Magpies

"Maggie likes Magpies?"
(a.k.a. Magpies)

3. First off, I thought this chapter was awful long. I hate how An-Mei's aunt and uncle curse at her mom, while her mom silently absorbed all the insults; she didn't do anything to them, so why were they making her feel bad? Aw, poor An-Mei's brother, getting left behind like that. Did they ever reunite? An-Mei was right; when you're a Chinese child, you can never scold at a parent. It's disrespectful and there's a possibility that you might get disowned! xD "Everything was too big" (221); was An-Mei's outfit a symbol, a sign that her new life was going to be too much, but manageable for her to survive? I liked how Tan used descriptions like "Chinese stone gate" and "big black lacquer doors" to desscribe Wu Tsing's house. It seemed extravagant and authentic for such a foreign place. Uh-oh, "lacquer" also was used to describe the symbolic vase in "Rice Husband". Does that mean that Wu Tsing's house is a symbol, too? How was the clock with the tiny people significant? I bet it's a symbol, but I can't figure what it is a symbol of. & I really liked the sentence "But I remember clearly when all that comfort became no longer comfortable" (227); it would sound really lame if I wrote that in my essay, I admit that, but when Tan uses it, the sentence just fits perfectly with the transition and it sounds right. Okay, so An-Mei's mother brags about the grandiose of her life, at first, then states outright that it is "shameful". Was she lying before or did she say so to convince An-Mei to come with her? What was the story behind the sapphire ring that An-Mei's mom showed her? Was it a symbol? (Okay, I admit, I'm scrutinizing the chapter way too much for symbols. xD Scrutinize, oh dear.) Second Wife is a real ... JERK for involving An-Mei's mother in the situation, forcing her into Wu Tsing. I TRULY ABHOR HER. But An-Mei's mom should have just told Popo the truth; maybe her mother would understand and not shun her, maybe not, but at least she tried and opened up to her mother. I thought An-Mei's mother was smart for committing suicide, giving her strength to An-Mei like that, but kind of tragic. Hehe, I liked the ending. My pyschiatrist would say that you needed to make an appointment with him. xD Really, concubines are not that much more than prostitutes, are they?

4. Second Wife fed First Wife opium, draining her power. Second Wife threatened Third Wife to do what she said or else she would become a concubine in the streets. Second Wife arranged for Wu Tsing to sexually abuse Fourth Wife, forcing her to become who she was. She also tended and nurtured Fourth Wife's son as if he were hers in front of Fourth Wife's face, but he's not. Second Wife nicely gave Fifth Wife money to visit her village, but is just trying to use the opportunities as reminders of Fifth Wife's low-class origin. Second Wife is a luring, devious, manipulative witch. The end.

5. I believe the main conflict has to be An-Mei vs. Rose (external: man vs. man). Even though it An-Mei's mother has issues against Second Wife and maybe An-Mei is struggling against herself to lost her innocence, the whole point of the flashback to An-Mei's childhood was to explain to Rose that she is worth more than she believes. An-Mei is trying to find a way to transfer her strength to Rose, just like how An-Mei's mother did so to An-Mei, and with the flashback, An-Mei describes how she achieved the strength for Rose to see that she, too, can achieve this same strength if she believed. In the end, I believe the conflict was resolved in the previous chapter "Without Wood"; Rose does find the strength to stand up to her husband.

6. The theme of this chapter is to find the strength within yourself to not let others receive joy from your sorrow by swallowing your own tears. This is repeated throughout the whole chapter: "It is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else's joy. And that is why you must learn to swallow your own tears" (217).

Emily Huynh, Period 4