Feathers from a thousand li away:
The swan:
The swan is symbolism for culture. Through out the story, it is clear that the Americans are taking the swan from the old woman. This can be seen as a form of Americanism. The idea that all cultures, things that make us different are forced to live as one homogenous society in order for all to co-exist.
"But when she arrived in the new country, the immigration officials pulled her swan away from her, leaving the woman fluttering her arms and with only one swan feather for a memory"
The swan has been used to allude the importance of culture in the Chinese society as seen in the chapters to come.
"It was once a duck that stretched it's neck in hopes of becoming a goose and now look!- It is too beautiful to eat.
Amy Tan uses the swan to express how beauty and respect is given to one who values their culture. This is potentially what the Chinese culture is about in Amy Tan's perspective. The fact that the swan is too beautiful to eat shows how a person cannot be disrespected, in this case eaten because they value their culture.
The swan is taken away from the old woman and all she has left is a little feather which she still deems valuable; Once again alluding how culture is valuable in the eyes of the Chinese.
"This feather may look worthless, but it comes from afar and carries with it all my good intentions"
This is a statement the old woman has always dreamed of telling her daughter. The author Amy Tan uses symbolism to show the importance of culture. What else would the old woman bring from afar other than the Chinese culture that she holds dear along with the hope that some day the daughter will do the things the old woman envisioned.
As the old woman travels, she is certain that there will be no sorrow however throughout the book, despite the death of the woman, there are a range of challenges many of the characters in the book are forced to tackle. Infact the entire formation of The Joy luck Club is based on pretending that everything is okay despite the troubles that they are ongoing. Therefore this is situational irony since the old woman had lined expectations of goodwill towards her daughter and the absence of sorrow however she faces challenges through out her time.
"And over there she will always be too full to swallow any sorrow"
The author uses a metaphor to show how she won't need to take in anymore distress caused by loss, disappointment or misfortune. However, in the first chapter, the first thing that's introduced is the loss of the mother.
The theme of the book is introduced "Hope" which drives the entire plot including luck in Chinese culture, the formation of the Joy luck club which will later be introduced and the expectations that the mother has set on her daughter without even clarifying with her what these expectations actually are. As a result she can't be disappointed in her, she just has to hope that her daughter will go on the right path in life and all she can do is push her to it.
Despite the fact that the mother wanted the daughter to value her culture. It wasn't the case as she grows up in an environment with one general culture, the American lifestyle.
"And she had a daughter who grew up speaking only english and swallowing more Coca-cola than sorrow".
The author uses a metaphor to suggest that they left their troubles in China as the mother does mention that she hopes that she will be too full to swallow sorrow. Coca-cola is also a standard drink in America that is consumed by most Americans therefore this shows that the daughter grew up embracing the american lifestyle. The sorrow can be said to be what the old woman left in China and that explains the repetition of sorrow when she talks about what she is hopeful for, what will happen and what actually happens, considering that she never actually got past it (sorrow) in China.
Anyways thanks for keeping up with my book reviews, I shall be releasing the analysis of chapter 1 in a weeks time, in the mean time, stay tuned and check out other blogs that I've also written or go check out the full version of ways to improve your customer service.
Below is the link to my personal blog where I write my poems and pretty much anything:
Below is the link to my youtube channel where I try my best to post every Wednesday:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWwsR3Z7fBTzHtJcoQwemFg
I will be back next week with another one!!!
The swan:
The swan is symbolism for culture. Through out the story, it is clear that the Americans are taking the swan from the old woman. This can be seen as a form of Americanism. The idea that all cultures, things that make us different are forced to live as one homogenous society in order for all to co-exist."But when she arrived in the new country, the immigration officials pulled her swan away from her, leaving the woman fluttering her arms and with only one swan feather for a memory"
This further emphasis on the point that the swan is a representation of the Chinese culture as the woman was given bird-like qualities. Not only does it show how agitated immigrants get when they are forced to give up their culture to be a part of this "Let's make America great again" regime but the author uses the word "fluttering" to show that the old woman and the swan are somehow one and the same just because the swan symbolizes culture and the woman values culture making them one.
"It was once a duck that stretched it's neck in hopes of becoming a goose and now look!- It is too beautiful to eat.
Amy Tan uses the swan to express how beauty and respect is given to one who values their culture. This is potentially what the Chinese culture is about in Amy Tan's perspective. The fact that the swan is too beautiful to eat shows how a person cannot be disrespected, in this case eaten because they value their culture.
The swan is taken away from the old woman and all she has left is a little feather which she still deems valuable; Once again alluding how culture is valuable in the eyes of the Chinese.
"This feather may look worthless, but it comes from afar and carries with it all my good intentions"
This is a statement the old woman has always dreamed of telling her daughter. The author Amy Tan uses symbolism to show the importance of culture. What else would the old woman bring from afar other than the Chinese culture that she holds dear along with the hope that some day the daughter will do the things the old woman envisioned.
As the old woman travels, she is certain that there will be no sorrow however throughout the book, despite the death of the woman, there are a range of challenges many of the characters in the book are forced to tackle. Infact the entire formation of The Joy luck Club is based on pretending that everything is okay despite the troubles that they are ongoing. Therefore this is situational irony since the old woman had lined expectations of goodwill towards her daughter and the absence of sorrow however she faces challenges through out her time.
"And over there she will always be too full to swallow any sorrow"
The author uses a metaphor to show how she won't need to take in anymore distress caused by loss, disappointment or misfortune. However, in the first chapter, the first thing that's introduced is the loss of the mother.
The theme of the book is introduced "Hope" which drives the entire plot including luck in Chinese culture, the formation of the Joy luck club which will later be introduced and the expectations that the mother has set on her daughter without even clarifying with her what these expectations actually are. As a result she can't be disappointed in her, she just has to hope that her daughter will go on the right path in life and all she can do is push her to it.
Despite the fact that the mother wanted the daughter to value her culture. It wasn't the case as she grows up in an environment with one general culture, the American lifestyle.
"And she had a daughter who grew up speaking only english and swallowing more Coca-cola than sorrow".
The author uses a metaphor to suggest that they left their troubles in China as the mother does mention that she hopes that she will be too full to swallow sorrow. Coca-cola is also a standard drink in America that is consumed by most Americans therefore this shows that the daughter grew up embracing the american lifestyle. The sorrow can be said to be what the old woman left in China and that explains the repetition of sorrow when she talks about what she is hopeful for, what will happen and what actually happens, considering that she never actually got past it (sorrow) in China.
Anyways thanks for keeping up with my book reviews, I shall be releasing the analysis of chapter 1 in a weeks time, in the mean time, stay tuned and check out other blogs that I've also written or go check out the full version of ways to improve your customer service.
Below is the link to my personal blog where I write my poems and pretty much anything:
Below is the link to my youtube channel where I try my best to post every Wednesday:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWwsR3Z7fBTzHtJcoQwemFg
Watch how to improve your customer service by clicking the link below:
I will be back next week with another one!!!
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