Stealing Buddha's Dinner

As a first-generation immigrant who came to the United States as a child, Bich straddles two worlds: Vietnam, a homeland she doesn’t remember but that is a part of her everyday life, and America, where she spends her formative years feeling rejected by her own culture. This liminality creates a rift in her understanding of herself and makes it difficult for her to come to terms with her identity.

As Grand Rapids is a mostly white, conservative, and Christian city, Bich is surrounded by homogeneity. However, she spends most of her time out of school around other Vietnamese people, or in her own Vietnamese- and Mexican-American home. In her home, Bich faces conflicting messages about her identity. Chrissy makes fun of Bich and Anh for the fruit on Buddha’s altar, and something sacred becomes a point of shame. Bich starts to scowl at food prepared at home, even as she admits her love for it. At school and with peers her age, Bich feels unable to discuss her home life, even when she is excited about it. Because Bich is unable to change her family, she makes them invisible to and separate from her friends, who she sees as representatives of American culture.