The Importance Of Friendship In Can Xue's Crow Mountain

Throughout Jing-mei’s life, though she does not realize it, the people she interacts with and the trials she goes through all help her discover who she is, and help her find her own path in life. Not only does she learn who she is, but she also learns more about her mother; which helps her understand why her mother says and acts the way that she does. This knowledge of her mother helps Jing-mei realize that she needs to compromise with her mother sometimes, and she becomes more willing to embrace her

Suyuan rejects the women-repressive Chinese traditions when she tells her daughter that she "believed you could be anything you want to be in America" (Tan 141). Suyuan continually tells Jing Mei her "Kweilin story" as a child, the story of the origins of the Joy Luck Club as well as her mother's past hardships. Yet despite the importance of the story and the events constituting the story to Suyuan, Jing Mei "never thought [her] mother's Kweilin story was anything but a Chinese fairy tale" (Tan 12). The story would have the same meaning to Jing Mei as if she were being told the story of Sleeping Beauty, or some other American bedtime story.

Jing-Mei characterizes her mother as an ideal parental figure by showing how much hope she has in her daughter. Her mother’s only wishes are to give her daughter more opportunities than she had growing up in China. And by doing this she shows that no matter how many conflicts there is between a mother and daughter, a mother will never give up hope on her daughter. She will cherish her for who she is in the end.

This is what Suyuan believed and lived by, whereas Jing-mei believed that she is an independent individual and is capable of making her own choices. Consequently, Jing-mei believed her mother was simply trying to push Jing-mei into someone she was not, and could never be.

Also, their relationship is shaped by the pressure Suyuan puts on her daughter. When Jing-Mei was growing up, her mother had the need for her daughter to be smart, talented, and a respectful Chinese daughter. This pressure put on Jing-Mei resulted in misunderstanding between mother and daughter. Jing-Mei constantly believed, “that she was disappointing her mother,” because she felt as if she failed at everything her mother wanted her to do. She believed she could never be as perfect as her mother was. Therefore she doesn’t think she is worthy enough to take her mother’s place at the Joy Luck Club “They must wonder now how someone like me can take my mother’s place” (Tan, 27). Jing-Mei does not understand that her mother wanted the best for her; Suyuan wanted Jing-Mei to challenge herself because that is how one builds up character. Suyuan thinks her daughter could do anything she proposed to do but never put enough effort into anything “Lazy to rise to expectations” (Tan 31). Furthermore, Suyuan forced Jing-Mei to learn how to play the piano and then perform at a recital. Jing-Mei rebelled against her mother and refused to learn how to play the piano well. So, at the recital she ends up forgetting the music notes. Jing-Mei blames her embarrassment on her mother and states,

Jing-mei’s rebellion against her mother is about how her mother wants her to be famous and successful. She is forcing her thoughts on Jing-mei, which Jing-mei doesn’t like nor she wants to follow her mother’s order. She believes her mother is wanting her to be what she is not, a genius, and she feels like she cannot live up to her mother’s orders, “You want me to be someone that I’m not! I sobbed. I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!’(1128)”.

Jing-Mei did not believe in herself as much as her mother did. In the text, it states, “It was not the only disappointment my mother felt in me. In the years that followed, I failed her many times.” This quote shows how the differences between the viewpoints of Jing-Mei and her mother caused them to more and more separate from each other. Because of the viewpoint of Jing-Mei’s mother, Jing-Mei stopped believing in herself and started to fail everything.

