Identity Confusions In Everything I Never Told You

Everything I Never Told You is the debut work of Celeste Ng,a rising contemporary Chinese American writer.Since its publication,it has received intensive attention from scholars and critics with its salient theme of identity.The issue of identity,because of its complexity and fluidity,together with the changing of social environment,has long become the main concern of Chinese American literature.In Everything I Never Told You,the theme of identity is both prominent and problematic.Every character battles over some aspects of the identity issue and fully exhibits the complexity of one's identity awareness.This thesis mainly discusses the identity seeking,namely,ethnic identity,gender identity,and sexual identity,of the main characters from the perspective of sociology,psychology and physiology.Ethnic identity is a problem not only for the immigrants,but also for the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants,who start to question their own ethnic values in the multi-ethnic society.Gender identity is not decided by the sex,but by people's "doings".Women in the novel are awakened to their potentials with the influence of the feminist movements,and choose to present their masculine traits through some masculine performances.The question of sexual identity is seldom mentioned in the former Chinese American works.And in Everything I Never Told You,the author's attention to adolescents'sexuality expands the scope of the identity issue revealed in Chinese American literary works.Identity is not fixed.It changes with the change of time and personal experience.In the process of defining their own identity,either in ethnicity,gender or sexuality,the main characters in the novel encounter confusions and problems,most of which have their roots in the conflicts of the individual's inner desire for a new identity against the social conventions and norms,as well as lack of effective communication about the mechanism of identity formation.