Abstract:Everything I Never Told You, written by a Chinese-American female writer, Celeste Ng, describes a tragedy that the daughter is found dead in the lake in a Chinese-American mixed-race family in the American society, which is referred to as a “melting pot”. 

This thesis is intended to analyze reasons causing Lydia’s death. This thesis consists of three parts as follows. Initially, the introduction part begins with the related background information about the writer, Celeste Ng and the brief story line of this novel and leads to the question this thesis is going to discuss: what causes Lydia’s death? Subsequently, the body part will discuss reasons leading to Lydia’s death from personal aspect and social aspect. One perspective is that Lydia’s reliance on her older brother and her phobia about her mother’s leave makes her suffer from much mental stress. Another perspective is that both of her parents expect Lydia to realize their dreams they are unable to fulfill and American society’s intolerance towards mixed-race Chinese-American family.

This thesis indicates profound conflicts between family members and different cultures from different perspectives. The conclusion is that Lydia’s death is not only a personal tragedy, but also a social tragedy. This thesis also provides an insight to understanding mixed-race family for people in reality.

Key Words: Lydia, Dependency, Phobia, Mixed-race Family

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

I. Introduction-1

II. Lydia—A Victim of Both Character Tragedy and Social Tragedy-1

A. A Victim of Character Tragedy-1

1. Dependency-2

2. Phobia-5

B. A Victim of Social Tragedy-6

1. Mixed-race Family-7

a. James—A Chinese American Father-7

b. Marilyn—A Strict White American Mother-10

2. A Hostile Social Environment-13

III. Conclusion-14

Bibliography-16

Acknowledgements-18

致谢-19