In the story “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” written by Lisa See, we are presented with characters in the story who change do to certain situations in their life. Their are “triggers” in each character which cause them to grow as a person either for the good or for the bad. Woman at this time were to follow the rules. In the book, we are presented with characters who break the mold of how woman are viewed at this time. These woman change and deal with conflict within themselves.The first character we have is Snow Flower, then Lily's and lastly Madame Wang.
First, we have Lily who we see grow in front of our eyes. We see her relationship with Snow Flower blossom from when they were little girls to adulthood. I believe Lily had many triggers in her life, but I believe the main one was when she confronted her mother for not telling her about Snow Flowers family and past. When it comes to Snow Flower, Lily seen her as a higher being. She had put Snow flower on a pedestal, even as a young girl and just couldn't get past that Snow flower was just another human being like herself. When Lily found out that her parents had lied to her for ten years, she felt betrayed and could not understand why. She would of never thought the person she thought so high of lived in such a dump. The stage of Lily's life standing up to her mom was shocking to me but something Lily felt like she had to do. “My body shook from the emotions raging beneath my skin. Mama felt them and smiled in her knowing way. I dug my nails into her flesh as she had done to me. I kept my voice low so that no one in the house could hear what I said. “You are a liar. You—and everyone in this family—deceived me. Did you think I wouldn’t find out about Snow Flower?” (See 87). ...
... middle of paper ...
...out friendship and what it means to be a women. In a woman’s life, their are ups and downs that change us as a person. We also start to look out for the best interest of others and not just ourselves.
In conclusion, “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” shows A real life struggle of children growing up to become woman at this time. It also shows a beautiful relationship between Snow Flower and Lily. We see each character grow up do to situations they are presented in their life. Lily no longer wanted to sit their and let her mother rule her anyone so I feel that her standing up to her mother was remarkable on her part. Also, Snow Flower fighting the odds despite her past. Lastly, we have Madame Wang looking out for the best interest of her nieces shows a lot of strength and heart. These characters all faced conflict in their life and each character changed because of it.
First, Kidd highlights the power of strength through indirectly characterizing Lily as a courageous young woman to display the character’s growing maturity throughout the novel. Her courageousness is demonstrated after T Ray, Lily’s father, picks her up from jail. Upon arriving home, it is clear that Lily is displeased about how T Ray handled the situation. Vexed and irritated, she challenges him: “‘You don’t scare me,’ I repeated, louder this time. A brazen feeling had broken loose in me, a daring something that had been locked up in my chest’” (38). Even though Lily knows that disrespecting her father will mean terrible consequences, kneeling on Martha White grits, she proceeds
In the beginning of the novel, as the reader is first introduced to Lily’s character, she comes across as an extremely negative young girl. While thinking about
For example, T. Ray punishes Lily by making her kneel on grits and verbally abuses her. Lily resents T. Ray for his brutality and gains the desire to flee her birth home. This shows that Lily desires more than just a physical house to live in, but also loving parental figures who can help guide her in life and show her love. This quest for acceptance led her to meet the Calendar Sisters.
I really was impacted by T. Ray’s quote during the height of the tension about Lily’s past mistakes, “ ‘It was you who did it, Lily. You didn’t mean it, but it was you’ ” (Kidd 299). This moment was one of my favorites because it showed the growth the lead character had made toward not only forgiving her mother, but forgiving herself. When Lily chases after her father to finally get the raw truth about the fateful day her mom died, it reveals that she is finally ready to come to terms with her past, no matter what really happened. At the beginning of the book, she can’t accept her mother’s death, her disappearance, and her lack of love from her parents. Coincidentally, she grasps at any excuse to punish herself because she is unsure of who she is.
Both awe-inspiring and indescribable is life, the defined “state of being” that historians and scholars alike have been trying to put into words ever since written language was first created. And in the words of one such intellectual, Joshua J. Marine, “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful”. Essentially, he is comparing life to a bowl of soup. Without challenges or hardship into which we can put forth effort and show our potential, it becomes a dull and flavorless broth. But for characters in novels like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the difficulties and trials that we all must face can transfigure the mundane liquid mixture of existence into a vibrant and fulfilling gumbo. The protagonists of these works are two strong-willed and highly admirable women, who prevail in the face of overwhelming odds stacked in everyone’s favor but theirs. In their trying periods of isolation brought about by cold and unwelcoming peers, particularly men, they give their lives meaning by simply pushing forward, and living to tell the tale.
