JLC Quickwrite #1: The ever-changing story...

“Over the years, she told me the same story, except for the ending, which grew darker, casting long shadows into her life, and eventually into mine” (pg. 21).

In Kweilin, Jing-mei's mother created the Joy Luck Club, composed of four female members whose husbands/brothers/male companions were involved in the war. Each time her mother told the story, it would usually stop at the point when the Joy Luck Club would cook feasts, play mahjong, and trade stories into the night to escape the fear and uncertainty of the war. Her mother would tag on some fantastic ending that made the story seem like a “Chinese fairy tale”, according to Jing-mei. She never went on to tell the real ending of the story until one evening. I'm not sure why she always changed the ending – maybe she wanted to keep her daughter guessing, or maybe she just wasn't comfortable with telling the story so soon.

One day an army officer suggested to Jing-mei's mother that she travel to Chungking to be with her husband. She knew the message meant that the Japanese would soon arrive in her town, and that the families of men like her husband would be the first to die. She packed her children and some belongings into a wheelbarrow walked Chungking, since there were no running trains. Her hands began to bleed from carrying her bags for so long. She was eventually forced to begin lightening her load by leaving items behind. By the time she arrived in Chungking, she had only three silk dresses. She told Jing-mei that she was not one of those babies, not being her first daughter.

Jing-mei never really knew why her mother told her about Kweilin until one evening at a game of mahjong. Her aunts revealed to her that her mother wanted to get back in touch with her daughters, but she died before she did so.

I think Jing-mei's mother eventually told her the real ending to the story, so that when this came up, it would not come up as a surprise. Maybe she knew she would waste a lifetime trying to reach her two daughters in Hong-Kong, and hoped that Jing-mei would do the duty for her. 

My mom would be dead.

This is the second time I have read this article and I am still shocked and upset about everything this woman says.

"Western parents try to respect their children's individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away."

     
Amy Chua's methods are unbelievable. To start off, what I don't understand is why she finds it necessary to group her own methods in withh every other Chinese home. Just from asking close friends, I know that not every Chinese parent is like her; they may have similar traits/methods of discipline, but all in all I don't think they are this extreme. Also, not every Western household is as soft and caring as she believes - in fact, some households (like my own) are just as strict and angry as she is. Now, there is a limit to HOW strict they are. My parents don't force my to go without eating or using the bathroom for hours at a time, and they don't threaten to take things of mine away. All in all, I think this lady is crazy.

      A child owes love and respect to their parent. We did not make the decision to come into this world, but our parents brought us here so I believe they owe us love, care, and all essentials of living until we are capable of caring for ourselves.Chua does not believe she owes her children anything, which sucks. It isn't fair not to let her children ruin their lives for her satisfaction.

      I don't know what else to say. Amy Chua should go screw a donkey.

Animal Farm - Chapter 11

A generation passed – even now, very few animals whom participated in the revolution were still around. What had once been a great cause, had fallen into pieces. Clover, though her eyesight had gone, never forgot the words that had replaced the original Seven Commandments of Animal Farm:

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL

BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

She walked past it everyday, whispering the words to herself over and over so that no animals would overhear. When her vision went, she lied in her lonesome, trying to understand what it meant. She vaguely remembered how Napoleon had defined equal, but eventually came the conclusion that it meant same.When the younger animals asked what was written on the post, Clover would whisper, “We are all not the same. All animals are not the same.”

Napoleon had taken down the post when he left the farm; all the animals were old and decrepit, and the new animals were too young to work as hard as he wanted. Food and supplies were low, barely enough to sufficiently feed each animal. Napoleon had grown weary of raising the young and running the farm. He made the decision late fall,to take all the farm's earnings and go off on vacation to another home he had secretly established months before. One Sunday morning, the animals awoke to The absence of Napoleon and his dogs. Clover walked up the hill and looked over the farm, puzzled on how the animals would care for themselves from then on. She made it a point to tell the newest animals of Animal Farm's past, hoping they would carry on the farm's original traditions. Clover told honest stories of Mr. Jones and his mistreatment of the animals, the very first fight between animals and humans, Battle of the Cowshed, Sunday meetings and the song Beasts of England, and of Snowball's disappearance and Napoleon's rule over the farm. Most importantly, she told them of Major's speech that started the whole revolution. “No animal in England is free. No animal knows the meaning of leisure after he is a year old. The life of an animal is misery and slavery. This is truth. Nearly the whole of our produce of our labor is stolen from us by human beings. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems, summed up in a single word: Man. Man is the only creature that consumes without producing.”' The animals whom were still alive along with Clover would occasionally interrupt and add detail, but overall let her tell the story. The young animals just listened – no interruptions, no questions.

As another winter rolled around, all of the animals whom participated in the revolution had passed away. Important facts of the revolution had been misremembered, distorted and skewed by the young animals. Values were lost, and they all eventually forgot the reason they were told the stories in the first place. When humans began to linger around the farm again, they mingled.