his life will be as easy as possible. Marilyn’s life has been full of turmoil and her issues with fitting in even affected James’ life. The way James sees it, had she chosen to fit in both of their lives would have been much easier. Time after time James wishes that he was white or that Marilyn had married a white man just because their lives would be easier. James has learned that conforming and assimilation are

When Marilyn is pregnant with Hannah, although Marilyn is upset, he is “warm and aglow at knowing his wife would be there when he got home” (pg. 145). His love for Marilyn never faded, even though their relationship was very rocky. When James taunts Nath, although he wants to deter Nath from being the stereotypical intelligent Asian, it comes from a place of love. Nath reminded James of “everything he wanted to forget about his own boyhood” (pg. 156). All of the hardships that James faced were because he was so different, and he wanted Nath to fit in and have a normal life. By taunting him, James hoped to deter Nath from becoming like him. Towards the very end of the novel, James shows a new love for Hannah recognizing that she is a part of his family. At that time, James “only thinks of this, his daughter, here in his arms”