Mechanisms of Characters

In Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, the author uses mechanisms to develop characters. These characters contribute to the themes of mysterious death and hardships for Chinese-Americans.


Lydia was a mysterious character and her family did not know a lot about her life. She often lied about where she was after school or what she was doing with her life. Her family did not know a lot about her boyfriend Jack. Lydia claimed that she had a lot of friends, but really did not know many people that well. These pieces come together in a mechanism to create a lonely character. The bubble of problems with that Lee family popped when Lydia died. The family realized that they were lonely as Chinese-Americans.

James has many experiences as a child that show how hard it was to grow up as a Chinese-American. He was lonely is school and in the workforce. When his daughter dies, he cheats on his wife. These elements come together in a mechanism to show that Lydia felt the same feelings as James. Lydia felt alone and hopeless as an Asian in northeastern Ohio. She felt a lot of academic pressure from her family and had high expectations.


Marilyn is described through anecdotes that come together to create a mechanism. Marilyn's life is described as a struggle as a woman trying to be a doctor. She struggles between her family and her career. Marilyn was focused on her career more than her children and dreaded being a homemaker. She left her family for a brief period and never provided necessary support for Lydia when she went through a depressing time at the end of her life.

Nath is a lonely kid that represents the Lee family well. He has a high academic standard and does not have many friends. He feels like an outcast as a Chinese-American. He put pressure on Lydia when he was accepted in Harvard. These come together to create a mechanism that was hard on Lydia. She was going to be lonely when he was in college and had high standards to live up to. This pushed her to her eventual death.


Hannah is a shy character that even her own family does not recognize. Hannah epitomizes the loneliness of the Lee family. She is an often overlooked character that knows rare details about the death of her sister. These things come together to create a mysterious character that could be the secret to discovering Lydia's death.

In conclusion, details come together to create mechanisms for characters. These mechanisms combine to create the themes of minority struggle and handling a premature death. The mechanisms help send messages to the reader and prove to be the building blocks of Everything I Never Told You.