An-Mei Hsu-->Scar: Chapter 2-term: adage

Feathers from a Thousand Li Away

The second chapter is about one of June's Aunties An-Mei-Hsu.  It talks about her early years, and the rough childhood she had.  Her mother was never there for her and left her and her brother at a young age.  Her grandmother told her that her mom was a ghost, and they were not allowed to talk about her.  She lived with her Popo and little brother.  I was a little confused, but I think that her Popo is her grandmother.  She was treated in a very strict manor as a child.  Her Popo always told her wise sayings or lessons.  Popo said, " If you are greedy, what is inside you is what makes you always hungry" (43).  This was an adage that Popo told her as a child.  Another adage that Popo told her was "it is like dropping your necklace down a well. The only way you can get it back is to fall in after it" (44).  The quotes I picked for this chapter is An-Mei-Hsu's auntie talking to her little brother.  She says, "My auntie, who had a very bad temper with children, told him he had no respect for ancestors or family, just like our mother (44).  This quote made me think of the poor childhood that these Chinese families are scarred from.  It made me think of issues children have today because of their childhood.  It also made me think of how my parents always tell my brother and I to respect our elders.  The quote sums up the type of life that she and her brother had to live.  Her mother comes back after leaving them for many years because Popo is dying.  An-Mei-Hsu is reminded of how much she was like her mother.  She seems to not be angry at her mother and has forgiven her.