Set in the fictional towns in New York (Ridgeborough) and China (Fuzhou), The Leavers is a story that emphasizes on the themes of borders and belonging among immigrants.
Lisa Ko was motivated to write the short story based on an article that she had read in New York Times on an undocument immigrant who had been taken into detection in Florida for trying to bring in her son into the U.S. She was motivated to write The Leavers in an attempt to understand unto why when it comes to immigration, parents have to go, and kids had to stay and be adopted by other families.
Deming who was born in Manhattan is left by his mother when he is a year old in China to be taken care of by his father. Deming’s mother pays fifty grands to be smuggled from China to US in search of a better life other than being a factory girl. Deming comes to U.S when he is 5 years old and reunites with his mother Polly. They live with Leon who is Polly’s boyfriend, Vivian who is Leon’s sister and her son Michael. All goes well with them living in a one-bedroom Bronx apartment until Polly disappears one day scattering the family and Deming being left in the hands of foster care. When Deming was 11 years old, Deming moves to Ridgeborough. This brings in the theme of separation as Deming is later adopted by a white family and his name changed to Daniel Wilkinson. Ko aimed at bringing her audience to understand on what life is like to grow up in adoptive families which are different in race and class. Deming being a young boy has a conflicted sense of identity and feels displaced to an extent that he goes back to Manhattan to start looking for him mum Polly 10 years later. The search can be related with the search of his own identity.
Lannamann, Taylor. “The Leavers Themes.” LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 31 May 2019. Web. 7 Aug 2021.
Weiss-Meyer, Amy. “‘The Leavers’ Is A Wrenching Tale Of Parenthood”. The Atlantic, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/05/lisa-ko-the-leavers-book-review/526179/.
Hong, Terry. “‘The Leavers,’ Inspired By A Real Story, Confronts Transracial Adoption”. The Christian Science Monitor, 2017, https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2017/0502/The-Leavers-inspired-by-a-real-story-confronts-transracial-adoption.
I think it is very interesting that you chose to focus on the writer’s inspiration. When reading the novel, I did not even consider how or why she was in the position to write the Leavers. I personally think she accomplishes her goal for her writing. I’m curious as to if other people think she did a proper job representing a group she is not a part of. I agree that the search for identity is a central theme.
Lisa Ko’s inspiration for writing The Leavers is something I had considered, so I am glad that you used this presentation to elaborate on it! I think that the question of why kids must stay but parents must go could be answered in many different ways, so I think that Ko offers a unique perspective. I think the story that inspired her is not an uncommon one, but she explores the issue through the story with such a specificity that the reader is able to relate to the characters without feeling like they are reading a story so common and nonspecific. I think Ko does a great job of humanizing an issue. Great job on this presentation!
Hello! I found your post on Ko’s motivation for writing “The Leavers” to be very interesting, Before reading your post, I was unaware that a simple New York Times article motivated Ko to write about experiences such as separation and injustice. Overall, reading this post I came to realize that even the smallest things in life can influence someone to push for a greater cause. I also learned that growing up in an adoptive family poses many challenges.
Hi! I found your post introducing the motivation and the background stories of the novel The Leavers really interesting. I think the author really make a connection from her personal experiences- Deming and Lisa Ko both lived in New York (Ridgeborough) and are both originally from China. After reading, I think I would look at the background stories for my next reading.
I like how you mentioned the loss and confliction of his identity and how by him trying to look for his mother, in a way he was also looking for a sense of belonging. He was looking for himself and his origins while also looking for his mom. It is also so complex to deal with abandonment, immigration, legality and validity of said immigration as well as obtaining a new identity and living with different races, socio-economic classes, and cultures all in one novel.