After reading chapter four I have different thoughts of Jung-Sum; he has changed a lot since he first joined the Chen family. Since he is young he is susceptible to easy manipulation and influence.
It is this chapter that I see a huge difference between Kiam-Kim and Jung-Sum. Kiam is the older, more responsible son. He is clever while Jung-Sum is tough and strong. This is mainly shown when the two go to the library to return some books. The highly obnoxious, bratty Jenny Chong was outside the doors with her friends while the boys walked by. She called Jung-Sum Kiam's shadow and a dog. This instigation caused him to run up to Jenny and kick her shin. Personally, I think she deserved it, but that's because I am not a huge fan of her character at all... . Kiam, the more rational of the two, pulled Jung away and reassured him that "Sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will never hurt you" (Choy 176). Even after Kiam says this, Jung ignores him, which makes me believe he is extremely stubborn, too. Later that day Jung-Sum was spoken to by a few older people and shamefully listens. Typical of Jenny to do, she tells her mother a completely exaggerated version of the story; her mother brings up the incident claiming it was a 'brutal' kicking. After Mrs. Chong left, Kiam thought of several punishments Jung-Sum would have to endure from Poh-Poh and Father. Kiam thought, "he might be locked in the closet all night, he might be deprived of supper for a whole month..." (Choy 181). Soon after at night, Kiam found out that Jung-Sum didn't receive any punishment. In fact, Poh-Poh told him to kick harder next time. I feel that this assures me that Poh-Poh doesn't think highly of Jenny Chong. I think this is most likely because her grandchildren, for the most part, are very well behaved and well mannered, while Jenny can act like a snob and she is a nuisance.
What I also realized in this chapter is that it is getting more and more difficult for Chinese families to purchase Chinese food and ingredients. China at this time is enduring* experiencing* a civil war as well as a war with Japan, thus unable to export any goods to other places, including Vancouver. I think the lack of Chinese *goods in Vancouver's Chinatown is a sign that the culture is slowly disappearing. I felt bad for the Chinese immigrants. They came to Canada filled with hope and now they must leave with less than that; almost nothing more than the clothes on their backs. If they left Canada they were not allowed to come back. The shame that now filled them caused some of the people to kill themselves en route back to China, unable to face their family back home. It was weird reading that Canada would do that, since today we are a generally tolerant, kind country; but I reminded myself that this was in the 1930's, things were different.
It was also announced that Stepmother would be havin another baby. I was shocked to hear about this, especially since Poh-Poh's wish had been granted (she has 3 grandsons already). It didn't surprise me when Stepmother was later described as being very weak and ill. She seems to me to be a small statured young woman, and giving birth to three children in a timespan of a couple years is hard on anybody. At the end of the chapter, Stepmother prepared for her third time to give birth. Unfortunately it didn't end well and the baby died just a few minutes after it was born. I was surprised that she wasn't clearly upset that she just lost a son. She even smiled when she was reassured that it was all over. Poh-Poh was the optimistic one of the family and quickly said, "We thank the temple gods that this grandson suffer only this night" (Choy 193).
Maybe in chapter 5 I'll learn more about the death of the baby's affect on the family; if they'll dwell on the incident or move on with their lives.
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