45 pages • 1 hour read
Kelly YangFront Desk
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Exclusion and Inclusion
As a recent immigrant, Mia becomes painfully aware that some people in America receive better treatment than others. Some are excluded from opportunity while others are included. Lupe sums up this concept when she discusses the two different roller coasters that perpetuate the pattern of keeping one group rich and the other group poor. Aside from the exclusivity of the rich, Mia also learns the exclusivity of natives compared to immigrants. Her mother emphatically says that Mia will never speak her adopted language as well as her schoolmates; she will forever be excluded from becoming an English-speaking writer.
Another form of exclusion that the novel examines is racism. The police immediately suspect Hank of stealing a motel guest’s car simply because he’s black. Their interrogation results in Hank’s job loss, which he passively accepts. He’s resigned to being treated poorly because of his skin color. Yao carries this prejudice one step further when he instructs the Tangs to refuse accommodations to all black people. In his mind, black equals bad.
Despite all these examples of exclusionary behavior in Front Desk, the novel also illustrates the theme of inclusion. Mia comes to regard the weeklies as her extended family. Her parents help other Chinese immigrants who are fleeing bad conditions of their own. Mia forgives Jason for his insulting behavior when she realizes that his father is pressuring him. By the end of the novel, inclusion extends to the masses of poor people who invest in the motel so that everyone can share a bit of success.
Immigrant Exploitation
To anyone living outside the United States, America is viewed as the land of infinite prosperity. However, the immigrants in Front Desk find that prosperity is almost impossible to achieve. They become the target of relentless exploitation by opportunistic employers who seek to capitalize on their vulnerabilities.
The Tangs are the most obvious targets of these abusive practices. Initially, we learn that Mia’s father worked in a restaurant where he was spattered with hot grease on a daily basis. Mia’s mother is fired from the same restaurant when Mia accidentally drops an order on the floor. By comparison, Yao seems like a dream come true to the Tangs when he offers them free lodging in exchange for managing his motel. They soon learn that their promised pay will be docked for any number of infractions, keeping their earnings below the poverty line.
The Tangs aren’t the only immigrants facing exploitation. The novel is filled with depressing examples of abuse, as illustrated by the refugees who stream through the motel’s doors seeking a bed for the night. Ming is fleeing from loan sharks who want to kill him. Li spends all day in a restaurant preparing hamburgers, which he isn’t allowed to eat. Zhang works in a restaurant where the owner confiscates his passport and ID and keeps him as a virtual slave until he escapes. After exploring this theme of abuse, the novel also presents a solution when the exploited band together to create a more positive future for themselves.
Persistence Overcomes Resistance
The Tangs’ experience in America illustrates the twin themes of exclusion and exploitation, but Mia is determined to rise above the limitations placed on her family. In doing so, she illustrates the most important theme of the story: It is possible to overcome resistance through persistence. Mia demonstrates her determination early in the novel when she decides to run the front desk. Even though she’s only ten, she discovers that staring down guests who question her competence is an effective way to assert control. She says, “The difference between an alpha and a beta is the alpha wins every staring contest” (21).
Mia is equally undeterred by the array of other obstacles that cross her path. Even though she receives a C-minus on her first essay, she works on her writing skills until she eventually wins a Pizza Hut certificate for her words. She saves money in a tip jar to cover the Vermont contest entrance fee. When that money goes to pay for her mother’s hospital visit, she cashes in her father’s coin collection to afford the contest. When she loses the contest and her dream of giving her parents a motel of their own is crushed, she invents a new way to give them a motel by pooling the resources of everyone they know. No matter what life throws at her, Mia never loses sight of her dreams. She learns to take resistance in stride. She says, “Sometimes, you have to take matters into your own hands. And you have to be creative to get what you want” (192).
