What does silent confession want to reveal?

Silent confession is a silent inquiry into society, times and human nature.

As stated in the introduction of You Shu: "This is not a simple growth story, it is a mixture of race, gender, family, personal pursuit of self-worth, youth crisis, love and many other topics."

First, the racial sadness of different skin colors.

The father James in this book, as a second-generation Chinese, is in a period when China people are still greatly despised and treated differently at the age set by the author. He and his wife Marilyn have different values because of their different growth experiences, which is also the root of their unfortunate marriage and family.

From the big environment, the combination of James and Marilyn makes the whole family suffer from being regarded as "different" by the society because of their blood inheritance and their children's resemblance to their fathers.

Marilyn's mother's opposition to this marriage, such as the embarrassment of being looked at when the family went out to travel, and several children were isolated like their fathers when they were growing up ... These trivial details in life are the epitome of the whole environment looking at this ethnic group with colored eyes. This cruel reality is caused by the factors of social times, but sadness is inevitable.

From the personal point of view of a small family, it is because of his birth that he became "different" and suffered discrimination. James's extreme desire to "integrate into the environment" is reflected in his attitude towards marriage and family in a hidden way.

The "integration" of Marilyn's appearance makes James get spiritual comfort from his wife, and all his expectations for his children are to get rid of the isolated fate, make friends and fall in love normally. On the contrary, Marilyn has been pursuing "being different" all her life, and James's "being different" from the crowd because of the difference in racial appearance is the fundamental reason why he first attracted Marilyn.

Racial conflicts cannot be completely eliminated, and its alleviation is by no means a day's work. In addition to the strength of the country, the improvement of the overall national quality and cultural level is also the key factor for us to win more international respect. However, under the social topic of "race", the cause of Lydia's personal tragedy is temporarily unknown. This requires the joint efforts of the times, society and generations.

Second, who will steer the canoe of life?

Through the whole book, we can see that the root of Lydia's life tragedy lies in her innate racial blood relationship, and the direct cause of the tragedy is the high expectations of her parents.

In today's educational problems, the tragedy caused by parents' excessive love for their children has aroused people's thinking more and more. This kind of "love" has many forms, one is excessive indulgence, which is easy to be detected and the most criticized at present.

However, this book reveals another kind of excessive love that is not easily perceived and often taken for granted, that is, parents' excessive expectations. This expectation is usually because parents' own personal ideals have never been realized or are difficult to achieve, and they are unconsciously passed on to their children through education, which is irrefutable in the name of "love" and "for your own good".

Parents should learn to respect and trust their children's choices, instead of relying entirely on their own expectations and replacing their children's choices with insecurity; Children love their parents, so understand that children always want to do everything for themselves, and at the same time learn to dare to speak their own independent thoughts. And good communication will be a bridge to their hearts.

Third, the suffering soul.

In the book, the overall story frame formed by the character frame is very complete: Father James is the representative of the social level, and the racial problem with him as the main clue is the inevitable social background in the whole story; As a representative of the family, mother Lydia's pursuit of personal value and the devastating impact of her departure on family cohesion have become important factors in the story of family and personal tragedy.

The three children are also in different balance positions. As the heaviest end of the family, Lydia is the "center of the universe". Brother Ness is in a delicate balance, which gives Lydia spiritual support invisibly. Hannah's sister is the lightest end of the family, and she is dispensable, trying to weaken her sense of existence.

In addition, Jack, who was completely separated from Li Yu Dia's family, also played an important role. He is Lydia's only "friend" and Ness's "enemy". He is also like an outlet for the family to contact with the outside world, leading to the outside world, and finally like a clean stream from the outside world, giving Lydia a a touch to get rid of family pressure.

At the end of this book, we all know that Lydia really committed suicide. But at the end of the book, it doesn't stop at Lydia's death.

Although the book begins with tragedy, it doesn't end in sad language. Wu Qishi slowly spread out the future of everyone in the story with warm writing-as if all the pain will eventually pass, and all life will continue even if it is helpless. Without Lydia's family, they will still support each other, stumble and move on.

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Media and celebrity evaluation

Even though we are familiar with such stories around us, we have never seen them in American novels. At least, no one had ever dealt with such a story before Wu Qishi. This novel is about the burden and pressure of being "different". This kind of burden and pressure is usually not to shape a person, but to destroy a person. -The New York Times Book Review

The first novel with amazing explosive power, the brushwork flashed the beauty and essence of prose, and the observation and insight were as profound as sociologists. Wu Qishi's novel has attracted readers from the first page, and we can't wait to know the story behind Lydia's death ... and the truth finally revealed in the novel is even more shocking. -The Huffington Post

This first novel with sincere feelings and rich emotions begins with the death of a young girl. Lydia, who was born in a mixed-race family in the United States in the 1970s, was endowed with infinite high hopes and parents' longings. Her unfortunate teenage life was not an ounce of cliché. Wu Qi's poems are so accurate and sensitive that her characters are vivid. -Publishers Weekly

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