Connections

Feathers From A Thousand Li Away

  On pages 19 and 20, Jing-mei states that her mother once explained to her that if a person “flowed” in too many directions, then they would end up not being great at anything. Jing-mei recognizes this information from her mother as one of her flaws, because she tried to get an number of degrees in different skills, but ended up not being good in any of them. Likewise, I recognize this as a connection to myself, as I learn many things. When I look at the real world, the people who are the best at something will mostly not have many other talents, as they only concentrate on that particular activity or skill. As I try to do many activities and learn many other skills, I am unable to be the best in many of them. Although I may be decent at one or two of those skills, there will be many people who are better than me who concentrate mostly on that particular skill.
   Throughout the first part of the book about Jing-mei’s life, i noticed that her mother and other members of her families often insulted her, criticized and looked down on her. For instance, on page 20, Jing-mei states that her mother always criticized her, and she used to always just dismiss her criticisms as a Chinese superstition. However, when she brings the criticism issue up to her mother, her mother then says that Jing-mei is always too lazy to rise to expectations. I think that this has connections with real life, where parents criticize their children to make them work harder, by dishing out constructive criticism. Although Suyuan’s criticisms seem harsher, I believe that it has is similar to the way some strict parents in the present-day world treat their children.
On page 26, Auntie Lin asked Jing-mei if she was going back to school, because Suyuan probably told her that Jing-mei was going back to school to finish her degree, although she was evidently not planning to. This tells me that the understanding that Jing-mei believes she and her mother has is not as good. This is also particularly due to the fact that her mother exaggerated. Jing-mei told her that she would look into it, but did not give any confirmation that she would actually be taking a class. This connects with me, because sometimes when I tell my parents about something, and she wants to tell her friends the same thing, she would twist the words and exaggerate them so that they would sound more appealing to her friends. For example, I would say I got an “A” on my test, and my parents would translate the “A” into a hundred percent, therefore exaggerating like Suyuan did when she told her friends that her daughter was going back to school to finish her degree.
On page 27 on the book, it states that Jing-mei and Waverly’s parents, Suyuan and An-mei, have spent a long time comparing their children. Their mothers compared every little detail of each of their daughters, although Suyuan had not much to brag of. An-mei’s daughter, Waverly, was a chess champion, which allowed An-mei to brag about her. Suyuan, on the other hand, had nothing to brag about Jing-mei, because Jing-mei did not have much talent. I think that this connects to our modern society, where we see parents everyday comparing their kids to someone else’s. For example, when a parent sees his child’s report card that contains low marks, he asks him what another child got, and then demands an explanation why he did not do as well as another child in his class.
  On page 31 of the book, Jing-mei realizes that the aunties that want her to pass on messages criticizes her for not knowing her mother well because they were just as afraid that their children were just as ignorant as Jing-mei wauys. They were frightened of their daughters who thought that their parents were stupid when they talked in fractured English, and when the Aunties talk in Chinese, their daughters’ “American-born” minds would become impatient with them. I think that this connects to the real world, where children who had immigrated from an Asian country with their parents had done so when they were young, and when they grew up, their parents would still talk as if they were in that Asian country, in Chinese and fractured English. The children, now with different mindsets, would be annoyed at their parents for speaking fractured English. I feel like this also applies to me. Although it is not as bad for me as I speak Chinese, once in a while I would feel slightly annoyed when correcting their grammar mistakes.
  On page 34 of the book, it was stated that An-mei’s grandmother made up stories to teach her to stop doing certain things. For example, she told her not to be greedy and used a story about a greedy girl who ate too much and whose belly grew bigger and bigger, and in the end poisoned herself. When others cut open her body, they found a large white winter melon. Although these stories are not true, they scare children so that they would know what not to do. I think that this connects to the real world, where parents make up scary stories for their children so that their children would not do those things that the parent warned them about, by using urban myths or legends to scare their children.
 The chapter "The Red Candle" is a text to world connection. Lindo Jong was to be married to a spoiled husband. He came from a family that was well off, and Lindo Jong was married into his family by her parents, who saw no other choice but to do so. Her new family confined her to typical “girl activities” (sewing, cooking). All in all, her new family treated her pretty badly. However, in the end, she gets to be free again after she convinces her mother that one of the servants should marry her husband instead of her. I think that some components of her life connect to the book and film, Cinderella (1950). I think it connects to the story because, like Linda, Cinderella abused and mistreated by her family, but remained kind. She was basically a servant, and her only jobs around the house were to cook and sew, just like Linda. In the end, Cinderella got a happy ending by marrying the prince at the King’s ball. Just like Cinderella, Linda eventually became free from her abusive family and was free in the end.

