ipl-logo

The Kitchen God's Wife

475 Words2 Pages

In the novel The Kitchen God’s Wife, Amy Tan shows the complexity of a distance relationship through the character Pearl Louie. Pearl is the daughter of Winnie Louie. She is a Chinese-American born, raised in a family that practice the Chinese customs. In the beginning of the novel the readers learn that Pearl and Winnie are not close. During Bao-bao engagement party, Pearl wonders to herself the reason behind the distanced relationship between her mom and herself: “I think of the enormous distance that separates us and makes us unable to share the most important matters of our life”(34). This quote indicates to the readers that the mother-daughter relationship is far apart with Pearl wanting to live a normal life as possible with her American …show more content…

Winnie Louie known is also known as Jiang Weili in China is a Chinese immigrant. At the beginning of the novel the readers see Winnie as a strong, self-determined woman. Although as the readers gets to the middle of the novel, Winnie reveals to Pearl that her mother abandoned her when she was six years old; consequently seeing the shame of the event through Winnie’s eyes, Winnie’s father sent her to live with his brother and his two wives. Ever since Winnie’s mom left her, Winnie still recalls the memories of her, she states, “Over the years, I tried to remember her face, the words she said, the things we did together. I remember her ten thousand different ways”(105). This quote signifies that Winnie has not lost touch with the memories of her mother. Winnie remembers the earliest memories between herself, and her mother before her mother left her. A memory Winnie tells Pearl of is, when Winnie was young she loved English biscuits, so when she would ask her mother to have some, her mother would not hesitate to give her, or they would go to a place where her mom would buy her the best American ice cream sundae. Despite the fact, Winnie and her mother relationship lasted momentarily, it took a major impact in her life, and made her become the attentive mother she is towards

Show More
Related
1186 Words | 5 Pages

``The woman warrior`` written by Maxine Hong Kingston is a collection of memoirs. It has a hybrid form: it is a myth, fiction, as well as autobiography. ``The woman warrior`` is a book about finding and discovering yourself in the circumstances of a Chinese family and an American upbringing, always fluctuating between the two worlds, wondering about your true self. In ``A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe`` a very important theme is the Identity Plot.

Read More
1418 Words | 6 Pages

This child of its father’s guilt and its mother’s shame hath come from the hand of God” (Evans). Though as much as she wants to question Pearl being her daughter, she realize that Pearl is a living reminder of her “sin” she has committed. In the novel “the talk of the neighboring townspeople...had given out that poor little Pearl was a demon offspring...ever since old Catholic times…

Read More
923 Words | 4 Pages

“Look at this! Would she leave this behind? Would she?’” (Page 124). The both of them feel like their mothers would never leave them and that they had to have been taken away or left unintentionally.

Read More
523 Words | 3 Pages

In a letter to her son, Abigail Adams shares her advice for him while traveling abroad. The letter encourages John Quincy Adams to make the most of this experience as evidenced by her appealing to her son as his mother and her reference to heroes of past and present. In this letter Adams appeals to “my son” as “his affectionate mother” so that he might value her advice and encouragement. Adams wants her son to value her advice so that her message of making the most of your trip will not fall upon deaf ears.

Read More
408 Words | 2 Pages

Abigail Adams is writing to her son who is voyaging with his father. At this time her son, John Quincy Adams, is a U.S. diplomat headed to France. In this letter she is telling him to be careful and do good work. To be good man and make his family proud and bring honor to his country. She uses very high level of words to help set the tone of a stern, concerned mother.

Read More
377 Words | 2 Pages

Biological Mother, Abigail Adams in her letter to her son, applies to him some advice which she hopes will make him a better man. Adams purpose is to give advice to her son so that he can become a good man and bring honor to his country. She adopts an uplifting tone in order to get her son to listen to her so he can prepare for whatever comes his way. Abigail begins her letter by explaining that she has given him advice before and he had listened to her

Read More
494 Words | 2 Pages

The family leads a hard working, simple and minimalistic life that allows them just enough to get by. Mama is described as a “large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands” (Walker 418). Her day to day life doesn’t allow for the high standards of her eldest daughter Dee. Dee is described by Mama as being unappreciative and bratty. Mama makes is clear that the family’s socioeconomic status would never be good enough for the eldest daughter.

Read More
188 Words | 1 Pages

In “Birthday” by David Wong Louie, the narrator, Wallace Wong, came to see a boy named Whelby since it was the Whelby’s birthday. He wanted to take Whelby out for a baseball game but was stopped by his father, Frank. Wallace and Frank had an argument and later, Wallace went hiding into the Frank’s house. While he was in the house, Wallace wondered what he should give Whelby as a birthday present. The narrator’s parents wanted him to find a nice Chinese girl but he had other plans.

Read More
453 Words | 2 Pages

He believes that she is a descendent of Hawaiian Royalty, which lets the reader know that Aunty Pearl is actually very beautiful. He describes her as being on the bigger side, but still as kind and graceful as the queens of ancient

Read More
863 Words | 4 Pages

The Woman Warrior is a “memoir of a girlhood among ghosts” in which Maxine Hong Kingston recounts her experiences as a second generation immigrant. She tells the story of her childhood by intertwining Chinese talk-story and personal experience, filling in the gaps in her memory with assumptions. The Woman Warrior dismantles the archetype of the typical mother-daughter relationship by suggesting that diaspora redefines archetypes by combining conflicting societal norms. A mother’s typical role in a mother-daughter relationship is one of guidance and leadership. Parents are responsible for teaching a child right from wrong and good from evil.

Read More
1007 Words | 5 Pages

During the time period, girls were expected from a young age to conform to gender stereotypes. Pearl never does this, instead she connects with nature more than anyone in the novel. She also always had a strong attraction to the scarlet letter her mother wears. Pearl always questioned it, as seen when she asks if it is the reason Dimmesdale clutches his heart often. “‘Dost thou know, child, wherefore thy mother wears this letter?’

Read More
495 Words | 2 Pages

Abigail Adams, the mother of John Quincy Adams, is entering a new chapter in her life in which her youngest son is becoming a man. John, his elder brother, and his father are traveling on a long, treacherous voyage to France. Abigail Adams writes John an encouraging letter that will help display her feelings towards him as a mother. Adams uses a number of different rhetorical devices such as a myriad of different historical and metaphorical examples, as well as a motherly diction in order to leave a desired confidence in her son.

Read More
354 Words | 2 Pages

Her mother's perspective as a perfectionist is described in the first sentence of the short story. She believed that America was the most advanced and perfect country where you can achieve your dreams. Although pushing her daughter

Read More
1224 Words | 5 Pages

The pearl that Kino finds can be seen as an attack on the American dream. Kino wishes to create equal opportunity for his son to be able to attain to the fullest stature of which he is innately capable. “‘This is our one change… Our son must go to school. He must break out of the pot that holds us in’”

Read More
849 Words | 4 Pages

Pearl’s reaction towards the scarlet letter is shown in, “Weeks, it was true, might sometimes elapse, during which Pearl’s gaze might never once

Read More

More about The Kitchen God's Wife

Related Topics

Open Document