A essay reviewing the book " Saving Fish from Drowning" by Amy Tan.

Written in 2008; 1,810 words; 1 sources; MLA; $ 58.95

The paper relates a review of a novel in which the author takes a complex journey through various literary themes. The book "Saving Fish from Drowning" by Amy Tan, is a political satire directed at the cultural clash between the West and the East. The paper relates that the story is a monograph of the insincerity and tensions that often pervade human relationships, especially when there are also race or gender differences involved.

"Turning to her own family, the Bibi Chan reveals even more of these stereotypes related to gender and gender roles. In a Chinese family, these tend to be even more poignant. Thus, her father is portrayed as a self-centered person, very little preoccupied with his own family, who is worshipped by the household women simply because he is a man: "He read much, but seldom spoke, and truly, there was no need in a household whose women worshipped him and anticipated his needs before they ever occurred to him."(Tan, 29) The insincerity of the family relationships described by the ghost narrator is striking: the father is the typical male dominator who rules over his family and expects all his wishes to be fulfilled by the women even before he voices them, the stepmother is cold and tyrannical and the communication between members is virtually inexistent. With her usual sarcasm Bibi Chan notices that, as a child, she interpreted the lack of communication as a token of perfect harmony typical of the ideal marriage: "I was thus left to assume that a good marriage was one in which the husband respected the wife's privacy. He did not intrude in her life, visit her rooms, or bother her with questions. There was no need to speak to each other, since they were of the same mind."(Tan, 30) More stereotypes about women appear in Sweet Ma's description of Chan's natural mother, who, as she says, always used her feminine charms, paired with a submissive attitude, to gain something from her husband: "She was a schemer. She'd put on her rose-colored dress, twirl her favorite flower hairpin, and with eyes dishonestly lowered, she would raise that simpering smile of hers toward your father. Oh, I knew what she was up to."(Tan, 33) The woman in a traditional Chinese family is seen thus almost as an ornamental object, without a will of her own, who is necessarily a good breeder and is capable of becoming pregnant every year: "According to Sweet Ma, my mother proved true to her breeding and excelled at becoming pregnant every year. 'She gave birth to your eldest brother,' Sweet Ma said, counting on her fingers. 'Then there was your second brother. After that, three blue babies, drowned in the womb, which was a shame but not so tragic, since they were girls.'"(Tan, 34) As Sweet Ma evidences, no tragedy occurred if out of the many children bred by the woman, a few newborn girls died, since the girls had no importance. Thus, the ghost narrator of the story is a very witty and sarcastic feminist, who captures a sum of powerful stereotypes related to womanhood, motherhood and masculinity in her book. The female and the male worlds appear at some points as completely irreconcilable, both for the Chinese and for the Americans. "

Tags: race, gender, women, chinese

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