Race and Nation in Louis Chu's Eat a Bowl of Tea and Nora Okja Keller's Comfort Woman

Race and nation are often portrayed as being quite problematic due to their formation and transformation and complex depiction. In order to come close to fully comprehending the notions of race and nation, there is an intertwining of the histories and overlapping representations of gender and sexuality that play pivotal roles in the overall structure. These issues are broad and interrelated in every aspect, as demonstrated by Louis Chu's Eat a Bowl of Tea and Nora Okja Keller's Comfort Woman, both of which illustrate the formation and reproduction of social identity, particularly that of race, gender, sexuality, and the variations through time and space to form a single unique sense of nationalism and identity. 

The central issue that runs through the plot of Eat a Bowl of Tea is Ben Loy's impotence, from which most of the events of the novel stem. Living in a bachelor society of Chinatown, Ben Loy is torn between the old China and America, as he struggles to reconcile generations of culture and tradition. He is a young man trying to make a life for himself in a society that is constrained by structural racism, and one where he can only pursue a limited amount of opportunities and resources ranging from Chinese restaurants to family connected businesses. He is not allowed to mature on his own and make decisions without the constant critical eye of the community. Ben Loy's sexuality problems can be said to be a representation of his inability to cope with the stress and strain of having to live up to the enormous responsibility placed on him to continue the Chinese traditions and make Chinatown into a family society from the largely male society of New York's Chinatown, a fact due to US national immigration policies. Similarly, Mei Oi faces a sudden transplantation to a strange country where she is expected to live up to the role of the traditional Chinese woman, to represent and embody everything that Old China meant in the memories of the men who had left home so long ago. She lacks the guidance and support of females and ultimately turns to adultery for fulfillment.