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Fate in literature
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“Fate brings people together no matter how far apart they may be.” This quote by a Chinese Proverb embodies how the Hsu household is brought together through the death of the youngest child in the family. In Amy Tan's story “Half and Half,” Rose comes to the realization that faith and “nengkan” can change fate; yet she now realizes “fate is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention.” Rose had realized that through the use of “nengkan,” people can change their fate by actively resisting bad omens. Mrs. Hsu attributes their good luck to "faith," only she pronounces it "fate” and Rose comes to believe that it was fate, not faith, all along. Briefly after the death of Bing, Rose learns “that faith was just an illusion that somehow you’re
in control. I [Rose] found out the most I could have was hope, and with that I was not denying any possibility, good or bad” (121). Having hope and the determination to change allows yourself to alter your fate which could result, good or bad. As Rose reminisces about Bing’s death she “knew he [Bing] was in danger, how I let it happen. I think about my marriage, how I had seen the signs really I had. But I just let it happen” (130-131). Rose concludes that fate "is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention. But somehow, when you lose something you love, faith takes over. You have to pay attention to what you lost. You have to undo the expectation” (131). Rose inherits the idea that fate can not be changed unless you take action upon it. Throughout the story Rose’s parents bring up the ideal of “nengkan,” the ability to do anything you put your mind to, and that their “belief in their nengkan had brought my [Rose] parents to America” (121). An-Mei tells her daughter that faith is the only thing that remains after tragedies. Rose has not yet been able to embody her “invisible strength” or the wind will sweep her off her feet like Bing. In Amy Tan’s title ”Half and Half” describes An-Mei and Rose, the Chinese half and the American half.
Thru-out the centuries, regardless of race or age, there has been dilemmas that identify a family’s thru union. In “Hangzhou” (1925), author Lang Samantha Chang illustrates the story of a Japanese family whose mother is trapped in her believes. While Alice Walker in her story of “Everyday Use” (1944) presents the readers with an African American family whose dilemma is mainly rotating around Dee’s ego, the narrator’s daughter. Although differing ethnicity, both families commonly share the attachment of a legacy, a tradition and the adaptation to a new generation. In desperation of surviving as a united family there are changes that they must submit to.
There are different types of parent and child relationships. There are relationships based on structure, rules, and family hierarchy. While others are based on understanding, communication, trust, and support. Both may be full of love and good intentions but, it is unmistakable to see the impact each distinct relationship plays in the transformation of a person. In Chang’s story, “The Unforgetting”, and Lagerkvist’s story, “Father and I”, two different father and son relationships are portrayed. “The Unforgetting” interprets Ming and Charles Hwangs’ exchange as very apathetic, detached, and a disinterested. In contrast, the relationship illustrated in the “Father and I” is one of trust, guidance, and security. In comparing and contrasting the two stories, there are distinct differences as well as similarities of their portrayal of a father and son relationship in addition to a tie that influences a child’s rebellion or path in life.
Setting is a place or a certain location where an event is about to take place. It is used to create a vivid image for the reader and to better understand the characters and the certain situations the characters face in a story. Furthermore, the setting also gives further insight about a character’s thoughts, feelings, and reactions to what is happening around them. By learning about the setting in a story, the reader will be able to understand how the setting relates back to the character and to the story itself. In Amy Tan’s short story “A Pair of Tickets” setting is used to emphasize the discovery of self-identity as well as heritage and culture for the protagonist Jing-mei.
Throughout Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, the reader can see the difficulites in the mother-daughter relationships. The mothers came to America from China hoping to give their daughters better lives than what they had. In China, women were “to be obedient, to honor one’s parents, one’s husband, and to try to please him and his family,” (Chinese-American Women in American Culture). They were not expected to have their own will and to make their own way through life. These mothers did not want this for their children so they thought that in America “nobody [would] say her worth [was] measured by the loudness of her husband’s belch…nobody [would] look down on her…” (3). To represent everything that was hoped for in their daughters, the mothers wanted them to have a “swan- a creature that became more than what was hoped for,” (3). This swan was all of the mothers’ good intentions. However, when they got to America, the swan was taken away and all she had left was one feather.
All through time, successive generations have rebelled against the values and traditions of their elders. In all countries, including China, new generations have sought to find a different path than that of their past leaders. Traditional values become outdated and are replaced with what the younger society deems as significant. Family concentrates on this very subject. In the novel, three brothers struggle against the outdated Confucian values of their elders. Alike in their dislike of the traditional Confucian system of their grandfather, yet very different in their interactions with him and others, begin to reach beyond the ancient values of Confucianism and strive for a breath of freedom. Their struggles against the old values lead to pain, suffering and eventually achievement for the three of them, however at a harsh price for two brothers.
