Fred Waah Diamond Grill Analysis

Food often constructs one’s identity, and one consumes identity through food. Fred Wah expresses this idea through the biotext Diamond Grill, in which he uses food as a symbol to critique his struggles to embrace his Chinese identity while fitting into Western society. Through the biotext, food connects Wah with his family background and nostalgia; also, the author critiques the struggles to accept his Chinese identity and expresses his oppression of Chinese heritage through food. While working at the Diamond Grill, he is aware of the difficulties to adhere to and fit into Western society and the gap between the two generations and the racial groups in his society. Gradually, he finds his identity through cooking different dishes, and is able …show more content…
Wah is able to surpass his father that he makes his own special “grey cup” (40) in the end, this demonstrates Wah finds his own identity through making dishes. Mixing “ginger ale from syrup and carbonated water” (40) indicates Wah’s mixed, hyphenated identity. The “ginger ale” represents his Chinese root, and the “carbonated water” represents Western society. Also, Wah mixed his rebellious and calm façade in his identity, when Wah breaks all the barriers and finds his own identity, he states that he will “make this the smoothest, shiniest, snazziest soda fountain in town” (40). Wah also claims the soda fountain is his territory that he is able to accept his differences and views them as parts of him. Wah impresses his friends by serving up larger-than-normal scoops of ice cream, thicker shakes, more sauce, and fancier flourishes of whipped cream” (41), which implies that Wah is willing and does not feel shameful about showing his friends his differences. The soda fountain represents his rebelliousness and his pride in having a hyphenated identity. Discovering his identity is like making a dish with all the emotions and identities, which makes who he is. Through cooking Wah is able to find his own identity and embrace