The Twenty-Six Malignant Glass

   The first communication I will be talking about is a text to self relation. Which is based on the chapter which Ying Ying St-Clair losing the rest of her family. While lost, she thinks her family is on another floating pavilion she sees, which they aren’t. She is lost and scared, which I can relate to the times I lose my mom at Costco, because I wander off to look at more interesting things than apples. The part where she thinks another floating pavilion is hers I can relate to me thinking other ladies at Costco are my mom. Even though they are actually just look-a-likes.

  On page 83, I made a text to text connection. Ying-Ying wants to return home to her family and her wish is granted by the Moon Lady. This reminded me of the WIzard of Oz. In the book, Dorothy’s wish is also to return home to her family, because there’s no place like home. Dorothy’s wish is later granted by Glinda the good witch.
  Waverly talks about her alley which contains a medicinal herb shop her brothers and her love going to. The man who owns it was said to have cured a woman dying of a curse even the best doctors weren’t able to cure. This reminds me of the movie The Princess and the Frog. The frog is also put under a curse that no one other than the Princess was able to cure.  On page 90, I made a text to world link Waverly’s brother gets a chess set at a Christmas party. The whole Christmas event, with greedy children who got bad presents and good children who got good presents. It all reminded me of the movie The Grinch, who never got anything from Santa because he was bad but the Whos did because they were nice.
  On page I made a text to world link. The whole chapter "the Voice from the Wall" is like the horror movie Carrie. First of all, Lena's mom is crazy just like Carrie's mom. Lena's dad doesn't really do anything about Ying-ying's condition, which is just like the movie Carrie. Carrie doesn't have a dad who cares for her mother's mental condition either. Last but not least, both stories are very scary and the families in both are sad to read and watch.

American Translation /  Queen Mother Of Western Skies

  On page 288, I made a text to self connection which is based off the chapter “Double Face”. Lindo tried to give her child the best of both worlds (American and Chinese culture). This is like making a sandwich with both peanut butter and ham. You can tell the difference of both but in the end the two mix together and doesn't turn out bad.
  On page 161, which is text to self. Lena’s mother is similar to a psychic, she predicts things. Once, Ying-ying predicted that her husband would be a bad man. This like the one time I looked up psychics and the Google search results showed a psychic that predicted the super bowl winner. She is a psychic just like Lena’s mother.
  I made a text to self connection in the chapter "Double Face". Waverly thinks she will blend in with people in China. Although in reality she didn't, people still noticed her as an American. This is like how when I came to high school, I thought I would blend in because I look dress similar and look like others. I thought it there wasn't a big difference but in reality there is. I don't resemble anyone, everyone is different in their own way.
  On page 206 in The Joy Luck Club, I made a text to self connection. When Rose stated that she used to believe in everything her mother told her, although she was incapable of understanding what she meant. I was able to relate to that, when I was little my mother would always tell me these old Chinese superstitions and up to this day I would still believe in them. One of them is if a baby is crying for no apparent reason it means there are ghosts around that are disturbing the child. Therefore, whenever I’m around a sobbing baby it’d make me slightly uncomfortable and terrified. To Rose the power of her mother's words was strong, I was also able to strongly relate to her. I was always too petrified to go against my mother’s words, for example, she would tell me to clean my room and I would get to on right away. It wasn't like there were some extreme consequences if I went against her words, but for some odd reason I was too afraid to rebel against her.
   On page 229, I made a text to self connection. When Waverly judged Jing-Mei for going to get her hair cut by a gay hairdresser. I was able to relate to this passage, many Asian parents are quite judgemental and not open to new, “unusual” things and my parents are one of these types of people. They would tell me not to associate with certain people or races because they’re a bad influence. This is somewhat similar to Jing-Mei’s situation, Waverly brings up that her hairdresser may have Aids and she should be worried since he’s cutting her hair which is like cutting living tissue according to Waverly. But unlike Waverly who’s only saying that as an insult, my parents are actually telling me because they’re worried about my safety.
   On page 330-332, I made a text to self connection.  Jing Mei got fed up with Waverly insulting her hair and her job, so she decided to get revenge by embarrassing her by telling everybody how Waverly’s firm is late to pay her. I used to always get compared to with my cousin and she would diss me every chance she got. My parents would always compare me to her and ask me questions like “I heard your cousin got straight As, why don’t you have straight As?” “Your cousin plays basketball and volleyball, why don’t you play sports?”. Whenever my cousin mocks me, I would try to retaliate and try to defend myself, but I’d always end up embarrassing myself. Jing Mei was the same, she tried to argue with Waverly but in the end outsmarted by her, even her mother betrayed her. The results always remained the same I would lose the argument and feel foolish and humiliated like Jing Mei.
    In chapter 11, I made a text to text connection. The Joy Luck club is somewhat similar to A Free Life by Ha Jin. A Free Life is about a young man struggling to adapt to the American way of life and to hold his family together, he gives up on his dream. Just like Rose’s mother, Nan the protagonist in A Free Like flees to America in search for financial stability and success. An Mei continues to teach her daughter through Chinese traditions and ways. Also, her English is not quite perfect yet,  as she continues to correct herself, Nan’s parents were not good at speaking English, they had thick accents and horrible grammar.

