While in Interior Chinatown with the officers, however, Willis starts feeling guilty. He finds comfort and safety in his costume and role. Though he knows that leading Green and Turner into Interior Chinatown is a betrayal of himself, of his family, and of all Asian immigrants, Willis does it anyway. Though Green and Turner are initially surprised, they eventually allow him into the story, using him as their guide into Interior Chinatown, where they are in pursuit of Dead Asian Guy's murderer. With time, however, Willis soon decides to break through the narrative's rigidly canned parameters. Because he knows the show is following a templated storyline, he fears breaking out of character.

While acting with Impossible Crimes Unit Officers, Sarah Green and Miles Turner, Willis becomes increasingly irritated with how much liberty they have to mess with the script. Forever playing roles like Generic Asian Man, Willis is determined to earn the part of Kung Fu Guy. In the narrative present, Willis attempts burying his own feelings of entrapment, by embracing his assigned roles in the cop show production Black and White. As a child, Willis remembers listening to his parents' frequent conversations about someday escaping Interior Chinatown. They moved into the Chinatown SRO Apartments shortly after their marriage, and began working in the Golden Palace Restaurant on the building's ground floor. Despite their tireless efforts to assimilate, Willis's parents found it impossible to find work in their fields, to buy a home, or to pursue a future according to their own desires and aspirations.

Dorothy left her home country after her mother's death, and Ming-Chen ventured to America in an effort to help his family after his father was killed during the White Terror. Immigrants from Taiwan, Dorothy and Ming-Chen have struggled to survive in American culture since their arrival. While the narrative shifts back and forth in time, and moves frequently between second person narrator Willis Wu's staged and lived versions of reality, the following summary follows a traditional linear trajectory.Īs a young boy, Willis Wu grows up in Interior Chinatown with his parents, Dorothy and Ming-Chen. Pantheon Books, 2020.Ĭharles Yu's Interior Chinatown is divided into seven acts, and adopts a screenplay-style structure. The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Yu, Charles.

Interior chinatown by charles yu