The Joy Luck Club

An-Mei Hsu: Magpies

Directions: As you read through the chapter, annotate the text for germane themes, craft, and
global issues. Then, answer each of the following questions in at least 3-4 concise sentences,
making sure to include a proper citation for ALL quotes.

PLEASE DO NOT RESEARCH THESE ONLINE!

CHALLENGE YOUR INTELLECT AND DO THE WORK YOURSELF!

1. As a refresher, briefly summarize what happened in An-Mei Hsu’s previous chapter, “Scar,” as
well as what is currently happening in Rose Hsu Jordan’s chapters:
Scar: In the chapter “Scar”, An-mei’s Popo taught her to obliterate any memory she had of her
mother due to the fact that she was a disgrace to the family. After many years, her mother visited
since Popo became sick. Once her mother was there, An-mei recalled the time where cried for
her mother, but a bowl of soup spilled on her neck which later caused a scar. At the end of the
chapter, An-mei notices that her mother cut a piece of her own flesh and put it in the soup for
Popo.
Half and Half: Rose remarks the time her mother began to lose her faith and put her Bible under
the table in order to balance it. She recollects a memory of when her brother, Bing, tragically lost
his life after falling off a cliff and into the ocean. Her mother frantically searched for Bing with a
bible in one hand and had faith that God would bring him back, but lost her faith shortly after.
Her memory is only recalled after Rose announces to An-mei that her and Ted are getting
divorced; their relationship was unbalanced, it was in desperate need of two equal halves, and it
was then when Rose lost her own faith in the relationship/love. Rose is having a difficult time
because An-mei predicted what would happen, but Rose concludes that fate is shaped by half
expectation and half by inattention.
Without Wood: In the chapter ‘Without Wood”, Rose depicts the haunting, fictional character,
Old Mr. Chou, that was created by her mother in order to reassure Rose that she is capable of
making decisions for herself. Since Ted and Rose are getting a divorce, Ted decides to just give
Rose money, believing that she will just accept it and move on. Her mother indicates that Rose
lacks wood, one of the five elements, because she can’t stand up for herself. Rose realizes that he
had been having an affair, so she decides to stand her ground and fight for herself. She decides to
keep the house. After Rose chooses to stand up to Ted, Old Mr. Chou and her mother, An-mei,
appear in her dreams with affectionate behavior to encourage her to continue pushing and
making her own decisions that will ultimately help her. Rose is starting to realize her self worth,
along with discovering her identity.

2. Investigate two Global Issues related to A Doll’s House within the chapter (one can easily be
found within the first five pages!). For each one, specify the specific category, the specific issue,
a direct quote with brief analysis, and a clear connection to ADH.
 A. Power/Dominance- In the chapter, “Magpies”, Amy Tan deliberately exhibits the
continuous issue of the power and dominance that men acquire over women. Wu Tsing, a
rich merchant, desires that his wives act charming, along with portraying the physical
and psychological power he holds. At the table, everyone saw that the fifth wife was
demonstrating “bad manners' ', An-mei saw “Wu Tsing throw her a sharp look, like a
father, and she began to cry' ' (Tan 258). Wu Tsing is capable of treating his wives how he
wishes due to his endless amount of fortune, he continuously degrades his wives, and
objectifies them for his own enjoyment. In relation to, A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen
depicts the prominent character, Torval Helmer, displaying the dominance over his wife,
Nora Helmer. He continuously controls Nora’s actions, expenses, along with what she
eats. At the end of the novel, Nora realizes that Torvald has been controlling her just like
her father was.

B. Identity- Throughout the chapter, Amy Tan illustrates the identity that is lost when under
the dominance of another individual, along with other obstacles. An-mei’ mother lost her
identity when she was raped by Wu Tsing; his second wife was eager to live in wealth, so
she “complained to many people about the shameless widow who had enchanted Wu
Tsing into bed” (Tan 267). After numerous people, including her own family, began to
shame her, she went to live in Tientsin, to hide her shame with Wu Tsing’s wealth” (Tan
268). An-mei’s mother was compelled to stay with Wu Tsing and his second wife; she
was stripped from her identity. In correlation to A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen displays
how Nora Helmer was additionally stripped from her identity under the power and
influence of her husband. Nora constantly portrays a false identity as she is initially
depicted as a playful and naive doll who has an absence of knowledge about the outside
world. In the end, Nora realizes she has been acting like a doll and acknowledges that in
order to get her identity back, she will need to leave the appalling household. Similarly,
An-mei’s mother metaphorically leaves her false identity after dying due to an overdose;
she is now illustrated as a free spirit.

3. Closely read the paragraph placed directly in the middle of the chapter, starting with: “And so,
while everything seemed peaceful…” (Tan 228--in my copy). Discuss at least two intentional
elements of craft within this short paragraph and what Tan is accomplishing with each one;
weave in direct quotes for support as needed.

