How Not to Get Lost: Find a Central Element

All that one would need to do to make Celeste Ng's novel Everything I Never Told You would be to put together a couple of things in a logical manner that work together to complete a uniform goal. Ng uses the lake by the families house as a mechanism to bring about the story in a logical manner. First, Ng uses the lake to inform the family of their daughter’s death. Next, the lake provides the family with a source of comfort. Last, the lake provides insight into the family dynamics and provides a potential reason for Lydia’s death.

Who knew that chicken fried bacon could be a mechanism for the American palate?

With any great mechanism, there has to be a great beginning. Ng uses the lake as a way to inform the family of their daughter’s death. Ng starts the novel with “Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet,” (Ng 1). Then Ng goes on to write “It’s not until early Thursday morning, just after dawn, that the police drag the lake and find her,” (Ng 24). Ng purposefully uses the lake as a cause of death for Lydia because the lake is near the family’s house, and every time the family passes the lake they will be reminded of their daughter’s death. Instead of having Lydia kill herself by hanging, Ng chooses Lydia to drown in the lake because the family has both good and bad memories from the lake. This inherently allows Ng to use the lake as a mechanism to expand on the story as a whole. The lake is at the center of the family’s dynamic and each of the family members are closer to the lake than others, depending on experiences. For Hannah, the lake serves as a mystery and a coping mechanism.

Then, Celeste Ng uses the lake as a coping mechanism for Hannah. Hannah, being the youngest member in the family, often lived in the shadows of her two older siblings. After Lydia’s death, her parents are not providing much comfort for Hannah, so to cope with the death, Hannah finds refuge at the lake. Although the lake is where her sister died, Hannah believes that picturing the steps that Lydia took to kill herself would make Hannah feel more at ease. “[Hannah] will set out in the boat, as Lydia must have. She will row to the middle of the lake, where her sister somehow ended up, and peer down into the water. Maybe then she’ll understand,” (Ng 105). Unlike her mother, Hannah thinks that the lake can be used as a resource to cope with Lydia’s death. Reenacting the steps that Lydia took helps Hannah understand why her sister did what she did (Just like the new Netflix series "13 Reasons Why"). Part of what makes this death so hard for the family is understanding why Lydia committed suicide. The parents thought that Lydia had everything going for her, but the siblings, Nathan and Hannah, have a different perspective on Lydia’s life as a whole. Hannah is making the right steps toward coping with Lydia’s death. Hannah accepts the fact that her sister is dead and is now focusing more energy on why she did what she did.

Likewise, the lake serves a mechanism for Ng to dive deeper into the Lee family dynamics. During some summers, the family would go out and enjoy a day at the lake. However, Ng stresses the fact that both parents would have to be in the right mood for everyone to be at the lake. “On the very best days – though those were very, very rare – their parents would come, too,” (Ng 105). This statement by the narrator inevitably makes the reader question why. For the author to use the same adjective twice next to itself, the point that the author is trying to make must be important. There seems to be some underlying factor within the family that makes it so rare for the whole family to go to the beach. Ng uses the lake as a specific example to further explain the dynamics of the Lee family. Experiences at the beach can provide some evidence as to why Lydia killed herself. Often times the only attention Hannah would get from her parents would be at the lake. This is to say that their attention must have been on one of the other kids when it was not on Hannah. Lydia must have been the center of attention in the family, which eventually pushed her to the breaking point. 

Lydia probably felt a little bit like this

Although there are many other mechanisms in Ng’s novel, ultimately, the most notable mechanism is the lake. First, Ng uses the lake to inform the family of their daughter’s death. Next, the lake provides the family with a source of comfort. Last, the lake provides insight into the family dynamics and provides a potential reason for Lydia’s death. Without the lake, the story may not have been as clear and logical.