Sankwei Quotes

The conflict of who you are in life is one which every individual will face. Not only is it a clash between who you are in relation to everyone else but it is a clash between who you are now, who you were in the past, and who you might become in the future. It is a struggle that extends from personhood to how you, as an individual, fits into a distinct culture and social environment. It is a conflict that is acutely exacerbated by change. Whether it is an external or internal change, such as moving across continents or a change in your views, preferences, and/or behaviors. For it is change itself that can challenge our perception of the world and our place in it. And it is in this challenge that triumph, adversity, sacrifice, and tragedy are

This is most plainly seen in her two main characters Wou Sankwei and Pau Lin, husband and wife, respectively. Sankwei is a kind man with a strong ambition for personal development, but plague by a subtle yet insidious arrogance and self-absorbed personality. While Pau Lin is dutiful and tenaciously adherent to traditional Chinese norms, particularly in, regards to marriage. Their response to migrating from rural China to San Francisco could not be more diametrically opposed. Additionally, Sui Sin Far use one-sided supporting character such as, Adah Charlton, to broaden understanding of the main characters, and to illuminate about important aspect about them that they themselves do not reveal. Furthermore, Sui Sin Far’s use of a longing tone to depict both Sankwei desire for change, both by traveling and by learning new ways as well as Pau Lin longing for the traditions of her homeland, including her role as a Chinese wife and mother and her expectations of her Chinese husband. This tone of longing helps motivate the characters and propel the story

He would often be left looking out into the ocean and feeling “the land beyond the sea calling to him.” (Far 28) This longing was one that arose from him wanting to make his own way in the world without causing dishonor to his family name. For as the son of a former magistrate, he could not do any manual labor, such a becoming a fisherman, without being seen as causing the Wou name to lose face, and instead he was served hand and foot by his mother and sisters. While in America there laid the possibility that “At least one can be a man and can work at what work comes his way without losing face” (Far 28). So rather than allowing the years to continue to pass monotonously and deciding “better any life than that of a woman man” (Far 28). Sankwei convinced his mother to support his traveling across continents to make his own way in life. Having met his mother’s condition to marry Pau Lin and given her a grandchild, Sankwei, with the help of Mrs. Dean his teacher and benefactor, lived seven years working hard for economic prosperity but above all ambitiously seeking personal development, for more than the money he could make as a merchant, he was most proud of his personal development as an English-speaker and all he had learned about the western way of