While reading this novel, I noticed that Leon and Leila's mother are both very needy people. I feel like they both need to be taken care of in some sense and they both need their children. I think that after the death of Ona, they both lost a little piece of their heart,and in turn fell apart. They both are also very culture related. They stay focused on the Chinese background of their lives, and while Leila appreciates where she is from, she stays more focused on life in America. She ends up being the translator for parents and she also seems to live an American lifestyle while her mother takes a trip with Nina. She gets high, she smokes cigarettes, she drinks, and she has sex.
The main event that has happened in this book is the passing of the middle sister, Ona. It is very hard for the whole family, but it seems to be the most tragic for the mother. Even though Leila stays with her mother to keep her company and to keep her together, Mah is never happy. I think that as the novel goes on we will find out that one of the main reasons that Leon left Leila's mother is because of the death of Ona. Not only are both parents torn up over the loss, but Nina takes off and leaves everything behind.
It seems Ona's death shattered everything, as could be imagined it would. The mother Mah it appears was unhappy ingeneral before the suicide but now her problems have only gotten worse.
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