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The Diamond Grill does not use "plot" in a conventional sense; what it uses intead is an interrelated string of thematic
issues that constitute "plot". Fred Wah tells a series of mini-stories that confront such issues as his "hybrid ethnicity", and his sense of family growing up in the small town of Nelson in 1951. Wah''s father is a Canadian-born Chinese-Scots-Irishman; Wah''s mother is a Swedish-born Canadian. Each story is a separate, yet, linked recollection that takes up such memories as not knowing which "racial identity" box to fill in when completing a form as a child. Wah''s chain of memories centre around the Diamond Grill Cafe that his father owns and that he works at. The Cafe serves as a platform of thresholds: the front and back of the cafe, separated by doors, contain separate identities as well, as Wah puts nicely here; "Fish an! Side a fries! Over easy! On brown! I pick up an order and turn, back through the doors, whap! My foot registers more than its own imprint, starts to read the stain of memory." The Chinese language and culture in the back create a tangible parallel to the white-Canadian atmosphere in the front. Wah''s stories express his marginalized perceptions of identity as he works through rejecting, accepting, negotiating, isolating and understanding his ethnicity, or his "racial identity box". Through several streams of consciousness, Wah''s tales read like poetry with a thousand subtle, but profound, messages.
Published: January 17, 2008
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