The Irony of Brianna Warning Lolita About Boys Instead of Caitlin
When Brianna meets Lolita in "Every Little Thing," she immediately recognizes her younger, more impetuous self in the girl. She's eager to warn her to end her affair with this man if she believes that he's willing to leave his wife for her. Brianna knows from her personal experience that sex is a dangerous game to play with a man who has commitment issues, so she tries to convince Lolita to end her affair. Ironically, Brianna learns later that day that her own daughter, Caitlin, has been struggling with her own boy problems at school. She's gotten her heart broken by some guy who flirted with her but on whom she secretly has a crush. If Brianna had delivered her warnings to Caitlin instead of the stubborn Lolita, she might have prevented the heartache.
The Irony of Brianna Meeting Lolita
As a hotel maid, Brianna is accustomed to literally cleaning up after a great deal of romantic affairs. She latches onto Lolita at the pool, however, because she's so young. Brianna got pregnant with her high school boyfriend who left her when he learned about the pregnancy. As a single mother, she's had to abandon a lot of her ideas about romance and commitment. True she's somewhat bitter toward men, but mostly she's embarrassed by her impetuous past. When she meets Lolita, Brianna's met her perfect foil. Lolita is having an affair with an older married man, and she's just 17-years-old. She believes, just like Brianna did, that this man loves her and that he will leave his wife for her, so she adamantly ignores Brianna's warnings to the contrary. She's quite happy with her choices, and, at least for now, they seems to be working for her. This is upsetting to Brianna because Lolita reminds her so much of herself when she was younger, and she wishes to spare the girl the suffering which she underwent through her love affair at that age.
The Irony of Mackenzie Dating a Chinese Boy
In "How To Be Chinese" Mackenzie devotes the first couple sections of her story to explaining why she feels like an impostor for looking Chinese but knowing nothing about Chinese culture. She decides to learn more about her native land when she goes off to college, but she struggles to adapt. She describes being embarrassed when Chinese people would walk up to her and ask questions in Chinese, assuming she speaks the language. When she decides to date Winston, she is facing her worst fears of facing constant embarrassment. Winston's mom talks to her in Chinese and points out all sorts of things she doesn't know, urging her to learn. And the waiter at the authentic Chinese restaurant shakes his head disapprovingly when she can't understand him. Mackenzie puts up with a lot more assumptions based on her appearance with Winston than before.
The Irony of Mackenzie Meeting Winston at McDonalds
Mackenzie chooses to intentionally learn more about Chinese culture when she goes to college. She and her mom listen to Chinese language learning tapes together and practice. And she joins a Chinese culture club at the university. Despite her best efforts, Mackenzie feels no closer to being Chinese than when she first started. Her initial efforts are disappointing. This is why it's hilarious that she bumps into Winston at McDonald's purely by accident. Recently moved from Hong Kong, Winston is firmly rooted in his native culture and proves to be Mackenzie's greatest ally on her quest. He even is attending her college! After all her hard work trying to familiarize herself with China, Mackenzie meets her best shot at it at a random restaurant.
The Irony of McKnight's Death Sentence
In "Captioning Emily," Ng writes about a girl she knew in college who was murdered. Emily's case became somewhat sensationalized in the local community because she was murdered by a black man. The white supremacists made her their poster child. Ng begins to research the case, especially the man who murdered Emily, McKnight. Despite Emily's opposition to the death penalty and her family's push for leniency, her legacy is marred when McKnight is sentenced to be executed. Emily would never have wanted that, but he's executed anyway.
