The Leftover Woman

The Leftover Woman’s depiction of the difficulties that new immigrants face in the United States, including the racism they encounter, is one of its most important themes. Kwok engages with the politics of race and anti-Asian racism in some way in each of her novels, and this theme thus connects The Leftover Woman with Kwok’s previous published works. All of the Asian characters in this novel are subjected to racism and prejudice, and those experiences add to the struggles that characterize the Chinese American immigrant experience. Additionally, immigrants like Jasmine are thrust into an assimilationist culture in which they are encouraged to shed the aspects of their identity that cannot easily be identified as “American.” Jasmine experiences assimilation as a kind of persistent, pervasive stress and always feels as though she must bury key parts of her character to fit in.

Jasmine arrives in the United States with limited English skills and immediately encounters difficulty as a result. She is told: “You people come to this country, and you can’t even learn English right” by a grocery store worker who also wrongfully accuses her and Fifi of theft (37). It is not only Jasmine’s language abilities that mark her as foreign: Rebecca finds fault with her clothing, mannerisms, and lack of American cultural knowledge. To Rebecca, others in her social circle, and even the caterers she hires for the party she hosts, Jasmine is rendered invisible by her difference. Her identity is flattened by this prejudice, and she is reduced to two essential characteristics: “Asian” and “foreigner.” There is a distinctly dehumanizing element to this kind of mischaracterization, and it is both demoralizing and exhausting for Jasmine. Rebecca ultimately comes to understand the error of her ways, and after examining her own biases and deep-seated prejudices, she reflects that her antipathy toward Jasmine was rooted in anti-Asian racism.

Jasmine is not the only character to encounter anti-Asian prejudice. Fifi, although a native English speaker and an American citizen, is stereotyped based on her race. Other children see her through the lens of difference and view her through harmful stereotypes. At a party, Fifi is encouraged to “Do Kung Fu fighting!” (160). The children gathered have a limited understanding of Asian culture and identity, and their knowledge of what it means to be Asian has clearly been shaped by media. Rebecca struggles to counter these kinds of racist taunts and fails to consider that her child will experience racism, even though she and her husband are white. This reflects the kind of ignorance that can come with adoption—even well-intentioned parents can find themselves ill-equipped to handle the realities of their adoptive child’s lived experiences. It is Gina, who is Korean, who comes to Fifi’s aid.

In addition to the way that racism shapes the Chinese American immigrant experience for Jasmine, she also notes how tiring it is to continually perform Americanness. She reflects that: “A foreigner can only let a slice of themselves be seen in a new culture; the rest is hidden” (180). Jasmine is a highly intelligent, artistic woman with a whole range of likes, dislikes, strengths, and personality traits. And yet, when she is in the company of Rebecca and her family, she must hide much of who she is. She is reduced, in that setting to “nanny,” and the flattening of her identity is reflected in Rebecca’s unwillingness to use her real name, Luli. At Opium, Jasmine’s identity must also shift, and she is reduced to a “sexual object.” This reflects the particular way that Asian identities are often sexualized in American culture, another facet that sets Jasmine and women like her apart as other. As Jasmine navigates public spaces and day-to-day conversations, she must constantly shapeshift, revealing only what will render her acceptable within mainstream society.