   On page 256-262, I made a text to world connection. An Mei was the fourth wife and had no say in anything and had no respect from the other wives. In the family, the wife with the male child had the most respect and attention from Wu Tsing. Some places in China worship sons more than daughters because the sons carry the family name and are suppose to be the head of the household. Also,  back then when your daughter gets married, she is considered to be someone else's daughter. And in the unprivileged regions of China  boys can work harder than girl since they are stronger. Being the fourth wife was the worst position because four is an unlucky number and even the fifth wife gets more attention from Wu Tsing. Fortunately polygamy was banned after the fall of the Imperial China.     
   On page 213-214, I made a text to self connection. Rose stated that there are two opinions, an American opinion and, a Chinese opinion. She has always prefered the American one but it has a flaw which is too many choices.  I have always followed the Chinese opinion because I did not want to go against my family’s words, although i have always wanted to follow the American opinion because it seemed much more carefree and effortless. But it led to confusion, too many choices, and easier to choose the wrong path.  An Mei said Rose is constantly confused and it was because she listened to people way too often. But it was too late for both Rose and I.

  In chapter 13, I created a text to text connection. The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams, is about a thirteen year old girl who’s forced to marry her forty year old uncle who already has six wives. In both novels the female protagonist is being forced to marry someone who already has wives and includes polygamy. Although The chosen One is more extreme, both stories include people the protagonist loved and did not want to leave. In The chosen One it’s a boy named Joshua and in The Joy Luck Club it’s her family. Both protagonists were treated immorally in their new families and suffered tremendously.

Discussion Questions

          Feathers From A Thousand Li Away

1. What does the swan in the prologue represent?
2. Speculate what happened to the twin daughter. How were they lost?
3. Why were the Joy Luck Club aunties so upset when Jing-Mei didn’t know what to tell people about her mother?
4. Why was there no sadness shown for the loss of Suyan?
5. Why is An-Mei’s mothers name so revolting to her?
6. why was Lindo thought to be owned by the Guangs from such a young age. the wedding was not for years to come. Just because she was said to marry this man is it ethical to be owned by his family.
7. Look at the chapter and section titles for the first section of the book, what do the titles mean in significance to what happens on this section?

          The Twenty-Six Malignant Glass

1. What are the twenty-six malignant gates, and where does the name come from?
2. Are Lindos ways of raising her children stereotypic to Chinese culture?
3. What is the art of invisible strength and does it lead to success?
4. Why didn’t Ying Ying’s family search for her when she fell off the boat and why didn’t they recognize her when she was there?
5. How did’t the four mothers raise their children differently and what were their flaws?
6. Why does Ying Ying criticize her daughter for being so Americanize? that is how she was raised.
7. In the chapter Voices From the Wall what did it mean to be pulled through the wall?
8. Do you think it was wrong for lindo to brag about her daughter, or did Waverly just misunderstand her mothers pride in her daughter's accomplishments?
9. What was the meaning of Ying Ying’s meeting the moon lady?
10. Do you think Waverly's struggles mirror the tragedies of Lindo? is this a statement about the relationship between mother and daughter?

          American Translation

1. What does it mean when she eats the pail of ice cream, and does the ice cream itself hold symbolism?
2. Do you think her mother was right and it truly was her fault that the boy next door died?
3. Why was Leana unhappy with her husband , did her mother set her expectations so low?
4. Why is Lena's mother so picky?
5. Why was Waverley's mother unhappy with her daughters favourite restaurant?
6. Did Waverley's mother poison her marriage?
7. Think about the chapter and section headings to these chapters, what do they mean to the reader and what do they symbolize?

          Queen Mother Of Western Skies

1. What do you think the epilogue of this chapter means?
2. What do you think of the ending to the book? How do you think that Jing-mei was different when she was then and when she was at the beginning of the book?
3. Which generation of women do you like better and? Why?
4. Which generation of women are stronger?
5. What do you think of the parenting in this novel? Which mother did you like best? Which one did you dislike the most?
6. Who transformed in this novel and in what ways did they change?
7. Is there a general attitude towards men in this novel? If so, what do you think the attitude was?
8. If you were Jing-Mei, how well could you explain your mother to two strangers that were her previous children?
9. Which themes do you think were present in this story? Name 3.
10. What do you think of the characters’ feelings toward America? How were Americans portrayed by the characters in this book?

