Identity and Distance in Thien’s ‘Simple Recipes’
Identity Reconstruction in ‘Simple Recipes’
In “Simple Recipes,” the author, Madeleine Thien, communicates the idea that individuals may need to distance themselves from familiar environments in order to break free from expectations and conventions, allowing them to reconstruct their own identity. Thien develops this central theme through three distinct perspectives:
- The narrator’s memories of her father’s traditions.
- Her brother’s open rebellion.
- Her own reflections as an adult.
Each perspective demonstrates how cultural and familial expectations can create comfort but also intense pressure, forcing individuals to choose whether to embrace or reject them. Thien reveals that distancing from one’s environment is often necessary in order to form an authentic sense of self.
Tradition, Comfort, and Familial Expectation
Thien first illustrates the tension between comfort and expectation through the narrator’s relationship with her father. As a child, the narrator recalls learning to prepare rice under his instruction: “There is a simple recipe for making rice. My father taught it to me when I was a child” (Thien 17). What could be a mundane lesson becomes a **ritual of cultural preservation**, transforming an everyday act into a symbol of identity. The narrator admires her father deeply, even describing him as a “magician” when he makes green onions bloom in water and gathers them into pyramids. To her, these moments are magical memories; to him, they are deliberate acts of keeping tradition alive.
Yet as an adult, the narrator deliberately distances herself from these rituals, keeping her own apartment “scrubbed clean” and free of the heavy grease of her childhood kitchen (Thien 19). This contrast shows her need to step away from the weight of expectation in order to form her own identity. Through the father’s traditions, Thien demonstrates how cultural practices can both inspire admiration and create pressure, ultimately making distance necessary for self-reconstruction.
Rebellion Against Imposed Tradition
Thien also develops the theme through the narrator’s brother, whose defiance highlights the conflict between imposed tradition and independence. Unlike the narrator, who internalizes her father’s rituals, the brother rebels openly, refusing to eat the food prepared for him and calling the fish “sick” (Thien 20). His words express not only dislike but also a profound **rejection of the values** his father tries to impose.
The father responds with harsh condemnation, criticizing him for failing to preserve traditions or maintain the “mother tongue.” This frustration escalates into violence, an act that horrifies the narrator and scars her memory of her father. While painful, this conflict shows how distancing oneself from the familiar sometimes requires outright rebellion, even when it causes division. Through the brother’s defiance and the father’s response, Thien illustrates how rejecting expectations can fracture family bonds but also open the door to independence.
Creating Space for Authentic Self-Definition
Finally, Thien communicates the need for distance through the narrator’s adult reflections, which emphasize how physical and emotional space can lead to the reconstruction of identity. She recalls the kitchen of her youth as heavy with grease and memory, a place marked by both love and conflict. In contrast, her adult apartment is “airy” and spotless, an intentional rejection of the environment that shaped her childhood (Thien 19). By controlling her surroundings, the narrator symbolically redefines herself, choosing **independence over inherited obligation**.
Even as she distances herself, she acknowledges the complexity of her feelings toward her father, admitting that while she still loves him, her loyalty can no longer remain unconditional. This recognition shows that distance is not about erasing family ties but about creating space to reshape one’s identity authentically.
The Necessity of Distance for Independence
Through the narrator’s admiration for her father’s rituals, the brother’s open rebellion, and the narrator’s adult decision to distance herself from her past, Thien communicates that breaking away from familiar environments is sometimes essential for independence. The story suggests that identity is not passively inherited but actively constructed, often through acts of distancing that allow space for growth and self-definition. In “Simple Recipes,” love and memory endure, but it is only by rejecting certain expectations that the narrator can reconstruct a sense of self that feels both authentic and free.