Eileen says..Pick your nose. Simon says…BLOG
Blog for first section: So far we have been introduced to the four mothers and we learn about their previous/present struggles that they endure in China. I agree with everything Andrew and Laur have to say about the relationships between the daughters. Maybe the relationships are different in America then they seem to be in China because the mothers left a part of them behind in their first land. Ying-Ying St. Clair seems to come from a more wealthy family then the other mothers came from..although I’m still unclear if she found her family afterall before moving to America. Ps this whole blogging thing is hard, I’m not sure what to say/not very good at analyzing.
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To go along with what Eileen said, I think that the relationships definitely change from China to America due to the language barrier and the feeling that some of their past has somehow been erased because of the cultural change. The past that the mothers have left behind in China still lingers and impacts the relationships between the their daughters and themselves.
Posted April 23, 2007, 9:27 amEileen,
Have confidence in your ideas! What is the most signifiant impact America has on these characters? The differences between Chinese culture and American culture is significant. How do the characters deal with the differences?
Mrs. P
Posted April 25, 2007, 12:02 pmI think that the impact China has on the mothers is quite apparent through out the story. Their pasts seem to carry them through life and how they act. America though, has a rather large impact on the characters. For the mothers, America conspicuously has played a large role in their lives. When their daughters were young, they wnated the best for them, which may tie in with the American dream, anything being possible. They take great pride in their daughters through chess or piano( sortof) etc.. Since they have had awful lives in China, they come to America with hopes and try to take pride in something, that being their daughters. The daughters have an apparent struggle in America mostly with themselves and dealing with their upset marriages. The mothers seem like they deal with the difference in culture by sticking to their chinese background, and trying to hold on to it as much as they can..ie: the language, the food, traditions. By holding on to the chinese ways, it may be like holding on to a part of themselves which was left behind. I think the daughters may get wrapped up in the mothers and their background, always wanting to please them and give them what they want..they don’t always feel good enough for them.-eileen
Posted April 25, 2007, 11:00 pmI agree with what you said about the mother’s wanting their daughters to live out the American dream, which I think is interesting considering the type culture the mothers were used to in China. My impression through this book is that in Chinese culture, women are subservient to men. This strikes me as interesting, because the mothers’ pushing of their daughters to become successful and independant shows a desire for them to become “Americanized” in a way, therefore in way breaking stride with their attempts to get them to embrace their Chinese heritage.
Posted May 7, 2007, 7:51 pm