Passages

           Feathers From A thousand Li Away

On pages 13-14 “An army officer came to my house early one morning, and told me to go quickly to my husband in Chungking. I packed my things and my two babies in this wheelbarrow and began pushing to Chungking… Your father is not my first husband. You are not those babies” I chose this passage because it reveals suyuan’s strong characteristics, as she struggled to find happiness. This passage also allowed story progression and helps Jing-Mei to find her inner self. The 3 silk dresses that belonged to her mother meant a lot to her although they were insignificant to Jing-Mei. The dresses represented the hardships and how persistent Suyuan was, how she has given up many things to be at where she currently is. Suyuan kept moving although her hands began to bleed, showing her persevering through the traumatic events. When she described the streets of Kweilin after the Japanese attacked, was horrific. The image of hundreds of people laying still on the streets was horrific and scarring.

On page  49-62 “ The first day, I stood in my best padded dress at the low wooden table and began to chop vegetables. I could not keep my hands steady. I missed my family and my stomach felt bad, knowing I had finally arrived where my life said I belonged…   I heard later she was so struck with this miracle of marrying Tyan-yu she became a very religious person who ordered servants to sweep the ancestors’ graves not just once a year, but once a day.” This passage was significant because it showed Lindo’s traits of being clever and assiduous. It allowed her to learn to keep her thoughts to herself till the time is right, then take action. This passage allowed Lindo to learn from experience and lecture her daughter to not follow her path. This shows how China was like, people would have arranged marriage and would go to many extents to conceive a son.

The Twenty-Six Malignant Glass

On page 146, lines 23-26. Her mother only likes one type of daughter, obedient ones. This passage shows that she is not an obedient daughter any more, and this is causing her mother to become very angry. Her and her daughter are always fighting. Her mother is angry at her because she never tries and she is angry at her because in her early life she was a failure. She did not want her daughter to end up like her.
On page 153, lines 7-12. Her mother loves obedience. She likes to be free and do her own thing. This is why they do not get along. The fact that her daughter follows her own mind is like torture to her. The mother is angry at the rudeness of her daughter, she is disappointed with what she does and sees herself in her. She is upset because early in her life she failed and she didn’t learn from her and she didn’t learn from her mistakes and teach her daughter to not become a failure. Her mother sets goals for her that she cannot achieve, this makes her resent her mother. But all her mother has are the best interests for her. She loves her daughter and she sets the highest standards and she sets the highest standards and makes unreasonable goals, this drives her daughter away and this kills her. These two misinterpret the meanings of each others words and action. It is sad that she cannot accept her mothers way of displaying her love for her daughter.

American Translation

On page 206 “Without Wood”, based on Rose Hsu Jordan. “A mother is best. A mother knows what is inside you.” she said. “A psyche-atricks will only make you hulihudu, make you see heimongmong. “Back home, I thought about what she said. And it was true. Lately I had been feeling hulihudu. And everything around me seemed to be heimongmong. These were words  I have never thought about in English terms. I suppose the closest in meaning would be “confused” and “dark fog.” But really, the words mean much more than that. Maybe they can’t be easily translate because they refer to a sensation that only Chinese people have. Rose and her mother discuss Rose’s trips to the psychiatrist. This passage highlights language barriers between An-mei and Rose Hsu. The first time this appears is when An-mei cannot pronounce psychiatrist. yet this may be intentional, because calling it a “psyche-atricks” may be telling us that the doctor is someone who plays tricks on the psyche. The second example of connection problems appears when Rose struggles to find translations to English from An-mei’s Chinese words (heimongmong and hulihudu). This is very important because these language barriers can often isolate not just An-mei’s and Rose, but probably all of the Joy luck Club mothers from their daughters, resulting in them to talk to psychiatrists instead of their own mothers.

On page 274 “Waiting Between the Trees.”  “Her wisdom is like a bottomless pond. You throw stones in and they sink into the darkness and dissolve. Her eyes looking back do not reflect anything. I think this to myself even though I love my daughter. She and I have shared the same body. There is a part of her mind that is a part of mine. But when she was born, she sprang from me like a slippery fish, and has been swimming away ever since. All her life, I have watched her as though from another shore. And now I must tell her everything about my past. It is the only way to penetrate her skin and pull her to where she can be saved.”

