Elena Munk's Blog ASTU 100

In Fred Wah’s Diamond Grill he speaks in large about his family and their experiences of being a Chinese-Canadian family in the early to mid-1900s. Some main focuses are in stories shared about his grandfather like his fondness of gambling and his own father like settling into life in Canada (58, 19). Fred Wah (jr.) tells a narrative that is shared with other members of his family too however. His frequent mentions of family reunions (84, 87-88, 89, 140-41) or other histories creates a wide story that encompasses not only his immediate family, but aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Wah also uses other family members besides his father and grandfather to share his story, one being his “Ray, [his] oldest boy cousin” and another “older cousin” (87, 84).

Whenever Wah includes or introduces Ray, it almost always follows the same theme. The two of them are speaking and then the writing shifts to Ray speaking for most of the passage, explaining something to his younger cousin (87-88, 91, 93). The stories Ray shares are also typically not of advice for his younger cousin, but stories of his family’s life or that of the older generation. The same can be said of Wah’s other cousin, mentioned once, who talks about their parents when they were younger (84). It is interesting how Wah chooses to use his cousins as sharing these points instead of writing a prose himself and sharing the information as he does with other topics, like his father and Aunt Ethel being forced to move to China (5-7). Why would he choose to use his cousins for these explanations instead of himself?

The cousins, particularly Ray adds another layer to his/their complicated family. He is the vessel in which Wah is able to discover (and share) further information. In the simplest explanation it could be that Wah thought another voice would be more engaging for the read. However, Wah’s use of his cousins seem to be to share stories that include people past his immediate family and give the reader further knowledge on his history. They share stories that may not have been told to him by other family members-namely his father- and to answer his questions that he might not ask others, the type of topics cousins may talk about. A main example being the story shared about his father’s family when they were young and how they looked and their struggle with identity as half Chinese (84). Another being Wah’s questioning towards Ray about the different marriages between their parents and aunts and uncles, here they talk a bit about the small town of Swift Current where they lived (93-94). As well, having this information revealed through a discussion with another person unifies the concept of a shared history

Looking at Wah’s use of his cousins as an author however, it seems as if they are used by Wah to create links and chains to other stories that are similar to his own, but not quite and as mentioned previously, to share family history. As well, he introduces both as older cousins, which gives off the notion that they know more than he does in general and about the family. Ray is given his own voice multiple times in Wah’s writing, yet is used by Wah to only discuss events that include other family members and it is never revealed what Ray chooses to do in his life. His purpose is to serve as a storyteller to both Wah and the reader. To address my earlier question of why Wah would not explain these stories himself or even the need to include them, it could be that he tries to include the narratives to show how he is not the only one who has struggled as a Chinese-Canadian, so he includes particularly those who are older and those from the younger generation. He even acknowledges that there are others with similar identities to his own, stating that the “younger generation isn’t even half. [They’re] all chipped” (84). By using his cousins, in a way, he showcases that he is not alone besides his siblings in having a complicated heritage.

Works Cited:

Wah, Fred. Diamond Grill: 10th Anniversary. Edmonton: NeWest Press, 2008. Print.