Smoking Cigarettes

Throughout the book, the conflict between the mothers, their Chinese tradition, and language and the daughters, their American tradition, and language are evident. Suyuan and Jing-Mei Woo are mother and daughter, respectively, who are characters that illustrate the conflict between the two cultures.

In the beginning of the story, the mothers who play Mahjong tell Jing-Mei to see her long lost sisters and tell them of their mother. Jing-Mei replies, "What will I say? What can I tell them about my mother? I don't know anything. She was my mother. (p31)" Then it occurs to Jing-Mei that "they are frightened" because in her they see "their own daughters, just as ignorant, just as unmindful of all the truths and hopes they have brought to America. (p31)" In these quotes, Jing-Mei perceives the gap that occurs between the mothers and daughters. This gap between each mother and daughter is described in later chapters.

Jing-Mei Woo, who is called June in America, represents her mother's hopes and dreams. Her mother's name, Suyuan, meaning, "long cherished wish" speaks of this hope for Jing-Mei, whose name means "the pure younger sister (p322-3)". In the beginning, June is excited and dreams of what she will become. "In all my imaginings, I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect. My mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach. I would never feel the need to sulk for anything (p. 143)." Her mother pushes June into many areas- academics, dance, and the piano. After failing to excel at any of the areas presented to her, she feels like a failure. She sees all the hopes her mother has for June as expectations. The final conflict comes when June performs a piano piece filled with mistakes at a talent show, which makes June believe that her mother is completely ashamed and disappointed with her. June looked through the crowd to her mother’s face. She thought to herself, "...my mother’s expression was what devastated me: a quiet, blank look that said she had lost everything." (p. 143) What June did not realize, was that the real reason why her mother was upset was not because she had not lived up to her expectations. She was unhappy because June did not care about having the best for herself. She did not have high hopes or a passion to be successful at anything.