Vivacious Youth
Many of Ng's short stories demonstrate this theme since most of them center around the lives of young people. Ng places her characters in the driver's seats of her stories, narrating their own lives. This allows them to direct their interest and results in a lively list of adventures. Reflecting their age and consequent lack of failure, her protagonists imbue their narratives with a certain belief in the malleable nature of existence. Since they have not faced some of the worst aspects of adulthood which are only apparent with time, they express a certain amount of youthful optimism. For example in "How To Be Chinese" Mackenzie, the main character, is just starting off to college and decides to embrace her academic and residency change by also determining to learn more about her native Chinese culture. She views her identity as something changeable and fluid, devoting attention to developing aspects of it which she has previously ignored. This reflects her belief that she can change herself and thus influence various aspects of her life by learning something new, a particularly telling sign of youth.
The Personality of Identity
Ng's short stories demonstrate a preoccupation with ideas about identity. Through questions, actions, and random events which occur in their lives, her characters all reflect a certain concern over the potentially constructed nature of identity. Each of them possesses an inner sense of purpose and some sort of insecurity which they address in various way. They use these motivations and insecurities as means by which they craft their identities with purpose, perhaps as a result of Ng's own approach to personality. This is evident across the board but becomes especially apparent in "Captioning Emily" in which she makes this theme into the central plot point as well. In this nonfiction story Ng reflects on a season of her young adulthood which she spent investigating the murder of a girl she had known in college. She becomes nearly obsessed with this case because she's bothered by how every source -- activist websites, news media, friends and family, etc. -- describes the girl differently. Ng seems to believe that the true injustice of Emily's murder is that her memory is tainted by everybody's varied opinion of her. People cannot seem to see past themselves to really describe Emily as a unique person who deserves to be remembered that way. This is just one of a many of Ng's stories which focus on this theme of identity/personality, exploring whether or not it is indeed a construct.
Confession
Ng also gives her short story characters flaws. As narrators, they each are positioned to present themselves to the reader however they like, in as good a light as they like. However, many of them choose to highlight their own perceived flaws in order to present a more accurate picture to their audience. This sort of confession allows them to talk openly about their fears and failures, which is a surprisingly difficult feat in the short story format. After revealing their weak spots, the characters then gain credibility with their readers as well since they are establishing their honesty. One example of this is in "How To Be Chinese." Mackenzie, the protagonist, explains how she feels like an imposter for looking Chinese but knowing nothing about the culture. Adopted as a baby from Hong Kong, she was raised in small town Michigan by her single white mother. She hasn't had much opportunity to learn about China and her native people, but she decides to actively pursue that kind of knowledge when she goes off to university. In this manner Mackenzie reveals how she feels insecure about her appearance, is open-minded to the languages and customs of other countries, and considers herself an imperfect person who still has a lot to learn. These are all endearing qualities in anybody and really serve to make readers love Mackenzie and to consider her a reliable narrator.
