Joan Is Okay

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the source text’s depiction of anti-Asian discrimination and hate crimes.

The challenges surrounding being an immigrant form this novel’s most overt, and in many ways most significant, theme. These challenges are also a key focal point in Wang’s previous novel, Chemistry, and as such, it forms an intertextual connection between the two books. While Wang examines many aspects of life for both first- and second-generation Chinese Americans, she is particularly interested in how immigration shapes families and identity. While Joan is Okay pays particular attention to the experiences of first-generation members as they pertain to work and career, in considering the experiences of the second generation, the novel focuses on how these individuals relate to their families and forge a sense of self. Depictions of anti-Asian racism and prejudice, as well as Joan’s internal reactions to this type of harm, also run throughout the novel, especially toward the end as the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies.

Wang’s representation of the difficulties faced by first-generation Chinese Americans focuses primarily on how immigration affects work and career. Joan’s father is intelligent, business-oriented, and driven, yet as an immigrant, he struggles to find a foothold in the United States.