Girl In Translation

Ma is a sweet, hardworking woman. She and Aunt Paula's parents were "landowners and intellectuals" who had been "unfairly sentenced to death during the Cultural Revolution" in China (41). Before their deaths, they had spent all of their money to get their daughters to safety in Hong Kong. Rather than marrying an American-born Chinese businessman, as her family had wanted, she marries a man for love. He was the principal of the school at which Ma taught music, and passed away of a stroke before the novel began.

Ma holds to traditional Chinese values and customs after she immigrates to the United States from Hong Kong. She continues to practice Buddhist religious traditions, prepares only Chinese meals, and, sequestered in the Chinatown factory six days a week, does not learn English or pass the naturalization test. She encourages her daughter to do well in school and make a better life for herself, rather than becoming stuck in the cycle of immigrant poverty.

Aunt Paula is a calculating, competitive businesswoman. Back in Hong Kong, she married the American-born Chinese man that her sister was supposed to marry. She and Uncle Bob own a sweatshop in Chinatown that employs many Chinese immigrants and their young children. They have two sons, Nelson, who is the same age as Kim, and Godfrey, who is younger.

She is a very proud woman and often pits Nelson's achievements against Kim's to determine who is doing better in school. When Uncle Bob's problems with his leg keep him at home more often, Aunt Paula takes over most of his duties. To keep up appearances, she tells everyone that he is working from home. Her vestigial jealousy of her sister's ability to marry of her own free will creates a lasting tension between them. Kim suspects her aunt truly wants her and Ma to suffer and never do better than she and Bob. The genuineness of moments when Aunt Paula expresses pride over her niece's achievements in school is dubious.

Matt works at the factory with Kim and Ma. Like them, he and his family are Chinese immigrants. He is about the same age as Kim, and the two of them grow up together. Initially intrigued by Matt as a potential friend, Ma warns Kim to stay away from him because she believes he will only hinder her from realizing her potential. As they get older, though, Kim spends more time with Matt and Ma comes to see that he is a good person. Kim also gets close with his younger brother, Park, who has a developmental disability. As she and Matt get to know each other better, he confides in her that his father is a drunken gambler who depends on Matt to support his habits. Matt not only works at the factory, but drops out of school to take on side work at various Chinatown restaurants.

In high school, Kim realizes that she has an unrequited crush on Matt. She doesn't get a chance to tell him, though, because he starts going out with a girl named Vivian, whose father owns a plant shop. When Matt's mother dies from a heart attack, though, he breaks up with Vivian and turns to Kim. The two of them have sex, and Kim becomes pregnant. She decides to break up with Matt and have an abortion because she has also just been admitted to Yale. She goes through with the break-up, but can't go through with the abortion. Kim keeps the baby, a son named Jason, and she and Ma raise him together as she continues her education first at Yale, then at Harvard Medical School. In the book's prologue, she contacts Matt and they meet up to try and get some closure.

Kim encounters Curt on her first day at Harrison, where she notices his "lion's mane of sandy hair" (122) and the paint-splattered t-shirt he wears under his uniform blazer. He stands up for Kim when she's accused of cheating, and after that is friendly to her. They begin to spend time together in tenth grade, when he asks Kim to tutor him after breaking his leg in a skiing accident and being put on bedrest. They often meet in Curt's art studio, where he creates sculptures and paints. Kim realizes that he is not dumb, but is more interested in art than he is in academia. Like Annette, he has many blind spots related to his position of privilege as the white son of two trust-funders. He often makes comments to Kim about the value of 'junk,' which strikes Kim as ignorant, given the facts of her living situation.

Though she becomes physically attracted to Curt, she never loves him. When Curt sees how she reacts to Matt's presence, he finally understands why this is. The two of them remain friends, though, and he is the first person that Kim tells about her pregnancy. He offers to marry her and raise the kid as his own, or, conversely, to give her money. She refuses both offers, but appreciates his kindness.