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A Pair Of Tickets Essay

651 Words3 Pages

The short story A Pair of Tickets by Amy Tan is narrated in the first person by a 36 year old woman named June May. The family of June May immigrated to the country and settled in San Francisco, California. Recently her mother has, unfortunately, passed away. She then sets out on a journey to find her true roots and comprehend her cultural identity. Also to meet a few family members, including her twin half-sisters, whom she had never met.

Suyuan, her mother, departed China during World War II and left her twin daughters behind. Suyuan had walked herself to fatigue, causing her to feel symptoms of dysentery in her stomach. She knew she couldn't witness the twins perish alongside her on the side of the road. She implored other passing immigrants to accept her baby, but was unsuccessful. Eventually, she ripped up the inside of her gown, where she had hidden her mother's ancient treasures, and tucked the jewelry into one baby's shirt while sliding money beneath the other's. She pulled out photos of her family and herself, scribbled the names of the twins on the backs, and asked the rescuer to take care of the infants with the valuable items supplied and deliver them to her address in Shanghai once it was safe to do so. Tragically, the twins' discovery family were unable to decipher the address. Suyuan wrote to friends in China for years in an effort to track …show more content…

For example, at the beginning of the story it says,“The landscape has become gray, filled with low flat cement buildings, old factories, and then tracks and more tracks filled with trains like ours passing by in the opposite direction”(Tan 736). In the concluding sentences it says,” The gray-green surface changes to the bright colors of our three images, sharpening and deepening all at once” (Tan 736). These colors instantly set a tone and mood. In the opening of the story it was viewed as danger and fear. To later to growth and

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