Ying-Ying talks about how Lena separates herself from her mother’s cultural heritage, taking on a more American way of life. Ying-ying’s parenting skills have always been laid-back, letting her daughter take on a more American culture. Now Ying-ying thinks it is her fault that she was not a good enough parent leading her daughter to be in such a painful marriage now. So, in order to teach Lena and save her daughter from this condition, Ying-ying decides to tell her own story. the story of how she accepted fate and other people’s wills, which led her to great suffering in the past. By telling her her past, it shows that being passive is ineffective in human relationships. The imagery here creates a very deep and powerful effect which resonates through the novel. Then, Ying-ying, in this passage, compares Lena to a fish as “having the same body”. Lena sprang from Ying-ying herself. Ying-ying has watched Lena move from different shores, which means that Lena distanced herself and was being used by People.Now, Ying-ying knows that it is her responsibility to save her daughter and keep her together rather than sitting back like always.

In the book, many mother-daughter pairs view themselves as reflections of each other. ying-ying looks into Lena’s eyes and sees a “bottomless pond” instead. throughout the novel, stories have been told to guide the young and also pass on memories and lessons to keep their culture alive. The mutual passivity that joins these two women is also what divides them.

Queen Mother Of Western Skies

On page 197. The following was from the passage: “But the worst was when Rich criticized my mother’s cooking, and he didn't even know what he had done. As is the Chinese cook’s custom, my mother always made disparaging remarks about her own cooking. That night she chose to direct it toward her famous steamed pork and preserved vegetable dish, which she always served with special pride. “Ai! This dish not salty enough, no flavour,” she complained, after tasting a small bite. “It is too bad to eat.” This was our family’s cue to eat some and proclaim it the best she ever made. But before we could do so, Rich said, “you know, all it needs is a little soy sauce.” And he proceed to pour a riverful of the salty black stuff on the platter, right before my mother’s horrified eyes. Firstly, I think that this part of this section show’s the author’s descriptive skills. Her description makes me feel like I was actually in the room watching this scene unfold. I think that this is an important part of this section because it shows the author’s different skills; it is also very relatable in real life, where Asian parents do not encourage their children to be partnered with “foreigners”. I think that this section shows off the author’s capability of humour. 
On page 232. The passage was “She said this in such a funny way that everybody thought it was a good joke and laughed. And then, to make matters worse, I heard my mother saying to Waverly: “True, cannot teach style. June not sophisticate like you. Must be born this way.”. This part that was written by the author makes me feel extremely sorry for Jing-mei and also very angry at Lindo’s arrogance. This makes me understand from the beginning of the book why Jing-mei has always been frenemies with Waverly, and the author’s depictive imagery makes me mad at Lindo, for insulting Jing-mei just to compliment her daughter.

Summary

       

    Feathers From A Thousand Li Away 

The first quarter of this book has 4 main chapters and 4 main events. The events are Jing-mei’s mother’s death, the story of how An-mei got the scar on her neck, Lindo’s immigration to America, and when Ting Ting met the moon lady. Jing-mei’s mother dies. She takes over her place at the table, and she feels like she is empty and sad sitting in her spotl. She feels like this because she never had a real connection with her mother. Her mother was always disappointed with her. By the end of the chapter she learns what happened to her half-sisters and she is set on a journey to find them.

The second chapter tells the story of how An-mei received the scar on the back of her neck, hence the chapter is titled “scar”. As a child, her mother was considered a ghost, someone who she was not allowed to see or make contact with. This is enforced by her grandmother so that she would not become like her mother; a failure. One day, her mother tried to take her away, An-mei was restricted by the rest of her family and in the process a pot of soup was spilled over the back of her neck, leaving a giant burn on her neck. This is unethical because it is her mother, she should be allowed to contact her.

The third chapter is the story of how Lindo immigrated to America. Lindo had been promised in marriage since she was 2 years old She was considered the daughter of the mother of the boy she was committed to. This is unethical, you cannot have an arranged marriage, it is unfair to the people who are paired together. on her wedding day, she was unhappy and she disliked her husband. They lit a candle and if it was extinguished, the couple was not meant to be. She was up late watching the candle, there was a scare and the servant blew out the candle. In fear of punishment she re lit it and Lindo was committed to marriage. To escape her husband, she outwitted him and immigrated to America.

The last chapter is of how Ying Ying met the moon lady. Ying Ying spilled a small amount of blood on her dress, so to make it unnoticeable, she covered it in pig blood, and got in trouble. In her punishment, she slipped off the side of the boat. She was picked up by a crew of fishermen and put on shore. She watched a play of the moon lady from the bushes. After the play she made a wish to the moon lady.

