Essay Questions

Explore the character of Lindsay as brought out in this novel.

Lindsey can be argued to be quite open-minded as opposed to her grandmother. While Lindsey sees no problem with marrying any man of her choosing, her grandmother has reservations with regards to whom she wants her daughter to marry. In this way, Lindsey is open-minded. In comparison to her Asian friends, Lindsey appears quite proud of her ethnicity. On the other hand, when she meets the white man she doubts whether her grandmother would accept him. In this way, she is also doubtful. Because Lindsey also cares about her grandmother’s opinion, she can be argued as caring.

How is the concept of identity as well as identity conflicts brought out in the novel?

The Dim Sum of All Things is Kim Wong’s exploration of the identity crisis suffered by Americans of Chinese descent. Identity issues are brought forth through Lindsey and some of her Chinese friends who feel embarrassed of their roots. A conflict of Lindsey’s identity as Chinese arises when she falls for a white man. While Lindsey feels that marrying him is not a problem, her grandmother on the other hand thinks otherwise as she keeps linking her to men of Chinese descent. Even Lindsey herself becomes quite unsettled about her identity until she refines her knowledge of her roots. Identity is central in this work.

Why does Lindsey doubt that her grandmother would acknowledge her dating a white man?

Lindsey’s grandmother is presented as a largely traditional Chinese woman. When Lindsey begins falling for Michael Cartier, she is concerned that her grandmother would disapprove of such a relationship seeing as she has been trying to hook her up with men who are Chinese from some of her friends. In this regard, the major reason as to why this doubt is born in her is as a result of the strict Chinese traditions that her grandmother upholds coupled with her vain attempts to connect her with a Chinese man. Lindsey marrying from within her culture and race is of utmost importance to her grandmother.