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Analysis novel the kite runner thesis, themes, theory
Analysis novel the kite runner thesis, themes, theory
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Her intentions are not meant for heartbreaks, but for the well-being of her babies. Support Point # 2- Suyuan’s top priority is to educate Jing-mei as ideal daughter; however, high expectations are difficult to achieve causing problems and leading bitterness into the relationship. Support Point
People transform a fraction of themselves every day in hopes to please others and be accepted, but in order to do this it is necessary for one to forfeit their soul because they sacrifice their vulnerability when they become someone else and choose to disguise who they whole-heartedly are. People hope to please others because we yearn to be accepted, but in order to please others, we become who society requires us to be and not who they truly are. In the novel, American Born Chinese, the character Jin changes himself in pursuance of his crush, Amelia. When Jin notices Amelia talking to a man with curly hair, Jin’s thoughts are shown as he gradually decides to adjust his hair to look curly to mimic the man he is jealous of. By Jin’s third thought his face shows that he is certain the only way Amelia will notice him is if his appearance is a certain way (97).
Opposing from An Mei, her daughter, Rose, had a completely different view upon the world and how she wanted to live her life. An Mei was born in china, whereas her daughter was born in the United States where she has been used to the American culture. She also has no interest in the Chinese culture or traditions as her mother. I believe that An Mei is upset that her daughter doesn’t follow in the footsteps as her mother, but Rose is so “gung-ho” about what she wants that she doesn’t even consider her families past. “This is not hope, not reason.
Another use of storytelling involve historical legacy. By telling their daughters about their family histories, the mother's ensure that their lives are remembered and understood by future generations, so that the characters who acted in the story never go away completely. In telling their stories to their daughters, the mothers try to instill them with respect for their Chinese ancestors and their pasts. Suyuan hopes that by finding her long-lost daughters and telling them her story, she can assure them with her love, regardless of her apparent abandonment of them. When Jing-mei sets out to explain her
Jing Mei is signed up to perform at a local talent show in front of her family, despite having no interest in playing the piano. Her performance of a piece ironically titled “Pleading Child”, as expected, doesn’t go well, which only makes Jing Mei and her mom’s perspectives of each other more negative. Ultimately fueled with hatred on Page 27-28, Jing Mei has a meltdown, thinking to herself, “My true self had finally emerged. So this was what had been inside of me all along.” Feeling both pressured and embarrassed by her family, especially her mom, Jing Mei, musically, feels powerless, and all of her might to be a prodigy disappears after her performance.
Have you ever wondered what life would be like in China? For Adeline Yen Mei it 's not easy. She has a hard life even though coming from a wealthy Chinese family, she still has a depressing life of being unwanted daughter. The novel, Chinese Cinderella, by Yen Mah, talks about her entire life story and about the sad and happy parts of her life. Being an unwanted daughter she already has a pretty sad life however, she has a couple of people who are there for her when times get hard.
Jing-mei, Suyuan's daughter, takes her mother's place at the east side of the game table. Jing-mei's relationship and interactions at the table with the older women signifies the generational conflicts that play a major role in all of the different stories. Each of the mother and daughter pairs has their own personal and cultural problems that are unique to their situation. In each relationship, events in the mother's past deeply affect how she identifies with and relates to her daughter.
My mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach. I would never feel they need to sulk for anything.” (Amy 143) This illustrates that Suyuan instills the concept of anyone can be anything if they work hard into Jing-mei, pushes her to success in different areas; however, after Jing-mei fails those prizes and contests, she feels inadequate because she thinks she never succeeded and never meet her mother’s expectation.
One dynamic that false expectation strains is the relationship between Suyuan and her daughter Jing-Mei. In a vignette told from the perspective of the latter, Suyuan has the notion that Jing-Mei should be able to perform something at the level of a prodigy. She begins
While performing, she realized the beauty of the piece she was playing, but played terribly due to her resolution to not learn the piece earlier. Finally, Jing-mei came to realization on how she disappointed her parents and some of the crowd. However, it was not the end of her piano lessons, and when confronted to this fact, she made a final stand on how she can not be something she does not want to be, In her later life, she lead a slippery slope and eventually become a college dropout. On her thirtieth birthday, she received her old piano equipment. She realized that the song that she played that day was only half of a larger piece.
This applies to Jing-mei's life because as a child she was the "pleading child," pleading with her mother to give up on her dream of Jing-mei becoming a prodigy. When Jing-mei accepts the piano, she comes to peace with her mother and becomes "perfectly
The story showed the pressures of how Jing-Mei’s mother made her feel as though being a prodigy meant that she “would soon become perfect”. As though perfect was the only thing acceptable in her mother’s eyes and being simply normal was not good enough. Failing or coming short of what is expected would then make it seem as though one would “always be nothing” if not perfect or the best. The questions of being normal in a family that expects so much will cloud a young child’s mind. Questions asked like, “Why don’t you like me the way I am?”
Jing Mei, while portrayed as an obedient child, is only willing to listen to her mother to a certain extent. Throughout the story, it is consistently hinted that Jing Mei would eventually explode against her mother as an attempt to free herself from her mother’s chains. In addition, after the fiasco at the piano recital, she eventually derives further from her mother’s wishes as she “didn 't get straight A...didn 't become class president...didn 't get into Stanford...dropped out of college.” (54). On the flip side, Jing Mei’s mother is a stereotypical Chinese parent who is fully determined to ensure her daughter’s success in a new environment.
In the words of Jing-Mei in the last line of the story, “Together we look like our mother. Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long-cherished wish” (Tan 159). Throughout her life, Suyuan, their mother, held onto the hope that she would see her daughters again. In this hope, she named Jing-Mei in connection to her sisters, keeping the “long-cherished wish” that someday her daughters would reconcile and complete their family circle. The occasion that
Jing-Mei merely wished that she “could shout back and cry and blame her [Mother] for all [her] misery…” , not that she could take the responsibility upon herself and strive to do better next time. This allows us to see that in the world of “A Hunger Artist”, Jing-Mei would have blamed her crisis, on the audience for not appreciating her work and by comparison, keeping her from being successful. Moreover, Jing-Mei would have condemned her manager, saying that he didn’t properly do his job of finding her good performances. Shown through the way that Jing-Mei whines, “Why don’t you like me the way I am?” it can be seen that she believes that she should be able to put in little to no effort and receive praise.