Unfortunately, Eileen and Sami both like Dave during the process they get to know each other, but Dave loves Eileen. Eileen struggles from this tough situation and she makes the right choice to break up with Dave. So she can still have family with her daughter. Eileen has the Third Eye when she deals with hard issue between partner and her child. She sees the future forest. If she chooses to stay with Dave, the relationship between her and Sami will break and it’s hard to repair again. Her child is just a student who will go to attend higher education soon. Maybe someday Dave will abandon her, but her daughter is always her closest relative. She also controls herself to stop the tumultuous passions. She loves Dave and they get along together well. It’s difficult to give up a person who you love deeply. Thus, Eileen sacrifices her emotions to Dave and chooses her daughter. Moreover, Eileen is also intellect to distinguish how to use the right way to solve problems. She knows there is no future between her and Dave from Dave’s thought, “If I were to marry an infertile woman, it would devastate my parents. I’m their only son, and they expect me to carry on the family line”. (71) In China, carrying on the family line is important to the whole family, especially for the family that only owns
When this tale is looked at from a deeper perspective, it is learned that the mothers wish is to be loved and not have to worry about her child that has come in the way of her and her
The fact that the fictional mothers and daughters of the story have unhappy marriages creates a common ground on which they can relate. However, marriage has different meanings for each generation in this book. In the mothers’ perspective, marriage is permanent and not always based on love. Especially with their marriages in China, which was a social necessity that they must secretly endure in order to be happ...
In her short story "Two Kinds," Amy Tan utilizes the daughter's point of view to share a mother's attempts to control her daughter's hopes and dreams, providing a further understanding of how their relationship sours. The daughter has grown into a young woman and is telling the story of her coming of age in a family that had emigrated from China. In particular, she tells that her mother's attempted parental guidance was dominated by foolish hopes and dreams. This double perspective allows both the naivety of a young girl trying to identify herself and the hindsight and judgment of a mature woman.
Arriving to the United States of America in a plane is an exhilarating experience. On the plane, everyone suffers the same fates: whether it be turbulence, bad food, or long delays. Once arriving at Customs, the real differences pop out when the passengers are separated into two groups: U.S. Citizens and Non-Citizens. Most immigrants dream of the day when they can step into the Citizen line, hand over their American passport and hear the customs officer say, “Welcome home.” To immigrants, being American equates to success, fame, and happiness. In Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds,” it follows the story of an American girl born to a Chinese mother, and their struggles to be successful and fit in. Is that not what most people seek? The pursuit
Secondly, DiYanni states that in a short story “Its characters are recognizably human, and they are motivated by identifiable social and psychological forces.” (DiYanni 47). In other words, the modern realistic short story has characters with flaws, difficulties, and short-comings; their motivations also come from things that make sense to humans living in a specific society, especially a society of the written time period.
These weekly writings are connected by how history is always progressing due to people connecting better with themselves, and acknowledging how we can open up to things we don’t understand. If you believe in free will, you can’t believe in fate. Sophie Amundsen from the novel Sophie’s World is in this position. She has been learning all about philosophy and why things happen by her philosophy teacher, Alberto Knox. She starts to get random letters from this man named Albert Knag, addressed to Hilde, his daughter. This confuses them both, but they eventually connect the dots. They are both characters in a book Albert is reading to Hilde, inside this novel. Jostein Gaarder shows us the twist
Instead, she chooses to accept decisions others make for her, which encompasses her with no control over the life around her. An instance where this takes place is when Rose reveals to her mother that she is separating from her husband Ted, and explains to An-mei “don’t tell me to save my marriage anymore. It’s hard enough as it is”, to which she retorts “I am not telling you to save your marriage, I only say you should speak up”. (193) Moments such as these can also be depicted in a previous instance with An-mei, where Rose mentions that “[she] used to believe everything [her] mother said, even if she didn’t know what she meant” (185). Through these passages, it is apparent that Rose lacks wood, one out of five Chinese elements, and therefore making decisions for herself makes her confused. As she listens to too many people but is unable to take her mother’s advice, she steers clear of making her own decisions which ultimately build up to her marriage with Ted to crumble. Since Rose was a child, An-mei pushed strongly for Rose to try and fight her divorce with Ted and take control of the situation, however, Rose allows her marriage to end and does not take her advice into consideration. As Rose allows others to make choices on her behalf, she becomes passive to those around her, specifically to her mother An-mei. Rose’s passivity conclusively contributes to their unhealthy relationships as Rose does not learn how to stand up for herself and is unable to pick up on her mother’s assertive qualities. From both of these traits, it causes this dynamic to suffer as the passivity of Rose and secrecy of An-mei conflict, as Rose does not see the importance of listening to her mother as she is unaware of where those traits come
Tough times can either strengthen or destroy relationships. While Pa had excellent relationships with all his family members, the relationships among Loung and her siblings were greatly improved and strengthened through hard times. Hard times, such as the death of Keav, created an awareness of the family’s need for each other and the importance of how they treated one another.
Rose's mother An-mei did not want her daughter to listen and do everything that other people said, she wanted her daughter to make her own decisions, but Rose was always confused. She tried to choose between Chinese or American ideas but then she just listened to her husband and she didn't even think about anything. At first, Rose did not want her mother to know about her divorce because she knew that her mother would try to convince her to save her marriage. The thing she didn't know, her mother was right. She shouldn't have listened to her husband and she should have made her own decisions. Also, Rose found the mistake in herself. We can see this on page 64 when she admitted to herself that she saw her brother Bing to walking the edge when