Magpies 215-241
An-Mei Hsu - Mother left, raised by grandmother, Uncle,
Aunt, Grandmother died
Daughter- Rose Hsu Jordan (divorce from Ted)
Rose told her mother, An-Mei her marriage was falling apart,
Rose did not speak to her mother about her issues, but would talk to a
psychiatrist, with tears of shame.
“She cried, “No choice! No choice!” She does not know. If
she doesn’t speak, she is making a choice. If she doesn’t try she can lose her
chance forever. I know this, because I was raised the Chinese way: I was taught
to desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, to eat my own bitterness.
And even though I taught my daughter the opposite, still she came out the same
way!”(215)
In this chapter An-Mei tells a story about when she made a
choice to leave her uncles house and follow her mother. Her mother was happy as
they traveled home but once they reached her home as the third wife of an older
man, she changed. An-Mei learned that her mother had no power or respect as the
third wife and she actually gave birth to a son that the first wife claimed as
her own. The second wife pretended suicide so she was treated well. An-Mei’s
mother could no longer handle the suffering she had so she poisioned herself
with opium. “…she whispered to me that she would rather kill her own weak spirit
so she could give me a stronger one.”(240)
Waiting Between the Trees
Ying-ying St. Clair – quiet, husband died.
Daughter - Lena St. Clair – unhappy marriage, quite, nice house, split everything 50/50
“This is the guest bedroom,” Lena said in her proud American
way. I smiled. But to Chinese ways of thinking, the guest bedroom is the best
bedroom, where she and her husband sleep. I do not tell her this.” (242)
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