            The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates

The fourth chapter, The moon Lady starts with Ying Ying sharing with the readers about her relationship with her daughter, and how they have drifted apart from each other over time, partly due to the fact that Ying Ying has been so quiet and unheard. Ying Ying then gets a flashback to the time when she shouted and ran at the moon festival to tell the Moon Lady her wish. Ying Ying’s family rented a boat on Tai Lake and her nanny promised her that she would meet the Moon Lady. Ying Ying got scolded for running around chasing a dragonfly because that was perceived as a “boys’” activity at the time. She watches some other people do their respective activities, and by the time her nanny finds her, her clothes were completely soiled. When the fireworks go off, Ying Ying falls into the lake without anyone noticing, and is caught by a fishing boat where kind-hearted fishermen picked her up accidentally in a fish net. They drop her off on shore, and Ying Ying thought that her parents would find her, but they never did. After a while, Ying Ying forgets her troubles when she watches a play about the moon lady. She is utterly entranced by the tragic tale of separation by the actors and she sobs at the end of the play when she finds a connection between the separation of the Moon Lady and her husband and her family and her. As she runs to tell the Moon Lady her secret wish, she realizes that eat shitthe Moon Lady is actually a man. Eventually, Ying Ying found her way back to her family and also forgot her secret wish. Back in the present, Ying Ying suddenly remembers her wish to the Moon Lady: that she was to be found.

Rules of The Game begins with Waverly Jong getting a flashback to when she was shopping once and her mother taught her about invisible strength when she threw a hissy fit because she could not have a treat. Her mum tells her “The strongest wind cannot be seen.” So the next time they went shopping, Waverly did not make a fuss and her mother bought her the treats. During the annual Christmas party, she sits on Santa’s lap, who said that she was a good girl and that she could select a gift. She got a twelve-pack of lifesavers, and her older brother, Vincent, received an old chess set that was missing some pieces. Waverly rapidly god obsessed with the game after watching her older brothers play. She makes a deal with Vincent to allow her to play in exchange for lifesavers. Waverly begins questioning all of the rules, to which her mother tried explaining to her but failed because she did not know how to read English words. therefore researched all of the and studied the strategies involved in the game. She learned that chess was “a game of secrets” where you could only show but never tell, which she connects to her mum’s “invisible strength of the wind” talk. After beating her brothers repeatedly, She starts playing against a bunch of locals, until someone suggested that she tried a tournament. She beats a boy in her first tournament, the whole time she’s thinking of the “invisible wind” analogies from her mother. She continues to become a neighborhood celebrity when she starts winning all sorts of tournaments. She was featured in Life magazine as a child prodigy after beating a man at a particular competition, who underestimated her for being an indecisive little girl. By now, Waverly does nothing else except going to school and playing chess. However, when she practices, her mother likes to hover over her, and one day, when they get into an argument, Waverly gets fed up and runs away from home. When she gets home, she imagines playing a chess match against her mother.

The Voice From the Wall starts with  a flashback from Lena’s childhood, where her mother told her a family story about how her great-grandfather sentenced a beggar man to the worst possible death. Her mother refuses to reveal her how the beggar died, just that he died the worst death. As a result, Lena’s curiosity grows as she tries to find out what way the beggar died, so that she could know the “worst” out there in the real world. Lena tries to be perceived as white by opening her eyes really wide for people to think that she is white. According to her dad, he saved her mother from an awful life in China, and gave her a new name as they were in the immigration process, from Gu Ying Ying to Betty St. Clair. Ying Ying sees danger everywhere, so she constantly makes stories up in order to scare Lena away from dangers. However, the stories are always unbelievable and absurd, and some of them don’t even make sense. Lena’s parents have a communication issue: Ying Ying only speaks a little bit of  English, and her husband does not speak mandarin, so he always just guesses what she’s saying by putting words in her mouth. Lena’s family moves to the North Beach neighborhood on a steep hill. While walking down the street, they face a Chinese man who terrifies both of them. Lena is slowly becoming more frantic in their new home. They suffer from racism because people in their new surroundings think that Ying Ying is Lena’s maid because she looks asian. Lena’s mother is unhappy with the “unbalance” in their new apartment, and constantly rearranges the furniture. Lena’s father does not get Ying Ying’s superstitions and figures it must just be her instincts because she was expecting a baby. One day, other relatives pick her up from school and take her to the hospital, where her mother was in a state of panic. She keeps shouting in Chinese, and Lena’s dad tells Lena to translate for him. Her mother told her in Chinese that the baby was trying not to be born, and when he comes out, his head would just be an empty eggshell. Lena tells her father a different story in English, just saying that her mother hopes the baby will be happy in death. In time after the baby’s death, her family starts falling apart, where her mother starts crying all the time, and her father is trying to fix everything. Lena tries to live through this by thinking that the family next door lived an even unhappier life, when one day, the girl next door wanted to use her fire escape to get back to her bedroom after getting kicked out of the house by her mother, and later that night, Lena realizes that the family next door actually loved each other, therefore Lena can not comfort herself any more by thinking their lives were unhappy. Lena imagines saving her mother, where she envision that she saw a girl in pain tell her mother that the only way to save her was to die by being cut a thousand times. Her mother suffers through it, but in the end did not die. Now that the mother had experienced the worst there was, she did not have to worry any more about what the worst was. As a result, she was saved.

