Essay Questions

The “Toothpick Incident” brings the conflict between Izzy and Mrs. Peters to a satisfying climax, but what is the incident which stimulates the discord between teacher and student?

Izzy seems to have little person quarrel with her music teacher partly on account of being skipped over some older kids to be named second chair among the violinists. She’d heard rumors about Mrs. Peters’ alcoholism but also put that down to gossip until she saw real evidence herself. The tension which flares before the two is therefore not the direct result of a slight against Izzy personally. Instead, Izzy reacts with rage Mrs. Peters absolutely uncalled racist-tinged humiliation of one of the most inoffensive students in the entire school. It is, in fact, only when the instructor openly directs a racist insult toward Deja Johnson that Izzy’s ire is raised to the point of grabbing her teacher’s violin bow and dramatically breaking it in two over her knee. This action is further indication that Izzy’s reputation of a problem child or troublemaker stems from a positive place of activism on behalf of the underprivileged and a revolt against the oppressive nature of Shaker Heights.

What evidence is there that Lexie’s assertion “No one sees race” in Shaker Heights is woefully naïve as well as contributory to the very problem itself?

Mrs. Peters’ displays an obviously deep-seated strain of racism toward blacks when she cruelly asks Deja that question which sets off Izzy: “You need me to speak in Ebonics?” The school orchestra recitals themselves are also a manifestation of the very real presence of racial tensions if not the kind of outright racism of the conductor. “There weren’t many black kids in the orchestra, though, and when her parents showed up for concerts, they sat in the last row, by themselves; they never chitchatted with the other parents.” Shaker Heights prides itself on its history of racial sensitivity highlighted by its reaction to violence against African-Americans during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s when the neighborhood association encouraged integration with the lure of home loans. It is precisely the way the lines divide up so expectedly in the custody case between the McCulloughs and Bebe Chow, however, that points to the reality of racism in Shaker Heights. The novel examines the presence and impact of race from the perspective of ignoring its existence like Lexie or refusing to recognize it for what it is as exemplified by the natural tendency to suppose a white husband and wife are innately and inherently better choices to parent a baby than her Chinese mother.

How do omelets become a weapon in the hands of Mrs. Richardson?

Elena Richardson is out for information. She has almost—perhaps beyond almost—reached the point of obsession in her quest to discovery the mystery lying at the root of Mia Warrens…well, roots. As she tells Pearl in the midst of her sublimely sinister interrogation, “I believe in knowing where your roots lie. That kind of thing shapes your identity so much.” Elena is so deeply committed to this truth that she has become a person who is utterly baffled the existence of a person for whom roots apparently have no meaning. Mia’s roots and therefore her identity become a mystery to be solved and that solution runs straight through Pearl whose desire for an identity has been so openly expressed in her covetous attitude toward the unity of the Richardson clan (except for Izzy). Mrs. Richardson plays upon Pearl’s insecurities by treating her to brunch as a special restaurant that serves omelets “stuffed things it had never occurred to Pearl to put in an omelet: mushrooms, asparagus, coral-colored chunks of lobster.” By the time Pearl’s fluffy omelet has “gone rubbery” she has unwittingly given Mrs. Richardson all the information that a real detective might have had to beat out of somebody or gotten through the threat of a gun pressed against their temple.