An-Mei Hsu-->Magpies: Chapter 13-term: fable

Queen Mother of the Western Skies

The narrator now switches back to the mother An-Mei Hsu.  We had a glimpse of her childhood in the previous story, Scar.  The beginning starts out with her mother telling her a fable about a turtle.  Her mother says, "'The turtle said, 'I have eaten your tears, and this is why I know your misery. But must I worn you. If you cry, your life will always be sad'" (217).  The story about the turtle taught An-Mei that her tears will be someone else's joy.  The Chapter goes on to tell you about An-Mei and her mother escaping Auntie and Uncle's house for good.  An-Mei was miserable there and her mother knew it.  They travel to Tientsin where her mother was living.  They live in a huge house where their are "five wives". An-Mei does not quite understand at this point that her mother was a prostitute.  She lives comfortably with her mother until she begins to feel uncomfortable.  She notices her mother dislikes the other wives.  The arrival of Wu Tsing made An-Mei feel strange.  She later knew that he was using her mother.  Her mother ends up dying, but she learned a lot from her.  An-Mei says, "My mother, she suffered. She lost her face and tried to hide it. She found only greater misery and finally could not hide that. There was nothing more to understand. That was China. That was what people did back then. They had no choice" (241).  This quote seemed important because it showed how many people in China were miserable on the inside.  Although it looked like her mother had everything in the world, she was suffering inside.  It reminds me of when Mr. Ray told us about the icing on the cake, and The Great Gatsby.