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.