Missing Identity

“MY FAMILY IN CHINA was a mysterious, shadowy presence. There were only a few black and white photographs that revealed nothing of the of the people behind the solemn faces. I had no memory of ever meeting them, although my mother said they always asked about me in their letters, letters in script I couldn’t read. Even Aunt Hai-Lan and Uncle Jong in Toronto seemed far away…I craved for details about my family’s past, the people back in China. I learned what I knew from bits of grownup conversations. I eased dropped whenever my parents and my brother talked, gathering each piece of information and storing it inside me like a precious jewel. (81-82) China was isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years just to preserve tradition. One of the most important things the Chinese value are the family and culture. In the story Annie left China at such a young age, she barely had any time to create memories there, causing her to lose a part of her culture and past and leaving her with a missing of her identity. This is understandable because knowing about one’s past is just as important as how they are in the present. A person’s past is what makes that person what he/she is today, even if he/she was not the same in the past. This is common among immigrants who’ve left China at such a young age, and even more so today among American Born Chinese (ABC).