During his childhood, Nath was resentful of the attention his parents gave to Lydia. After her romantic pursuit is rejected by Jack, Lydia is pushed to the edge and ultimately decides to end her life. When Nath begins preparing to leave home and begin school at Harvard, Lydia experiences a deep sense of abandonment. This causes tension between Lydia and her older brother, Nath, whom she deeply admires. She starts smoking cigarettes with the school's archetypal bad boy, Jack Wolff. Unhappy with her circumstances, Lydia begins to engage in rebellious behavior. James, ashamed of his Asian race and consistently made to feel like an outcast, pressures Lydia to have a vibrant social life. Although Lydia shows little genuine interest in her studies, Marilyn projects her academic hopes onto her daughter. The rest of the story, told in flashbacks, explains the mounting pressures that caused Lydia to eventually commit suicide. Though the circumstances for her death are not yet revealed, this moment is the catalyst for the realization of the Lee family's deep-seated familial tension. At the beginning of the novel, the audience discovers that Lydia has drowned in the town's lake. She is repeatedly referred to as the "favorite child," mostly due to her fair complexion. Lydia Lee is the middle child born to Marilyn and James Lee.
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