             American Translation

The first chapter of the third section of the book is called “half and half”, about Rose Hsu Jordan. This chapter starts off with Rose thinking about the white leatherette bible her mom owns, but now puts under the kitchen table. An-mei shioti remembers that lost religious faith after losing Bing (her youngest Son). Bing disappeared into the water and no matter what An-mei tried to do religiously, praying or just swimming herself, she could not find him the next day. Rose thinks her mother realized that faith could not change fate, but now she realizes fate is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention. Rose also wants to tell her mother about getting divorced, but knows An-mei will tell her to save it. Even though Rose knows An-mei will tell her to save it. Even though Rose knows for sure there is no chance left, the couple had many problems with decision making. Ted (her husband) would always make the decision until one day he made the wrong one. So from there on he told Rose to make all the decisions. However, both of them were indecisive, so it just did not work out between them any more. Rose believes her inattentions caused Bing to drown as well as her marriage to fall apart.

In this chapter “Two Kinds” about Jing-mei, she talks about her childhood. Jing-mei’s mother always expected her to be something she was not. She wanted Jing-mei to become a prodigy and later a pianist. Suyuan hired a deaf retired piano teacher named Mr. Chong. jing-mei slipped away with playing the wrong notes and took the easy way out after learning that Mr. Chong was deaf. Later on, Jing-mei was entered into a talent contest in which she totally humiliated her parents, because it was a total disaster. She thought she’d never have to play again until two days later when her mother forced her to play again. Jing-mei said that she wished she was dead like the two girls in China. Suyuan offered the piano as a gift to Jing-mei for her thirtieth birthday, telling Jing-mei that she could’ve became a skilled-pianist if she tried. Months after her mother’s death, JIng-mei plays the piano and learns two pieces that she later realized were complementary pieces, because they were two halves of the same song.

The end summary is dedicated to “Rice Husband”, about Lena and “Four Directions” about Waverly. Lena’s mother once told her that her future husband would have one pimple for every grain of rice Lena didn’t finish. Lena then thought of Arnold, her neighbour with a pimpled face. She hated him so much and was terrified to marry him so she started  wishing for his death. Lena never got Arnold, she got Harold instead. Ever since the two have met they kept a policy to split everything in half, which Lena soon got sick of, especially when she worked under him and he made seven times more money than her. Ying Ying visits, and Lena knows that her mother have very good predictive powers, which she uses to know that her daughter isn’t happy. Waverly wants to tell her mother about Rich, her soon to be husband, but Lindo seems to always avoid the topic. She’s scared that her mother would poison her marriage again just like her previous one. Another time at dinner, waverly fails to mention their marriage again because of the number of mistakes Rich made, which might not have been disrespectful in American culture but disrespectful to the Chinese . Finally, Waverly arrives to see her mother looking so innocent and powerless asleep and when Lindo awakes, she claims that she knew Waverly’s plans to marry Rich, and is surprised to think that Waverly thinks that Lindo does not like RIch. In both of these stories, the two women are worried about their mothers’ thoughts on marriage and her husband’s. Also, in both stories, the daughters are afraid that their mothers will disapprove of their marriages, but in the end both daughters learn to respect their mother’s thoughts.

