CHAPTER 3

LITERARY ELEMENTS

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the literary elements in the story
of Fifth Chinese Daughter. The first element is plot. The second is setting.
The third is theme. The fourth is point of view and close by the characters.

3.1 Plot of Fifth Chinese Daughter

Fifth Chinese Daughter, published in 1950, is an autobiography of Jade

Snow Wong. In the novel, Jade Snow Wong writes in the third person style to
refer to herself though it is her true story. The reason to use of the third person is
to show humility of being the Chinese girl and also to indicate the readers that it is
difficult for Jade Snow Wong to express her individual identity and emotion to
public in Chinese culture.
This novel depicts the story of struggles and achievements of a Chinese
American girl's growing up in San Francisco's Chinatown. Jade Snow Wong is
the fifth child of seven. She is a female born to poor Chinese immigrant family.
She is brought up in a traditional Chinese family but she is growing out into
American society. Jade Snow Wong was born into the family where father is
superior to other members in the family and the sons are valued and daughters are
inferior. The traditional Chinese values play important roles to her life including
connection to the family, discipline, obedience and respect. Jade Snow Wong
learns these values from her parents' teachings. In her childhood, she is an
obedient daughter who follows the instructions of her father. Sometimes she does
not understand the reason to behave it but she learns that unquestioning obedience
is expected in her family. But when Jade Snow Wong attends public elementary
and high schools, her American classmates and instructors provide her to know
that the equal right and independence are required to progress in American
society. She stands between the two worlds that are American society and
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Chinese society. She is a Chinese daughter who spends most of her life in
American society. She tries to balance both cultures but her father refuses values
of American society. Jade Snow Wong and her father believe in different values,
attitudes and ways of living. She needs independence but her father emphasizes
on the importance of the family and unquestioning obedience and respect.
Therefore the acceptance in different values leads to conflict between the Chinese
immigrant father and his American Chinese daughter. Jade Snow Wong struggles
to change her father's attitude and breaks his traditional way of life. In addition,
she wants to prove to her father that although her father does not support her in
the college, she could succeed in her education and job with her own ability.
In the end of the story. she can adapt herself to American society
without losing the essentials of the Chinese cultural heritage. She uses a
philosophy of life to balance her father's ancestral heritage and the new society in
the Western world. She meets a successful integration of Chinese and Western
values and she could establish good relationship with her father. Everyone in her
family especially her father is proud of Jade Snow Wong who can graduate from
Mills College with her own money for the college fee. It is the college where she
develops her skill as a ceramic artist. She starts her own ceramics business in San
Francisco's Chinatown. She is successful to establish her own business alone.
Moreover, her picture and story of her new business are printed in the morning
paper. This news establishes the astonishment not only in the eyes of Western
world, but also in the eyes of her family. She can break the barrier set forth by her
father and he accepts proudly Jade Snow Wong as his fifth Chinese daughter and
not only as his inferior daughter. Lv) 0 J~ 'f

3.2 SETTING
Local Jnfomlatlon

Chris (1991) gives the definition of setting that is the time and place that
take place in the story. Setting is important because particular places and times have
their own personality or emotional basis. Setting is one of the primary ways that
writers establish the underlying feeling or atmosphere produced by a story. Setting
can consist of climate or the historical moment that the novel involves.
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Fifth Chinese Daughter presents the story of the members of a typical

Chinese family living in San Francisco's Chinatown. The novel's events take
place during pre World War II. In that period, American society looks Chinese
immigrants as aliens and discriminates against them. Therefore, the hardships that
Jade Snow Wong's father faces motivate him to support his children in high
education to be acceptable from American society. And Jade Snow can prove to
the Western world that although she is an American born Chinese girl, she
succeeds in her own new business about pottery with her own ability that she
learns from Mills College. And she shows her talent how to make pottery to public
which astonishes the eyes of people in the Western society.

