eating habits, over sleeping, mood swings as well as self-pity: “…he would have liked to chat with his classmates but, perhaps discouraged by his sorrowful countenance” (Yu 47). We can see that the protagonist is completely isolated and cannot even relate with his classmates. The main question, however, is why he is so isolated and depressed. This comes back to the theme of the story which is nationality. Perhaps we should look at the background of the author since he is known to write stories based on his personal experience. In fact, most writers base stories on their life experiences. For instance, Lin Hai-Yin’s story about memories of peking is based on her life experiences while living...
