Analysis Of The Book ' Wild Swans ' By Jung Chang Essay

Consequently, she did not know the range of opportunities that were present in America and took them for granted, unlike her mother, who recognized and pushed her daughter toward them. More than anything, Jing-mei wanted to be her own self, not what her mother wanted her to be despite having Jing-mei’s best interests at heart, both the result of their generational and cultural divide. Her careless perspective on life resulting from her American identity are strongly juxtaposed with her mother’s hard-working and optimistic views. Furthermore, Tan describes when the pair’s brewing tension due to their cultural differences culminate when Jing-mei refuses to practice after a failed performance and her mother yells, “Only two kinds of daughters… those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!”(67). This defining moment clearly lays out the obvious divide between the cultures of Jing-mei and her mother. Jing-mei has been greatly influenced by the individualistic, independent ways of the United States, whereas her mother has retained her more traditionally Chinese values of respect and obedience. The “two kinds” of daughters represent the two cultures that Jing-mei and her mother embody, and how these differences influence their separate views on their place in the world. Jing-mei’s mother believed that if a person worked hard enough,

Four Chinese mothers have migrated to America. Each hope for their daughter’s success and pray that they will not experience the hardships faced in China. One mother, Suyuan, imparts her knowledge on her daughter through stories. The American culture influences her daughter, Jing Mei, to such a degree that it is hard for Jing Mei to understand her mother's culture and life lessons. Yet it is not until Jing Mei realizes that the key to understanding who her

Another conflict that arises from Confucianism is when Jing-mei was told to go back to China and tell her half-sisters about their mother. She said “‘what will I say? What can I tell them about my mother? I don’t know anything.’” (Tan 31). In Confucianism, very little of tradition is explicitly told from mothers to daughters in the form of text. Ritual actions are supposed to be observed, absorbed and understood in order to be preserved and handed down for posterity. But Jing-mei, who grew up in America, did not have a sense of following the tradition her mother brought to America, or rather considered the Chinese tradition to be eccentric.

In Jan Wong’s entrancing expose Red China Blues, she details her plight to take part in a system of “harmony and perfection” (12) that was Maoist China. Wong discloses her trials and tribulations over a course of three decades that sees her searching for her roots and her transformation of ideologies that span over two distinctive forms of Communist governments. This tale is so enticing in due part to the events the author encountered that radically changed her very existence and more importantly, her personal quest for self-discovery.

The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chines culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member in the Chinese society nor the poor we get an honest opinion from the People’s Republic of China. Liang only had the fortunate opportunity of expressing these events due his relationship with his wife, An American woman whom helps him write the book. When

In the book of Wild Swans: Three daughter of China by Jung Chang tells about the experiences of the life of Chang’s Mother, Grandmother, and Chang herself. The book starts off with Chang’s Grandmother Yu-fang. She was forced to be a concubine for a warlord general at a young age. She eventually escapes with her child after marrying a wealthy doctor, she continue to raise her child even rejected by her husband’s family. De-hong a happy girl who grew up normal until she start getting into politics. De- hong joined the Kuomintang party until the communist beat them. She then married Wang, an officer in the army, and they both began working for the Communist party where they are prosecuted for their affiliation and sent to detention camp. Chang is born in the middle of this political turmoil, she grew up through many of the hardship of China. The role of women and family in society was important and it changes throughout the story of each woman. The time of Chang 's great-grandfather “following the custom, my great-grandfather was married young, at the fourteen, to a woman six years his senior. It was considered one of the duties of a wife to help bring up her husband.”(Chang, Jung. ""THREE-INCH GOLDEN LILIES"" In Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, 2. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991.) Therefore in the lives of the three woman it will tell us about the role of women and family in the society .

Throughout our lives, we will all experience the occurrences of political and cultural changes. How we cope with this alteration can set our paths for the near or far future though it may not be clear at the time. In the autobiography Assignment Rescue a man by the name of Varian Fry voluntarily goes to Europe to try to help the men and women on Hitler’s list escape. Regardless of the dangers he set out to help. In the book Wild Swans three generations of women have their experiences told. Each one of them deals with political and cultural changes particularly with women. Finally the Novel Things fall apart focuses on a man named Okonkwo who throughout the stories suffers from the aggressive cultural changes brought upon by the Christian European

The Chinese people have experienced rapid change, in government and culture in the 20th century. Although the common people seemed to have risen up against oppression from the ruling class, liberty and equality often remains out of their grasp. For centuries the dynastic cycle has dominated the culture and collective consciousness of the Chinese people. This process is characterized by unification, followed by prosperity and success, followed by corruption and instability, and finally rebellion and overthrow. This gives way to a new dynasty that was said to have received the mandate of heaven. This cycle, in some ways, ended with the fall of the Qing dynasty. This marked the end of over 2000 years of

A culturally significant event that affected Jung’s grandmother for her whole life was the practice of foot binding. This action represented the oppression women in China lived with for generations. Although this practice ended in part due to the progressive views of women’s rights by the communist, women were still seen as inferior in the

All through time, successive generations have rebelled against the values and traditions of their elders. In all countries, including China, new generations have sought to find a different path than that of their past leaders. Traditional values become outdated and are replaced with what the younger society deems as significant. Family concentrates on this very subject. In the novel, three brothers struggle against the outdated Confucian values of their elders. Alike in their dislike of the traditional Confucian system of their grandfather, yet very different in their interactions with him and others, begin to reach beyond the ancient values of Confucianism and strive for a breath of freedom. Their struggles against the old values

Chinese women who chose to remain in China traded freedom for their culture. They were afraid to leave the familiarity of their lives thee for an uncertain future in America Had they gone to America, they would have lost the opportunity to experience Chinese culture firsthand. They lose the freedom that the next generation would have and gained the experience of living in their native culture ane accepting it as a way of life. These women were admirable because of their strength to choose their culture and family over anything else. Their dedication is at a level close to monks and saints. They were able to find harmony in their lives because it was all they ever knew.

I agree with the statement “the history of a family begins when a person leaves home” . when Chang left rural tradition behind to make a new life for themselves in the city. The old rules no longer apply, traditional education and family values have little or relevance, and new arrivals in the city have to learn fast and adapt quickly in order to survive and prosper in this strange and often hostile new environment. I saw so many changes for people migration to city .

Many issues are addressed in Shanghai Girls. The main one is the social and political conditions of Chinese people at the time (1930-50’s) living in the United States, and how difficult it was for them, especially for women, to find their place. Another important issue is the importance of the family, more precisely the role each member plays and how they must obey the patriarch.

Jing-mei’s inability to connect with her mother arises from her upbringing. Mrs. Woo pushed Jing-mei to extremes with her parenting and failed to realize the lasting trauma it had on her daughter. Jing-mei as a fragile child wants nothing more than for her “mother and father [to] adore [her]” (233). The developing girl is looking for acceptance through her parents, but Mrs. Woo does not understand the positive reinforcement required in those early stages of development. Instead

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang provides a thoughtful and beautifully painful chronology of three generations of women through some of China’s harshest periods in history. This book review will proceed in two parts. The first will address the significant themes present in Chang’s novel. The second will go beyond literary analysis and delve into identifying the author’s own bias, and comment on the structure and perspective of Chang herself. This review will overview the themes and then critically comment on the efficacy of the author’s development of those themes. Chang shows how adversity can bring out the best in people; and how love, loyalty, and self-sacrifice are imbued in their family.