I just finished reading chapter three. I had so much to do this week but when I found the time to sit down and read a section of the chapter each night, it was always enjoyable.
At the beginning of the chapter, the family welcomes their new son and brother Jung-Sum. He is also referred to as Second Son (Kiam-Kim being First Son). The two were forced to share a room with each other. Kiam immediately attempted to set rules and limits between him and his new younger brother to "show the squirt right away who was boss" (Choy 108). He marked which drawers are only to be used by him and drew a red crayon line down the middle of their room. That was Kiam's first problem with Jung; he had to now say 'our room' when he previously said 'my room' for years. I thought at first he was being a bit too harsh on his new brother. At one point he even said, "'Let me see how tough you are'" (Choy 108). Then he "punched him in the stomach. Just hard enough" (Choy 108). It is hard as a reader to actually aprehend how hard he actually punched his little brother, but I can only assume. Already I know Jung-Sum is a strong person, he didn't cry or even flinch when Kiam punched him. Soon after I found out that Jung was beaten by his father before he was adopted into Kiam's family. Kiam is reminded just how lucky he is to have been born in his family: no poverty, no hate, no beating. With the addition of Jung-Sum, the family is one step closer to completing Poh-Poh's wish of having three grandsons.
Poh-Poh yet again tells the children another one of her many stories from her experiences in Old China. Personally, I love Poh-Poh as a character: she is lively and adds colour to the novel. She is much different than the others, since she remains indigenous to the cultures and traditions of Old China. She is the only one who spent more than half her life there. Her age and where she grew up influence her character and what she says to the other characters. She is remarkably enthusiastic when telling her stories, making it sound so real. I can understand that Kiam and his siblings want to believe what she is saying; her vivid descriptions make life seem so much more fascinating.
Since Kiam is older now, he wants to be even more like his father. He knows his father doesn't believe half the things the Old One says, leading to Kiam not wanting to believe her as much either. I think when he sees that his younger siblings are wide-eyed throughout the whole telling of the story and they believe everything that is being said, it makes him not want to believe his grandmother. If his younger siblings believe her stories, he probably thinks it would be childish for him to trust what she is saying, too. Now that he is older he wants to be more realistic and rational, like his father. He said, "when I was almost ten, I stood with one foot deep in the rippling waves of Poh-Poh's storytelling while my other foot stood firmly on dry ground" (Choy 121). I liked this metaphor Choy used because it helps describe Kiam's evolution into a more mature, self-choice-making character while using a familiar visual (waves and dry ground). The stories not only tell me more about Poh-Poh and her history, but it also adds depth into the plot. Her stories also bring out present characteristics in people. For example, when Father overhears her telling a story, he usually shakes his head or assures the children that it's not all true. This tells me that he has lost his spiritual part of his old culture. He is more of a serious character. I feel like he can be slightly austere when it comes to Poh-Poh's affect on the children with her tales. Her stories also help me contrast Kiam-Kim with Jung-Sum and Liang-Liang. The sentence,"Liang and Jung could be summoned at once for talk-story time like hungry dogs to dinner. I took my time" (Choy 123) suggests that Kiam is older and less excited or interested about the stories compared to his unaware, younger siblings.
Most of her stories before this chapter were about iron dragons and monkey kings. In this chapter she revealed a more personal story. It was about her time as a servant for a spoiled young mistress back in Old China. I'm not going to explain the whole story, but one of Poh-Poh's main tasks was to brush the mistress's hair. She had a dream that the serpents that were engraved onto the comb told her that the 'mistress will die'. At the later part in the story, Poh-Poh describes the mistress's death. It seemed a bit exaggerated and, like I would have done, Kiam went and asked his father about that mistress. He told her how she actually died, similar to what Poh-Poh said, but less extreme. It was an interesting story, but I only believed parts of it, in that way I feel like I am somewhat like Kiam's character: some parts seem possible but other parts seem ridiculous or foolish; but I guess that's what makes the story seem that much more interesting, when sections of it seem impossible. Even if some modernized middle-aged people did not believe her stories, they still enjoy hearing them; she is a well-respected story-teller in Old China and remains so in the Chinatown in Vancouver. I admire her confidence, honesty and imagination.
Oh and I guess I should explain the title. Father says it closer to the beginning of the chapter when Jung is having trouble with bullies at school. I thought it was such a brilliant thing to say; I agree with it 100 per cent. It's significant because it is at the same time he asks Kiam for help. It's the first time Kiam acts like a good, responsible older brother. This is an important thing to point out because he was just ridiculing him a few pages before. Therefore I'm assuming Kiam is quickly realizing what his main role as First Son is; he's already showing an immense amount of responsibility to his two younger siblings.
I feel Choy's choice to make Kiam-Kim the narrator of the novel was a great one. I think out of all the characters, Kiam will change and evolve the most. If the story was told through someone who hardly changed, it would seem somewhat monotonous and less interesting. In this chapter it's evident that the older people are giving Kiam more respect. Poh-Poh allowed him to do the 'grown-up' job at dinner which was using the sharp knife to clean the turnips. He is also the only child to know about Stepmother being pregnant: a secret. Grown-ups are allowed to know secrets; this is how Kiam sees this and he feels older and more mature. When I get to the end of the book, I will be able to reflect back to the beginning and see how far he has come. I predict he will have completely different opinions on things in the future since he will be older and have more general knowledge.
At the end of the chapter Stepmother gave birth to Sek-Lung, Poh-Poh's third grandson. Respect for elders in Chinese society was shown again: Third Uncle and Father asked the Old One if she approved the naming of the newborn son. She smiled and said yes.
Words looked up from this chapter:
coolies
paraffin
beguiling
indignation
carp
reposed
No comments:
Post a Comment