Everything I Never Told You 'And The Night I Survived Meeting His Parents'

The impact of attitudes towards interracial marriage is an extensively integrated theme in Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng and “The Night I Survived Meeting His Parents” by Carmel Jones. In Ng’s novel, Marilyn’s relationship with James is profoundly inflicted by social pressures and judgements. In a time where racial equality was not commonplace, the prejudice she faced and her ensuing struggles had a detrimental effect on her identity. In Jones’ short story, the attitudes towards interracial couples had similar psychological impacts on Carmel. She battled her preconceived notion which was constructed through society’s faulty views of our ideals; she was convinced her boyfriend’s parents would not approve of the relationship. In both
As shown in Everything I Never Told You, Marilyn’s love for James is far stronger than any pressures society could uphold. However, the constant prejudice they face makes it difficult to look past their differences, “Something inside her said, He understands. What it’s like to be different” (Ng 36). This feeling of detachment is hard to suppress, and the resulting difficulties they faced caused them to isolate from one another. Similarly, in Jones’ story, her insistence that Donny’s parents would not approve of her also put stress on her relationship. Even though they were fully accepting of each other, they were obligated to address their differences as a potential drawback, “Well, the obvious – what’s your family going to think about you dating a black girl?” (Jones 2). This only intensified the immense pressure they felt from society’s expectations, and it put a serious strain on their relationship. Conflict among couples is yet another negative ramification of people’s attitudes towards interracial relationships, and in both works, it becomes clear that this repercussion can have damaging