Eat a Bowl of Tea

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains depictions of sexual assault and intimate partner violence, as well as anti-Chinese racism.

Ben Loy is one of the primary protagonists in Eat a Bowl of Tea and the husband of Lee Mei Oi. He is described as being in his mid-twenties, with a “fast, deliberate gait” (26) that indicates that he is “alert and conscientious” (26). After coming to the US at the age of 17, Ben Loy worked in New York “for two years before he was inducted into the army” (22). He is characterized by his extensive history with sex workers in New York and by his conflicting responses to Mei Oi’s affair. Before his marriage to Mei Oi, Ben Loy spent his nights at the apartment he shared with Chin Yeun, waiting for “that familiar knock on the door when Maria or Evelyn or Josie would come” (41). The fact that Chin Yeun primarily patronizes white sex workers reflects a desire to assimilate into American culture. As a result of his history with sex workers, Ben Loy has had gonorrhea and syphilis “many times” (91). Although he had “been so full of fire” (80) with sex workers, these sexually transmitted infections make his sex life with Mei Oi disappointing.