Part One Discussion Questions

[Simone]

Hey everyone!

If you're reading this, then you've gotten through the first part of Free Food for Millionaires. I know you must have a lot of thoughts after only 150 pages, so let's chat about them here.

You're more than welcome to speak to any of these topics or even all of them! You can also add your questions below. Let's just have the convo continue!

Just add them to this thread! I would definitely read through the threads in this discussion and respond to what people say. Also, make sure to stay open-minded and kind to those who share here.

Haley and Diana both asked:

Casey seems to blame her lot in life for everything she's been through (being poor, but having the best education you can afford).

What if the tables were turned? What if Casey grew up with the money she seems to envy from Ella and Virginia? What if she went to those schools and didn't have to worry about tuition or loans?

Do you think that Casey would be a different person from today? If so, what kind of person do you imagine her being?

My question is from a thread I posed a couple of days ago:

I think that a lot of us can relate to Casey's feelings of being "inadequate" for her parents. She has a lot of indecision throughout the entire novel, but right in the beginning her father tells her that there's only one choice you can make. You can either be a doctor or lawyer. I know many Asian Americans have dealt with this question in life, but I do feel that anyone who is loyal and dutiful to their parents felt the same way.

Have you ever experienced something like this? How did you over come it?

You can read my response to this question and a few others on this thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Happy reading!

[Diana]

I definitely think Casey would've been a different person if she did come from money. I really liked Casey, despite her flaws (we all have flaws, don't we) because she was so stubborn. Don't get me wrong. I think she can be extremely disrespectful towards her parents. But, I did love her pride. The one thing she clung onto.. She literally had nothing to lose so she had the balls and lived life her way, ignoring all other expectations and I think her coming from her humble background had everything to do with it! If she were a pushover like Ella, I don't think I would have liked her as much.

I was sucked into FFFM because of the first scene. Though I had a better relationship with my dad, I do remember going though similar struggles because I felt as if my only options to prove myself worthy was going to Grad School. I come from a different background than most immigrant. Though my parents moved to the US, they received their education and returned back to Korea. If they chose to live in the US, I don't think they would've been okay with the choices my siblings and I have made because they might have not thought our career choices were worth their sacrifice. Immigrant parents sacrifice so much for their children's future and it's understandable that they want us to have a good future. To most Asians, a good future means being financially well off. I think with time and through trial and error, both sides learn that they have to give and take. My parents finally learned to respect our decisions.. As long as we are happy, they say. :) Though the scene between Casey and her dad was a bit extreme, I could understand both sides...

[Lois]

What Casey desires the most is the carefree, relaxed attitude towards life her rich friends have because they don't have anything to worry about. All her decisions stem from her worries - worries about education, job, credit card debt, living costs, etc. A lot of her stress and pressure comes from them and this is where her entitlement comes in to compensate for her worries. "I know and have good taste for finer things and in fact I deserve them just as much as Ella or Virginia. Ergo, ____" So she splurges on things and good times and what not, which makes this cycle that never breaks.
So, no, I really don't think she'll be a different person. She'll just be like all her rich friends that she knows mainly on the outside. Conversely, I think this is on which the whole book hinges. Why would we want to know about Casey's story, who has an expensive taste and lives a life that suits that taste? The Casey we see in the story makes that whole lot more interesting. A poor, working-class-borne girl with an expensive taste.