Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Chapter 9
During her time with the Warners, Ailin lives within her "Eileen" personality, who is more responsible, refined, and obedient. The Warners are pleased with her performance with the children, especially after she convinces them that she wasn't a heathen. They go out of town on a retreat and Ailin is left alone with the children. Billy gets sick, so she has to go out and find a doctor. She first goes to her home, then to her sister's home, where she is turned away because they think she is a foreigner. She realizes that to the Chinese, she is a foreigner, but to the foreigners she is a heathen. Ailin feels like she doesn't fit in anywhere. Finally she goes to Miss Gilbertson's house, and she helps Ailin find a doctor for Billy. When the Warners come home, they are very impressed by her initiative to help Billy. The Warners invite her to come to America with them to continue working the Billy and Grace. She accepts,and visits her family home one last time. Big Uncle is sarcastic and rude, but some changes are detected: he has sent Little Brother to public school, so he has respected his late brother's wishes. Ailin surprises him by giving him all of her savings to be sent toward Little Brother's continuing education. Her mother helps her finally understand the tradition of foot-binding: it is the main goal of a mother to marry her daughter to a good husband, and since she never bound Ailin's feet, she feels responsible for Ailin's "failure" in life. But Ailin knows that she has grown strong, and that she can withstand moving across the world.
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The visit home was so sad to me. I hated that she did not get to see her little brother, but I loved the moment when she put down all of that money in Big Uncle's face on the pretenses of caring for him. I think that it proved to Big Uncle that she can and would continue to care for herself, and that her choices to not bind her feet and attend school were not "doomed" to make her unsuccessful.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the fact that the mother is so upset over the fact that she "failed" her daughter makes me curious about the powers that women were given due to societal constraints. I know that my mother has done a lot, no, a ton, more than just make sure I have someone to get married to. Because of what women are expected to do, I feel like Ailin's mother never really got to love Ailin for what she was and help her cultivate her true talents and inner beauty.
The fact that Ailin traveled around China in hopes of finding a doctor to help Billy shows the compassion Ailin has. This chapter pretty much talks about the latest events that push Ailin into leaving China. She was a confused girl because she was the gray area in a black and white world. Because she dressed in foreign clothes she was rejected by her own people and not even allowed to visit her home. She was Chinese which limited her relationship with westerns. The bigger question is why Ailin didn't just run away from it all in defeat? What possessed her to be so strong?
ReplyDeleteAilin did an awesome job with Billy's sick ess. I have no idea what I would have done if that had been me. Ailin has always been smart and quick kn her feet, but this shows that she can accomplish things other than those dealing with her family, especially big uncle.
ReplyDeleteWhen she goes for help, it is disheartening to see that she really us disconnected from her family. They font know how strong and wonderful Ailin is. I believe that her mom is very proud, but of course custom limits her expression. In a way, I think big uncle us too...he's mean to Ailin, but I think he knows that this treatment makes Ailin stronger. Tradition can cause people to be blinded, but eventually they come around and see things differently.
I was not too surprised about Ailin's initiative only because throughout the book she had proven how independent and quick thinking she is in tough situations. She did everything she could and it was sad to see her realization that she was caught in the middle of two completely different worlds. It was nice to see the Warner's attitude change around her because their ignorance was very upsetting in the previous chapters. The last scene of the chapter when Ailin goes home to say goodbye to her family is very touching. The recognition that her mother truly loved her was a nice sight to see and the fact that there was some sense of closure was nice. I am curious to see if Ailin makes any attempt to contact her second sister because she was so close with her at a younger age.
ReplyDeleteAilin reacted very well to Billy's sickness. I feel that I would have been freaking out if that were me. Throughout the book Ailin seems to always figure things out no matter what it thrown at her. I am glad she decided to go to America with the Warners and I feel it will present her with many opportunities. I am also glad that Ailin went to say goodbye to her family and told them she was going to America. I feel that it would have been very hard for me to leave my family and culture behind.
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