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Universal Themes:
Communication- "She had no voice, just gasps and wheezes, the snorts of a ragged
wind. She told me things with grimaces and groans, dancing eyebrows and darting eyes...Hand-talk, face-talk, and chalk-talk
were the languages I grew up with, soundless and strong"(2).
LuLing and Precious Aunty were forced to create a new language in which to communicate with one another.
LuLing and Ruth were also forced to use ghost writing so that Ruth could communicate with her mother, after she lost
her voice for the first time. LuLing, too, used Ruth and the ghost writing to communicate with Precious Aunty. Both LuLing
and Ruth ghost write to assuage their guilt over not listening to and respecting their mothers and their pasts.
Assimilation- "'Is that your mother?' they shouted. 'What's that gobbledy-gook-gook
she's saying?' 'She's not my mother!' Ruth shouted back. 'I don't know who she is!'"(77).
Ruth resents that her mother doesn't speak better English, especially as she's growing-up in a modern American
city. She can't understand her mother, because she doesn't know her history. To Ruth, LuLing lacks an identity in American
society. She rejects LuLing as she rejects her Chinese heritage. While Ruth desperately tries to fit in with her peers, LuLing rejects
the cultural pressure to assimilate into American society. She resists speaking English as a way to hold on to her cultural
heritage and her native language.
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"A person should consider how things begin. A particular beginning results in a particular
end."
Cultural Themes:
Subjugation of Women- "I learned to read and write, to ask questions, to play
riddles, to write eight-legged poems, to walk alone and admire nature. The old biddies used to warn him that it was dangerous
that I was so boldly happy, instead of shy and cowering around strangers. And why didn't he bind my feet, they asked"(187).
Precious Aunty was raised in an extreamly non-traditional manner, with her father raising her alone. He
spoiled her and raised her to behave lika a man. Precious Aunty rejects the patriarchal social structure and pursues her own
happiness in a time when women were typically considered property of men.
Chinese Caligraphy and Language- "Bao Bomu taught me how to write,' LuLing said
one evening. 'She taught me how to think. When you write, she said, you must gather the free-flowing of your heart...Each
stroke has its own rhythm, its balance, its proper place. Bao Bomu said everything in life should be the same way"(58).
In Chinese caligraphy, great emphasis is placed on each character. Each one represents a meaning, feelings,
thoughts and history. Just as Precious Aunty taught LuLing to write in her native Chinese language, LuLing has taught
Ruth to write in her own language, English. By reading LuLing's memoirs, Ruth learns the meaning behind her mother's Chinese
characters. With this knowledge, Ruth is free to write her own story, with her grandmother guiding her thoughts and meaning.
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