In Lan Samantha Chang’s Hunger, the idea of intimacy and performance can be seen throughout the novella. In this first-person narrative, the story is presented through Min’s viewpoint as she reveals how hunger and the desire for ‘success’ ultimately consumes not only her marriage and family, but her entire self. Chang presents the novella as a homodiegetic and autodiegetic narrative in order to put the emphasis on Min rather than on Tian, who seems to be the main character in terms of the drive for hunger, when in actuality, Min is the main focus of the story. Although Min is an impossible narrator, the narrative must be focalized through her perspective, through first-person narration, in order for the reader to understand the issues of performed intimacy and how she is living in a fantasy that she cannot fulfill when it comes to her marriage and filial duties as a wife. The passage introduces the starting point where Min feels uncomfortable and acknowledges that there is a detachment and “moody distance” between her and …show more content…
It is ironic that the few times that Min understands Tian is when he is performing. This reveals that Min does not truly know her husband outside of his own desires to achieve success as a performer as she keeps to herself that fact that she is living with a stranger (219). All of the other times that Min tries to please him by cooking delicious meals, socially detaching herself from people that make him uncomfortable, and wishing for a son to satisfy him were to no avail. In spite of the fact that Tian puts on all of these performances, Min is the true performer. She puts on a performance to fulfill her constant craving for love from her husband. By acting a certain way, she believes that even though she is limited to nothing more than a housewife, she will be accepted by society and most importantly, her