Real Americans Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Chinese Science During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and our BookBrowse Review of Real Americans.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. The prologue of the novel describes a brief scene with a character we later learn is May and a fabled lotus seed, which May swallows. In what ways did this action symbolically (or, perhaps, biologically) affect the course of action that would follow in May's life and, by extension, Lily's and Nick's? Do you think that if she hadn't swallowed the seed, the succeeding events would have transpired?
2. Within the first few chapters, it's clear that Lily was largely raised as an American without much knowledge of Chinese culture. What are some character traits that point to this? Why do you think immigrants assimilate to white American culture and mannerisms and raise their kids this way? In what ways does Lily yearn for a greater, richer understanding of her Chinese heritage?
3. When Lily visits Ping in Beijing, she realizes that she feels foreign even though everyone around her looks like her; page 105 reads, "Nothing indicated that I was American until I opened my mouth, and then there was invariably disappointment—even scorn—that I couldn't say what I wanted to say with my Chinese face." Discuss this passage as it relates to the identity crisis many American-born ethnic minorities face. In what ways does this crisis mirror Nick's perspective as a white-passing man who is half Chinese?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Vintage. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.