The Bonesetter's Daughter Character Analysis

Set almost 20 years ago, in the middle of 1998 San Francisco, The Bonesetter's Daughter, authored by Amy Tan, follows the tragic, but lovely story of three generations of women in the Liu family. The author paints the picture of a turn-of-the-century Chinese woman, Precious Auntie, her daughter Liu LuLing who lived in the middle of World War II, and further, LuLing's daughter, Ruth, who was raised in a bustling 1970's San Francisco. Throughout the book, the characters share many of the same thoughts and qualities as each other, as well as show stark contrasts. Upon inspecting Precious Auntie and LuLing as a mother-daughter pair, as well as LuLing and Ruth as a mother-daughter pair, the three are found to be dependent upon each other,

in addition to them being engrossed in education.
Comparing the mother-daughter pair of Precious Auntie and LuLing, to LuLing and Ruth as a pair, one aspect of both of their relationships is incredibly defining to both.

That aspect is that of the inter-dependency they had of one another, both physically and emotionally. Physically speaking, Precious Auntie needed LuLing as her voice among the Liu household. Precious Auntie, in the midst of her grief over the loss of her father and fiance attempted suicide by swallowing flames. This attempt failed ultimately, but scarred Precious Auntie's face, tongue and vocal cords so much so that she lost the ability to speak. LuLing grew up with Precious Auntie teaching her, therefore she learned how Precious Auntie talked to LuLing with her hands. LuLing then is placed in the position to speak what Precious Auntie wants to be spoken to the rest of the family. LuLing is the only living relative of Precious Auntie's, so emotionally speaking, Precious Auntie is very much tied to LuLing. She cared for her all throughout her childhood, until LuLing rebelled and went to Peking without her. Ruth and LuLing had very similar experiences, except in a new country and era. Ruth and LuLing had moved to America, living in 1970s San Francisco. LuLing worked as a calligraphy artist to make ends meet, but she was not very good at speaking English. Ruth was oftentimes LuLing's translator, whether they were in the grocery store or working on the calligraphy LuLing had to do. Emotionally, Ruth

resented how protective LuLing was, but they both took care of each other, no matter how frustrated.
Even though Precious Auntie and LuLing were adults in completely different time periods, with completely different surroundings, one difficult trait was passed on from mother to daughter.

That trait was secret keeping. Precious Auntie keeps the truth of her motherhood, how her fiance and father died, and why her face is completely burnt, from LuLing until right before her death. While she believed it was for the best and to protect LuLing, it ended up backfiring on her. LuLing, on the other hand, kept the secret of her husbands, their deaths, and even the stories of her youth from Ruth until Ruth was well into her adult

years.
Possibly in conjunction with being dependent upon each other, both pairs of mother and daughter place a great emphasis on education. Precious Auntie lovingly passed on to LuLing the knowledge that her father had given her, during a time when education for women was scarce. This knowledge had set Precious Auntie apart in the village and gave her a sense of freedom. It also gave her a sense of productivity as she was able to continue to work after her fiance died, uniquely carving symbols into the ink sticks that the family business sold. This knowledge, particularly reading and writing Chinese characters, she impressed upon LuLing as LuLing grew. In turn, LuLing impressed upon her daughter Ruth the importance of school and getting good grades. On top of Ruth learning the regular subjects in school, LuLing attempted to teach Ruth Chinese characters. This attempt, however, did not have the same effect on Ruth, as it did LuLing growing. LuLing embraced the Chinese concepts of each character having an image to it, and writing them bringing out the character of the writer themselves. Ruth, however, tried to learn only to appease her mother. She could not fully grasp the depth of writing that LuLing used.

Precious Auntie, LuLing and Ruth all share many thoughts, tendencies, and qualities with each other, even though the eras in which they were raised were completely different. Spanning across turn-of-the-century to World War II, and through the 1970s American culture, all the way til 1998, the Liu women depended on each other significantly as well as established the importance of education even in the different cultures.