"Straddling two worlds"
Each of Hua's stories focuses on protagonists from various immigrant communities. Within these stories, she explores how these characters "straddle two worlds," and navigate their divided sense of identity. Hua has been praised for exploring and depicting the experiences of second-generation immigrants in these stories.
Deceit
As the title suggests, deceit is a key theme across these stories, and each protagonist experiences their own relationship with deceit. In "The Responsibility of Deceit," Calvin struggles with the fact he lies to his parents about his sexuality but concludes that deceit is a necessary evil sometimes:
“As much as I concealed from my parents,” he says, “I needed them to be there to hide from. Worse than any rejection would be their absence from my life.”
Here he suggests that although it is bad to lie, in his case it is necessary because otherwise, his parents might abandon him. Therefore, being deceitful is preferable to the alternative.
Parental disappointment
Many of Hua's protagonists experience guilt and anxiety about disappointing their parents. For example, in "Accepted," Elaine worries about her parent's reaction to her rejection from Stanford, and as a result, she pretends to attend there. In "The Responsibility of Deceit," Calvin hides a key part of his identity to avoid the wrath of his parents and potential abandonment.
