Fitting In

Phuc’s attempts to fit in help define his identity as he discovers his interests and denies certain aspects of his background during this experience of self-discovery. In Prologue, he writes, “You know one way to show that you fit in? By not fitting in” (5). He chooses to identity as a punk kid in order to find an accepting friend group. Although this subculture deviates from the mainstream culture of his peer group, he molds himself to fit into their expectations by skating and appreciating punk music. Within this identity choice, he also becomes comfortable enough with his punk group to pursue his interests in academics, regardless of the fact that his love for reading does not necessarily fit with the ideal image of a punk.

Phuc’s desire to fit in stems largely from his peers’ expectations for Vietnamese people to behave and appear a certain...