Summary Of Who Will Light Incense When Mother's Gone By Andrew Lam

An Analysis of “Who Will Light Incense When Mother’s Gone?” by Andrew Lam

“Who Will Light Incense When Mother’s Gone” by Andrew Lam is a story from Andrews perspective about his mother lighting incense to the dead ancestors and who will do it when she is gone. In the story “Who will Light the Incense when Mother’s Gone?” by Andrew Lam, the conformity theme comes from the mother wanting her children to continue the different traditions and customs that she has kept, such as lighting incense to pray to the dead ancestors.

Despite his mother staying consistent with her traditions, Andrew Lam dealt with the struggle to continue to conform to his family traditions. He began to rebel against what he was told to do as he grew up because of his quest

Andrew’s mother is worried that when she dies, their Vietnamese culture will be forgotten due to the modern American culture Andrew and the rest of the family has adapted to. But Andrew just calls this “the price for living in America” because he realizes that he relates more to the American culture than he does his Vietnamese culture, which now is almost a stranger to him (Lam).

Andrew realized that when he moved to America, he started to become rebellious and distant from his traditional Vietnamese ways. He recalls in “Who Will Light the Incense When Mother’s Gone” his mother asking him to “speak more Vietnamese inside the house” in to which he refused (Lam). The rebellion has gotten to the point where Andrew no longer knows who to pray to or what he should pray for because he has “fled so far from Vietnam”. Andrew also realizes that because of his rebellion, he lives in very different world than his

The refusing to speak Vietnamese because he wanted to speak English was his way of expressing who he was. Andrew acknowledges that his life is very different because he has rebelled and explored new things. His mother is doing the same thing every morning because in her world, she lights the incense and prays to the ancestors because this is how she identifies. Andrew on the other hand would rather travel the world, write, and do public speaking to him, that’s who he is. He isn’t the little boy who would climb up the chair to light the incense