Throughout the run of Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown, Yu boldly confronts Asian stereotypes that have plagued Western culture for decades. As discussed in class, anti-Asian propaganda, hateful depictions, and downright regressive assumptions have formulated specific ideas of what it means to be Asian in the U.S. Willis Wu, the main character of the novel, experiences and endures numerous blatant accounts of racism and racial discrimination throughout his time as a working actor in Chinatown. The stereotypes Yu addresses are eloquently disproven by seeing the reaction and effect this has on Wu. For example, the idea that every Asian-American speaks in broken English is refuted throughout the novel in a satirical yet deeply personal way. I was most moved by the way Yu addresses Asian parenting. The term “tiger mom”, originated by Yale Professor, Amy Chua, connotes a certain type of parenting, usually associated with those of Asian descent. This term is derogatorily used to categorize Asian parents as overbearing, obsessed with academic success, and emotionally restrained. The relationship between parent and child is most often one of respect. “Based on this idea of consideration for social order, the notion of “training” in Chinese culture encourages parents to teach their children the quality of respect in all of their relationships. As a result, Chinese parents subscribing to this practice reinforce harsh and strict discipline, and hope that their children will learn from their instruction” (Scarlett Wang, wp.nyu.edu).
In the novel, Wu’s relationship with his parents provides an interesting counter to the ignorant stereotype of Asian parenting. When we meet Ming-Chen Wu and Dorthy Wu, Willis Wu’s father and mother, the reader sees a time before Willis’s birth that informs who these characters are and the struggles they go through. For example, Ming-Chen escapes war-torn Taiwan for America, finding hatred and discrimination there as well (Allen’s attack). Dorthy comes to the U.S. and can only find work as “pretty Asian woman”. Through her line of work “…she is scanned and studied, admired and assessed, pinched, grabbed, slapped, and, worst of all, caressed” (Yu, 153). MIng-Chen and Dorothy look for a place to live and are consistently denied due to their race. They end up in Chinatown at the SRO, planning on eventually getting out. After Willis is born, we see a few pivotal familial moments. Willis talks about his father holding him and “flying him” around the room as Willis laughed. Willis recalls his mother grabbing a scalding pot of tea to prevent it from hitting him. Afterward, she tells him to aspire to more than Kung Fu Guy.
Though the Wu family dynamic is more emotionally restrained than we might be used to seeing, there is so much love between the characters. Over time, the relationship between Ming-Chen and Willis does deteriorate as MIng-Chen becomes Sifu. Regardless, Willis is there every week to take care of his father, despite that boundary. In Western culture, Asian parenting is thought to be forceful, lacking emotion, and only based on success. Of course, it is undeniable that parenting such as this occurs all over the world. Yet, Interior Chinatown proves that not all Asian parents subscribe to this message. Willis not only looks after his parents, but in many ways, he looks up to them too. His parents break the boundaries that we would consider an Asian family to have. It is apparent to me that Dorthy and Ming-Chen’s intentions are for Willis to have a better life than they were able to have. At the end of the day, isn’t that what every parent wants for their children?
I also noticed the portrayal of the familial relationships in the novel and liked how they didn't just stick to what was expected. I liked too, that Charles Yu didn't try to completely hide the stereotype either though. Yu acknowledged the presence of the stereotype in the scene you mention where Wu's mother burns herself on the tea pot. Willis Wu is described as "bracing [himself] for her wrath or fury or guilt trip, but instead [he got] something else entirely. Tenderness" (Yu 55). Wu's mother then goes on to give him the advice about striving to be more than just kung fu guy. This quote shows, however, the presence of the "stereotypical response" people might think of by acknowledging that Wu expected negativity, a scolding, a guilt trip, anything but tenderness. This is further emphasized by following the word "tenderness" by a period, making it a single word sentence. However, even in acknowledging the existence of the expected reaction, Yu decided to provide a compelling example of the opposite, almost to directly say "asian parents can be compassionate, too." Something this novel did well was showcasing and typically even naming stereotypes either directly or slightly indirectly and then explaining or showing how or why that stereotype is untrue, not fully true, and or very hurtful to asian american people. Being able to do that time and time again made the novel have a very strong impact on the reader, especially if they were not as aware of how exactly these stereotypes could be wrong.
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