3.3 THEME

Theme is one ofthe literary elements which means the central, underlying,
and controlling idea or insight of a work of literature. And it is the writer's vies of the
world or a revelation about human nature (Chris, 1991).
The main theme of the novel from the researcher's point of view is the role
of women in Chinese society which is her difficulty to adapt herself to American
society and the struggle for perfection which is the aim of Jade Snow Wong's life as
follows:
3.3.1 The Role of Women in Chinese Society
Fifth Chinese Daughter focuses on Chinese traditional teachings that
influence to Jade Snow's life, and in most cases portrays how woman relates to the
male-dominated society. Jade Snow Wong's father believes that son is dominant to
daUghter. In the eyes of her father, she is only inferior daughter. Although, Jade
Snow Wong wants to study in the college, her father thinks that he gives her an above­
average Chinese education for an American born Chinese girl and she has an average
education for an American. If she would like to have higher education, she has to earn
money to support herself. Moreover, her father gives her another reason that he will
save his power to support her older brother to study in advanced medical training. In
addition, she learns from her father that son will inherit the Wong name permanently
and transmit it to his children, but daughter's duty is leaving home to marry, to give
son to her husband's family and to carry on other family's name. Moreover, Chinese
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culture expects Jade Snow to be voiceless girl that means to follow her parents'
command without questioning and does not express emotion when she feels
dissatisfied. The teaching ofher ancestral heritage and American characteristics
makes her confuse and causes conflicts in their relationships between Jade Snow and
her father.
3.3.2 The Struggle for Perfection
F(fth Chinese Daughter gives a sense of struggle for perfection in Jade
Snow's life. As she is a Chinese American girl who is growing up in the difference of
American and Chinese culture, she faces hard time in her life. Her father limits her
way of living in frame of Chinese cultural heritage, but when she spends her life
outside Chinatown learns strange ways of living from her foreign classmates and her
sociology teacher. These allow her does not know how to balance both cultures. She
needs equality and freedom like American society requires. And she wants to change
her father's belief that daughter is inferior to son. Therefore, when her father refuses
to help her for college fee, she works so hard to obtain money for her education.
Although, she feels tired from working hard to earn money for her college fee, she
never discourages. Finally,.her struggle overcomes all barriers. She can graduate
from Mills College. She works as a ceramic artist and opens her ceramic studio in
Chinatown. Everyone in her family especially her father is proud of Jade Snow Wong
and people in Western world amaze in her talent.

3.4 POINT OF VIEW

Point of view refers to the author's relationship to his or her literary work,
especially to the minds of the character. In addition, point of view is the position from
which the story is told (Chris, 1991).
Jade Snow Wong portrays her autobiography through her novel.
She shares her account with her large poor Chinese immigrant family in San
Francisco. The author depicts her underlining themes through dialogues of character
to show the readers clear examples. The underlining themes are not emphasized in
specific part of the novel but they are lightly indicated over and over again throughout
the story. Throughout her life, she was taught to accept her female gender as the
inferior daughter. She proves herself and surprises her family and people in Western
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society with her accomplishments time and time again. The difficulty that she faces
were is females are not to challenge authority set forth by her father but she tries to
make her advances quietly. The behavior of Jade Snow Wong presents her .~truggle

and endurance that can help her to cope with all barriers. In the end she succeeds in
her life without losing her Chinese ancestral heritage.

3.5 CHARACTERS

Jade Snow Wong

Jade Snow Wong is the author and protagonist of the novel and is a Chinese
American daughter who was born in San Francisco's Chinatown. She portrays the
cultural tension that she faces in a traditional Chinese family. She is the fifth child of
seven in a household. She grows up in a family where son is valued and daughter is
inferior. Her life is controlled under her Chinese father's strict teachings.
Unquestioning obedience, respect and order are key words of her life. These are
Chinese values that she is taught by her father. She is a Chinese daughter who loves
and respects to her family but later she learns from her American classmate and
teacher that equal right and independence are required in Western society. Those
beliefs cause conflicts between Jade Snow and her father who is Chinese immigrant.
In the end, she can balance between Chinese and American culture and is a reputable
ceramic artist who astonishes her family and the Western world in her talent to
establish her own new business alone in Chinatown.
Wong Hong
Wong Hong is Jade Snow Wong's father, who has authority to control all
members in his family. In the novel, Jade Snow calls him, Daddy. He is a Chinese
immigrant who owns a small garment factory, which mostly produces overalls and is
also a protestant church minister. He is the old generation who tries to pass down the
traditional values to his children especially Jade Snow Wong to keep ancestral culture.
Hong sees the importance of education because he does want his children to suffer
hardships like him. In the novel, he supports his son in medical and Jade Snow in
Chinese class and high school. Conflicts between he and Jade Snow occurs when his
daughter need independence while the success of Jade Snow makes him proud of her
Chinese daughter.
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Mama
Mama is Jade Snow Wong's mother. She is a Chinese immigrant who has
bound feet back in China. She works in her factory-home as a seamstr..:ss. She is
a good wife and good mother. She has a lot of burdens on her shoulders. Besides
working for her family's business, her other duties are to be responsible for all
housework and take care of her husband and children. These are good characteristics
of Chinese woman. In the novel, Mama is a voiceless woman who respects to her
husband and follow her husband's instruction without question.