Reading Notes B, Week 13, The Joy Luck Club

The Voice from the Wall: Lena St. Clair daughter of Ying-ying St. Clair

Because, even as a young child, I could sense the unspoken terrors that surrounded out house, the ones that chased my mother until she hid in a secret dark corner of her mind. And still they found her. I watched, over the years, as they devoured her, piece by piece, until she disappeared and became a ghost. (103)

Lena was a very aware of her surroundings as a young child, because her mother, Ying-ying would tell her dark stories, such has how her grandfather sentenced a beggar to die and then he came back and killed her great grandfather a week later, there was a bad man who lived in the basement of their home. Lena started to see the bad around her and did not tell anyone. Ying-ying did not speak good English and her husband who was not Chinese, would try to say what she was thinking and speak for her. Ying-ying arrived in SF through Angel Island Immigration Station, which she stayed there for 3weeks, she was claimed as a Displaced Person, since they did not have rules for a Chinese wide of a Caucasian citizen. When Ying-ying and Lena were alone her mother would speak Chinese, and say that everything was danegerous. Lena’s father was promoted and they moved to a better area, up a hill in North Beach. Ying-ying was still not happy, did not feel like her home was balanced and started to move many things around in the apartment, food, furniture.

“When something goes against your nature, you are not in balance. This house was built too steep, and a bad wind from the top blows all your strength back down the hill. So you can never get ahead. You are always rolling backwards.” (109)

Ying-ying was pregnant and was nesting, but she did not take care of herself, she would bump into things and did not seem happy about being pregnant.

Lena’s bed was moved once the baby’s crib was in the room and she could hear a woman shouting at girl, she would hear yelling, pushing and hitting sounds, this would happen all of the time. Lena seen the girl in the stairs of the apartment but she would not look at Lena.

One day she was picked up from school from a family friend, who took her to the hospital, her mother lost the baby and was blaming herself. After this her mother was lost and slowly fell apart, piece by piece.

One night the neighbor girl who Lena could hear through the window came to her door, she came into the house and then started to go through Lena’s window back up to her room. Even though, her mother beat her, and treated her badly, she went back home and said her mom would be happy she returned. Later that night she heard, “you stupida girl. You almost gave me a heart attack……. Then I heard them laughing and crying, shouting with love.” (115)