For Marilyn, this symbolizes that Doris has not accomplished anything in her lifetime, and she has no legacy. While there, Marilyn is struck by the fact that Doris has not left anything behind.

When Doris dies, Marilyn travels to her home in Virginia to clean out her childhood home. Marilyn grows frustrated that she has fallen into the exact lifestyle that Doris always aspired her to follow. When Marilyn falls in love with James and becomes pregnant with Nath, her academic dreams are put on hold. While at Radcliffe College, Marilyn is subject to harassment on the basis of sex. However, Marilyn dreams of going to medical school. Doris, Marilyn's mother, wants her daughter to be the quintessential housewife. Throughout her life, Marilyn struggles between balancing her academic ambitions with her expectations as a woman in the mid-20th century. The Expectations for Women and the Fight Against Gender Discrimination James's affair with Louisa, his teaching assistant, symbolizes his attempt to find his own racial identity through another Asian woman. These fears drive him to pressure Lydia to assimilate and conform. Because of these persistent aggressions against his identity, James has an intense fear of not being accepted by others and not being taken seriously. In addition, Marilyn's mother refuses to acknowledge James and Marilyn's marriage due to the fact that James is Chinese. Despite being an accomplished graduate student in the history department, James is discriminated against and ultimately not hired as a professor.

They feel neither white nor Asian, and are unable to find solace in their parents or in one another.įor James, his Asian identity is the source of continuous conflict. These individual experiences isolate the Lee children from all other members of their family. Hannah, on the other hand, feels invisible. Nath is often the victim of his classmate's racial harassment and is unable to blend in. Lydia feels an added sense of pressure, as Marilyn and James favor her for her fair complexion. Though they react differently to their distinct racial experiences, the children commonly internalize their feelings of frustration and isolation. Lydia, Nath, and Hannah all struggle with their bi-racial identities. Thus, the Lee family is an anomaly and the children are made to feel like social outcasts. Although interracial marriages were indeed prevalent in American society, the Supreme Court only reversed the ban on interracial marriage in 1967. The Lees live in a predominantly white community in suburban Ohio during the 1970s. Firstly, it is necessary to acknowledge the historical context of the novel. Race and identity are central themes that allow the reader to understand the complex experiences of the different members of the Lee family. Buy Study Guide The Complexities of Asian-American Identity in the 1970s

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