Pressures from School, Friends, and Family

Sadly, people choose to end their life because they have a lot of pressure on them from school, friends, or even family. Just like Lydia, the character who kills herself in Everything I Never Told you, 
many people feel these same pressures. Celeste Ng, the author, gets her readers to think about the
contributing factors and the other characters actions that may have caused Lydia’s potential decision to commit suicide

Lydia’s mother, Marilyn, pushes Lydia to be the best in school and expects her to study throughout most of the day. Marilyn forces her to attend college courses in the summer so Lydia can advance to junior level courses. She wants to live vicariously through Lydia since she was not satisfied with the way her life turned out regarding her education and career path.

Lydia receives books from her parents for Christmas to encourage studying and even making friends. James, her father, who as a child did not fit in, gifts Lydia with a friendship guide.

“Fundamental Techniques in Handling People. Six ways of Making People Like You. At the top, in deep red letters: The More you Get Out of Life, the More You’ll Get Out of Life! ‘I thought you could use this.’ he said. ‘It’s supposed to--well, help you win friends. Be popular’” (Ng 197).

Lydia has extreme pressure put on her to find friends in a place where she is not as accepted as the other students in her class. James giving her this book stresses Lydia is alone and that it is very important to make friends. Since Lydia is reminded of her loneliness, she may feel upset and her self esteem may decrease. Because of this pressure and loneliness, Lydia feels she needs to escape her life. Ng includes this to present to the readers that Lydia has a great deal of pressure on herself, pertaining to not only school work but also friends.