Amy Tan utilizes foreshadow along with an allusion in order to captivate the reader to precisely
understand the story. First, Amy foreshadows that something will happen in Wu Tsing’s
household as she “only remember[ed] how uncomfortable [she] felt, how [she] could feel the
truth with [her] stomach, knowing something terrible was going to happen” (Tan 257). She
utilizes it in order for the readers to comprehend the emotions and certainty that An-mei felt.
Amy Tan then utilizes an allusion where An-mei expresses that “it was almost as bad as how
[she] felt some fifteen years later when the Japanese bombs started to fall and, listening in the
distance, [she] could hear soft rumbles and knew that what was coming was unstoppable” (Tan
257). Amy Tan implants the allusion of the atomic bombs that fell during the bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the bombs were unexpected, yet implemented an extensive amount of
fear for citizens. An-mei compares the horror and panic she felt to this tragic event.

4. Examine at least two symbols and/or motifs within the chapter (other than the turtle and
magpies), providing a direct quote for each, as well as supporting analysis that explains how they
support a main theme.

A. Pearls: “And then with a swift, graceful movement of her small hands, she removed her
long pearl strand and put it around my neck” (Tan 260)
“And after I wore these fake pearls long enough to learn this lesson, she let me take them
off” (Tan 261)
“And on that day, I showed Second Wife the fake pearl necklace she had given me and
crushed it under my foot” (Tan 272).
Amy Tan utilizes the symbolism of pearls to exhibit that An-mei and her mother were
trapped in an illusion. After taking off the pearls, An-mei, along with her mother, portray
that she was able to escape and find their true identity instead of being under their
dreadful household. An-mei built the courage to stand up for herself, and her mother, as
well as becoming independent and free.

B. Dresses/Foreign Clothing: “Wearing these clothes, I felt as if I had grown new hands and
feet and I would now have to learn to walk in a new way”
“And I concluded that was why my mother had to wear foreign-style clothes, in the
manner of newly rich Chinese people who liked to display their wealth on the outside.
Throughout the chapter An-mei and her mother continuously wear dresses, along with
foreign style clothing in order to illustrate the act they have to portray for Wu Tsing. The
materialistis items and wealth is what motivates them to continue this act of playing
“dress up”. Along with portraying another life in order to satisfy an individual, they
flaunt their wealth with what they wear to depict their status.

5. Tan purposefully implements anaphora in the entire vignette starting with: “In truth, this was
a bad thing…” (Tan 237--in my copy). Analyze the intentional effect that this creates for the
reader and a theme that she supports in doing so.
In this vignette, An-mei repeatedly states “I saw” to display the disbelief and horrid she
witnessed. Amy Tan incorporates this in order to help the reader understand that An-mei’s
experience and story is a primary source. She is expressing exactly how she felt throughout this
tragic experience. After witnessing how terrifying the second wife made the others feel, she
began to break from her cage and realize that her mother was right.
6. After having read the entire chapter, analyze the symbolic meaning of both turtles and
magpies and how they support Tan’s main theme. Use two direct quotes for support.
Throughout the chapter, Amy Tan utilizes the symbolic meaning of turtles to demonstrate that
one must keep to themselves instead of being vulnerable and letting an individual take
advantage. As An-mei began to cry, the turtle expressed that it had “eaten [her] tears, and this is
why [it knew about her] misery. But [it] must warn [her that] If [she] cr[ies], [her] life will
always be sad” (Tan 243). Tan then correlates it to the idea of magpies, who are known to be
“birds of joy”. She illustrates the magpies the complete opposite to exhibit the difference
between a deceitful appearance and the true nature of it. Later, it is acknowledged that the
magpies create destruction by ruining crops as well as “tormenting the peasants” (Tan 273).
Once the magpies broke open, An-mei “could see the beaks of a thousand magpies drinking from
the pond, drinking and singing happily and filling their snow-white bellies”, they were illustrates
as innocent and joyful creature, but then as she” was crying hard”, they began to drink her tears
until she “had no more tears left and the pond was empty, everything was dry as sand” (Tan 270).
Amy Tan makes it clear that one must continue to stay strong for themselves because “ tears do
not wash away [one’s] sorrow” and instead “they feed someone else’s joy”; therefore “one must
learn to swallow [their] own tears” (Tan 244).

7. Last, based on your answer to the previous question, analyze the final vignette of the chapter
and discuss An-Mei’s main point in sharing this anecdote from the Chinese news article:
An-mei shared the anecdote from the Chinese news article to emphasize and exhibit the idea that
any individual is capable of developing courage. An-mei discloses that the tired peasants
expressed that they had “enough of [the] suffering and silence”, revealing that they finally gained
the power to fight back. She displayst that there will be positive effects if one is able to regain
their voice and power when having to fight back oppressive behavior. She continues to express
that there is no need for a psychiatrist since they are just “birds drinking from [one’s] misery
(Tan 272). After reading the news article, An-mei realized that her mother was right all along and
she needs to find her power to fight for herself and her well-being.