            Queen Mother Of The Western Skies

At the beginning of Rice Husband a certain event stood out to me, which was Ying Ying has the ability to predict bad things that would affect the family. Ying Ying told Lena a superstition on how for every grain of rice she left in her bowl her husband would have a pock mark on his face. The superstition has affected Lena greatly, it has lead to her not finishing her food for the well-being of Arnold. This induced into her suffering from anorexia. This was significant to me because it made me ponder why she didn’t stop the bad events from happening before it happened. Also Ying Ying’s unexplained, superstitious fears had made Lena stress about the subjugation of all events or actions to fate. A significant scene at the beginning of Four Directions, was when Waverly presented a mink jacket that Rich gifted to her. However Lindo didn’t compliment it but rather picked out it’s flaws, like how she does with everything else. Take Waverly’s favorite resturant, her ex-husband, and her current beat shitoyfriend Rich. This was compelling because why did Lindo’s words and opinions affect Waverly so much. In my opinion she’s overthinking it and she’s way too anxious. For Waiting between the Trees, a scene that caught my eye was Ying Ying realizing the signs of her Lena’s broken marriage are clear to her, although Lena cannot see them. It’s important because it shows the Ying Ying is afraid of Lena following her path and suffering great despair. In the beginning of Double Face, Waverly planned a trip to China for her honeymoon, she stated that she’d blend in so well that they won’t allow her back to America. However Lindo thought the opposite, she said that without Waverly even opening her mouth people would already be able to tell she’s American. Lindo feels at fault for not teacher Waverly enough about her chinese heritage. This passage was important because it was interesting how they both thought differently and how Lindo blames herself for not teaching Waverly more about the Chinese culture. In A Pair Of Tickets, Jing Mei is on the train to China to see her half-sisters for the first time. She thought back to when she was an adolescent and how she rejected her Chinese heritage. But now she’s worried about not being Chinese enough and not knowing enough about Suyuan. This scene was important because Jing Mei is now troubled by the difference the American culture has left on her. In both Lena and Waverly’s stories, they contain some similarities. To both Lena and Waverly, their mothers words weigh a ton, they play a strong role in their lives. For Lindo and Jing Mei, they also have a similarity, which is the American culture. Lindo has learned to embrace her “American face” and identify it as one of her identities. Jing mei has finally come to realize that the American culture does not prevent her from being Chinese, she would always be Chinese on the inside.

In the middle of the Rice Husband, when she learned about Arnold’s death she blamed herself and gorged herself on ice cream. this scene was important because Lena now believes that the future is already decided and the lack of perfection in her marriage is her fate. Therefore she doesn't bother to speak up. In Four direction a significant passage was when Waverly takes her mother to the parlor. But Lindo feels that she took her there because her daughter is ashamed of her, she’s saddened by that thought because she’s proud of her daughter but her daughter is ashamed of her. Although when they looked in the mirror all they saw were similarities. I thought this passage was meaningful because they were so identical that it’d be difficult to be ashamed of each other. For Waiting between the Trees, this event stood out to me. Ying Ying’s story about her first marriage. When she was sixteen she met an older man and was forced to marry him. However she soon came to love him and conceived a child. But several months after he left her for an opera singer and in rage, and sorrow aborted her unborn child. This scene was important because this incident destroyed her innocence. In Double Face a significant scene is when Lindo discusses the difficulties of keeping a “Chinese face” in America. When Waverly was born she noticed the similarities between them. This was significant because it made Lindo believe that Waverly’s fate may reflect on hers, causing Waverly to be more American. A signifieat shitcant event in the middle of  A Pair of Tickets is when Jing Mei’s father told the story of Suyuan and the twin. He explained why she abandoned them, who rescued them, and who found them. This story was important because it answers many questions and added to Suyuan’s character.

At the end of the Rice Husband an important scene was when Ying Ying went over to Lena’s home and noticed the list of shared items posted on the fridge, she frowned at it, confused why they would commit to a list like that. She not only noticed the list but many other flaws of the house like the wobbly table Harold made. I believe this was important because Ying Ying didn’t want Lena to become like her, she could already see the flaws of their relationship through their house. Also at the end Ying Ying used the table as a metaphor of why Lena isn’t taking action of something that’s going to lead to something bad yet instead just waiting till it happens. In Four Directions a memorable scene was the day after the dinner when Waverly went over to her mother’s place, when she saw her sleeping on the sofa so powerless, she bursted out in tears. This scene was quite important because it showed that Waverly expected her mother to dislike Rich due to her past experiences. Through her worries she has gave her mother a spiteful,and critical facade. But when actually Lindo’s criticism was only for Waverly’s well-being. In Waiting Between the Trees a somewhat important passage was when Ying Ying explained she was born on the year of the Tiger and the tiger contains two natures, gold stands for power and black represents cunning. She explained that after her husband betrayed her she has depended on her black side. But then when she met Clifford she stopped depending on the natures of the tiger. This part was meaningful because through Ying Ying’s mistakes and solutions she may be able to guide her daughter through her marital problems. In Double Face when Lindo was looking in the mirror she noticed how Waverly also has a crooked nose. Although Lindo obtained her from an accident on the bus, she wanted her daughter to get plastic surgery because she believes it symbolizes misfortune. This is important because Waverly offered her view on her crooked nose and she says it makes them look “two-faced”. In the end of A pair of Tickets when Jing Mei finally met her half-sister was a moving scene because through her adventure she was able to discover her true inner Chinese identity. The thing all these stories and characters have in common is their struggle with a close, meaningful mother-daughter relationship and the language barriers, and cultural differences.