Lily’s actions are completely driven by her desire to fit into the upper class part of society and her need to have money to successfully do this. The actions she partakes in to achieve these goals are sometimes harshly judged by other characters, but The House of Mirth seems to almost draw sympathy for Lily from the fact that she is stuck in this role she cannot remove herself from. Even through showing other life paths like Gerty Farish’s, Lily’s options for an independent life where she can live the way she desires are limited. What she was taught as a child, the choices she makes because of her childhood, how being poor is viewed by society, and the unjust view of Lily’s actions are what ultimately both destroys Lily and results in her being shown sympathy.
Lily’s life has been greatly influenced by her mother’s death. In Lily’s perspective, living with someone else’s death can be more painful that dying. This passage made me realize that your past isn’t that far behind you. It will always be there no matter how hard you try to forget about it or push it away. Lily has proven this several times throughout the book. But the results would be waking up from nightmares and not able to trust in her worth.
On the other hand, Bettina Aptheker mentioned in “Tapestries of Life” that women’s lives are fragmented, dispersed, and episodic. The everyday life of women affects their thinking and actions. It is on their dailiness that we get to connect the patterns they try to show, the meanings behind what they say and do and as we try to connect and get these meanings, we, then, slowly recognize and view a woman’s standpoint in life.
The attempts the women tries so to be in vain till the end when it over boils. The women set herself free in the only way she knew how. Sometimes when people are in tight situation, or when their goals are being blocked, they react even when it doesn’t make sense. The women reacted to being closed up and oppressed and, to her family, it didn’t make
Rosaleen is the disciplinary figure in Lily?s life. She is tough and sometimes mean but really she loves Lily. Lily knew that ?despite her sharp ways, her heart was more tender than a flower skin and she loved her beyond reason?. Rosaleen also shows her love for Lily when she avoids telling Lily that her mother left her. She knew this would break Lily?s heart.
influence all her life and struggles to accept her true identity. Through the story you can
...e relationship with men, as nothing but tools she can sharpen and destroy, lives through lust and an uncanny ability to blend into any social class makes her unique. Her character is proven as an unreliable narrator as she exaggerates parts of the story and tries to explain that she is in fact not guilty of being a mistress, but a person caught in a crossfire between two others.
...literature I couldn’t help but compare my lifestyle to the woman in the stories. Women today are no longer looked upon only to supervise over their home and family, they are not forced into marriages, and they are not blamed for all the world’s problems. Today’s society is not a patriarchal one; in fact today men and woman appear to be equal to one another.
The 19th and 20th centuries were a time period of change. The world saw many changes from gender roles to racial treatment. Many books written during these time periods reflect these changes. Some caused mass outrage while others helped to bring about change. In the book The Awakening by Kate Chopin, gender roles can be seen throughout the novel. Some of the characters follow society’s “rules” on what a gender is suppose to do while others challenge it. Feminist Lens can be used to help infer and interpret the gender roles that the characters follow or rebel against. Madame Ratignolle and Leonce Pontellier follow eaches respective gender, while Alcee Arobin follows and rebels the male gender expectations during the time period.
...er learned from Lily how to cook, wash clothes, and how to clean the house. These girls learned from each other without realizing it, and had created even more of a special bond with one another than they thought. After both of the girls had gotten married and had children, the two girls did not see each other as much. Because of nu shu they were able to keep and touch and learn what was going on in their lives. “You who always knew my heart now fly above the clouds in the warmth of the sun. I hope one day we will soar together” (321). Lily wrote these words on her final entry on her fan after Snow Flower’s death. Through all of the lies Snow Flower told Lily, she still loved her and the bond they had together for eternity. Together as laotongs, the girls overcame obstacles, learned from each other, and created an eternal both between women throughout this novel.