Shen Fu and Yün were cousins. (Fu: 25) They met when they were thirteen years old and became engaged soon after meeting. (Fu: 26) After their marriage, Yün played the role of perfect wife: Shen Fu pronounces her “quiet”, “never [. . .] angry”, “respectful to her elders”, and describes her actions as “orderly” and “done properly”. (Fu: 29) These actions were those considered very desirable in Qing China, as women were expected to be quiet and subservient to men. (Scarlett, Daily Life in Imperial China Lecture)

Early in childhood Jing Mei dreamed of finding her prodigy and being a famous Chinese American, mostly because of the views and actions her mother placed on her. Her mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. (pg 405) Her mother was always pushing new tests and talents on Jing Mei. She even went as far as having her daughter Jing Mei models her physical appearance and actions after a child-star Shirley Temple. Her other was always testing her with many different things trying to discover Jing Mei’s talent. Later Jing Mei started to feel like her mother was just trying to make her into someone she was not and started to just fail and not try to do anything right hoping her mother would give up. When her mother died she had realized what her mother had been trying to do. Her mother had only wanted her to do her best. She had then to realize what her mother had

Jing-Mei can't deny who she is because it's in her DNA. Suyuan, her mother, told her "Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel and think Chinese" (Tan 139). Her mother said that to her because Jing-Mei is Americanize and knows little about her heritage. Tan is pretty much describing herself that she was born in American and knows little about her background. Jing-Mei tells her mother about her and her friends "I was about as Chinese as they were" (Tan 139). Jing-Mei means that she knows as much about Chinese as her white friends in America would know. But her mother claims that she knows more because she is a nurse and keeps telling her that no matter what, she is Chinese and it's in her.

This connection begins with the comprehension of her name and her sisters’ names. “Jing” means pure and “Mei” means little sister. Instantly Jing-mei feels more Chinese because she sees the connection she as to the language through her name. “Suyuan” means long cherished wish. With the understanding of her mother’s name, her feeling of connection to her Chinese heritage dramatically expands (Norton 190). She begins to piece the puzzle of her heritage together. By understanding the meaning of their names she begins to understand and accept her Chinese heritage. Her connection to her mother’s Chinese past is now much stronger than she had once realized.

It is also because of Song’s love for his children, he becomes hesitant about implementing the scheme of murdering Fengming. Even after working long hours in the mine, Fengming reads history textbook he brought along. Song is touched by Fengming’s innocence and passion for learning more knowledge, reminding him of his own child. In the end, Song beats Tang down when Tang attempts to kill Fengming, giving Fengming the chance to run away instead of escaping the blind shaft himself. These shots show that Song Jinming has not completely let go of his inborn kindness and humanity. In summary, Song Jinming is morally ambivalent; he is not a bad person fundamentally, but definitely not a completely good person.

Another aspect of cultural conflict is that humility and obedient are considered as the traditional virtues of the Chinese culture. Children should unconditionally obey their parents because parents have the ability and willingness to teach and control their children. For example, according to Jing-mei’s mother, Jing-mei has to practice piano assiduously. She would not be punished if she devotes all her effort to playing piano. We can clearly see this point in her mother’s word in the quarrel, “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” (461). But Jing-mei cannot understand this, because she is not familiar to Chinese culture. As a consequence of Jing-mei cannot understand her mother, she does not cooperate and has rebellious attitude against her mother. In the story, Jing-mei decided, “I didn’t have to do what my mother said anymore. I wasn’t her slave. This wasn’t China. I had listened to her before and look what happened. She was the stupid one” (460). As described above, Jing-mei cannot understand the humility and obedient of Chinese culture, even they are recognized as the

Primarily, Tan establishes the theme of the story through characterization. The protagonist, Jing-mei, finds it difficult to live up to the high expectations her mother has set for her. After seeing so much disappointment in her mother’s face, Jine-mei “look[s] in the mirror above the bathroom sink and when [she] saw only [her] face staring back – and that it would always be this ordinary face – she began to cry” (Tan 2). This bring Jing-mei and her mother into conflict with Jing-mei eventually screaming at her mother that “‘[she] wish[ed] she were dead. Like them’” (Tan 8). As she matures, Jing-mei becomes a little more level-headed; she then understands her mother only wants the best for her. Through diction and language, the author creates a character that is

Jing-mei realized that she was an ordinary individual and that she would not let her mother’s expectations change that. She no longer believed that she “could be anything [she] wanted to be, [rather she] could only be [herself]” (Tan 44). In using a limited, first-person point of view, Tan is able to show Jing-mei’s emotional progress of following her mother’s dreams to finally realizing her own dream.