Joan Is Okay

Chuàng is a Chinese word that Joan first utters to her father as he dies and then later explains. It means “to create something that never was, to forge a new path, to innovate, to achieve, to strive” (95). This concept, dear to both Joan and her father, symbolizes the connection that she has to her family in spite of their many differences. Joan’s parental relationship cannot be characterized by warmth or what would look to many like love, but Joan does note several times that her father had always been supportive of her career goals and respectful of her education, drive, and job. After Joan obtains her medical degree, her father calls her his “doctor daughter,” and she understands that he is proud of her. Joan’s father struggled as an immigrant, but never gave up, forming business after business while trying to be successful in the United States. After returning to China, he finally found success, and his business took off. The two share a spirit of chuàng in that each of them, in their own way, forges a new path and achieves largely through their ambition, determination, and effort. Joan and Fang also share chuàng. Although Fang’s career goals are rooted in financial success and Joan’s in the value of work itself, each sibling makes their way in the United States and succeeds because of their drive and their commitment to their work. Joan’s mother, also in her own way, embodies chuàng. She values self-determination, and although immigration had been important to her and her husband, she is equally willing to return to China. Joan’s mother is happy in her home country, and even during her lengthy visit to Fang and Tami during the early days of the pandemic, she is determined to find a flight home and resolute in her decision not to return to the United States again. Although she misses her husband, she forges a new path for herself after his death and continues to embody strength and resilience. These differences among the characters, who are all members of the same family, together add to the symbolism of chuàng: In a broader sense, it is a reminder that even those who share common values and similar backgrounds may thrive in paths unique to them.

The latter half of Joan is Okay introduces the COVID-19 pandemic. The presence of the pandemic within the text helps to illustrate the importance of work to Joan, but its most important function is to help illustrate The Difficulties of Immigration for Chinese American families in particular. Because so little was initially understood about the novel virus, a patchwork of regulatory responses emerged across nations and continents, and travel became difficult. Many countries closed their borders to China early on and, perceiving discrimination, China responded in kind. This response had a profound impact on Chinese nationals and Chinese Americans wanting to fly back and forth between the two countries, and Joan’s mother’s travel difficulties speak to the real-life experiences of Chinese and Chinese American communities during this time. There was much public rhetoric blaming China for the virus, and because of this, travel to and from China was initially affected more so than travel to and from other communities. In addition to travel restrictions and the idea that China was to blame for the pandemic, there was also a climate of increased prejudice and even hate crimes toward Chinese and Chinese American individuals during the early days of the pandemic. In many scenes in which Joan narrates rising case numbers and both American and Chinese responses to COVID-19, she also brings up instances of hate and discrimination. The pandemic became, for Chinese Americans, a moment of shared difficulty as many were subject to prejudice not seen against Chinese communities in many years. It is just one of the ways that this novel engages with the specific experience of Chinese American immigrant groups, and it grounds the novel within the history of Chinese immigration to the United States.

Wealth is another important motif within the text. It speaks to the themes of The Difficulties of Immigration and Work and Identity and helps to characterize both Joan and her brother, Fang. Fang is a hedge fund manager who lives in a large, 10-acre compound in a massive house with his wife, Tami; their three children; and several staff members and domestic workers. For Fang, wealth “solves” the problems of immigration and should be each immigrant’s primary goal. He argues that there are three stages to immigration: The first immigrants have to effectively re-start their lives. They take whatever jobs they can, and their goal is to save enough to send their children to college. The children then must obtain the best possible education and direct their energy at work toward financial success. Through this success, they are able to pass on generational wealth to their children, and it is this financial safety net that puts the third group into the same standing as their American-born counterparts. Joan sees immigration through a different lens. She eschews wealth and all of its manifestations, even preferring coach seats to the first-class cabin so loved by Fang. For Joan, the main “problem” of immigration is not poverty, but difference. She strives to be valued for her work ethic and seen through the lens of career rather than through the lens of race. In this way, Joan’s rejection of wealth can be understood as a manifestation of her understanding of Work and Identity. For Fang, wealth is a critical component of self-identification, but for Joan, work and career are more important.