I am currently reading the wonderful book, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. This book consists of four different Chinese women describing their childhoods in China. One of these women is Lindo Jong. Lindo Jong's future husband was picked by a local matchmaker when she was the mere age of four. Due to tragic floods, Lindo's family was forced to move away when Lindo was twelve. However, Lindo stayed behind and went to live with her future husband's demeaning family. Lindo was married to her loathsome husband when she was sixteen. On the night after her wedding, Lindo was deeply sad. She thought that she had to turn into a distasteful person, like her mother-in-law. However, she realized that while pretending to change into her mother-in-law's shadow, she could keep her parents' promise and still be a good person.
"I asked myself, What is true about a person? Would I change in the same way the river changes color but still be the same person?... And then I realized that it was the first time I could see the power of the wind. I couldn't see the wind itself, but I could see it carried the water that filled the countryside. It caused me to yelp and dance," Lindo thought. This quote is very inspiring. At first, I was a little confused about it. All I saw was a bunch of words that seemed like they were supposed to be pretty deep. But now, as I come back to it, I'm beginning to understand.
Lindo is talking about whether or not she will change. She is asking if she will change on the outside but still be her parents' daughter. When she talks about the wind, she is saying that while her new family won't be able to see who she truly is, Lindo will carry out actions that cause her life to change for the better. You can't see where the wind comes from, but you can see the effect it has on life. Lindo will be a quiet wife on the outside, but on the inside, Lindo will always be thinking about her true family and trying to find them.
I believe that this is a very important lesson. Even when life forces you to pretend to be someone you're not, be who you are on the inside. Don't let anyone change who you are.
Talia I really agree. Sometimes I think about things like that. Will I change if I do this? Will my mom hate me if I do that? I think everyone has a momment where they think about that.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Sometimes I feel like I need to change to be a part of what's going on around me but there are so many sayings against change. For instance, "Be yourself, because everyone else is already taken." It makes me really confused as of what I can change but still be me!! But at camp, I heard this saying that says, "Be yourself but allow yourself to grow." I think this is really great because you should be able to change for the better.
ReplyDeleteTalia, I loved your post, because I think that the idea of staying yourself no matter what happens, or how other people judge you is really important. Its also really hard, too, like Nalini as you said "what will my parents think?" is what so many people think before they do something, and sometimes will even lie about who they are because of it. Also, I haven't read this book but it sounds really interesting so now I will. :D
ReplyDeleteHi Talia!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. I think a lot of people pretend to be someone they aren't because they feel pressured to be that fake person. i think that what Lindo feels is the pressure to be rude like her mother in law. I agree with you on the quote of "be yourself but allow yourself to grow". I also think that that quote means that you aren't perfect and experimenting with different personalities and such isn't bad.
Hi! That was a really cool post. I think that, like Mary said, lots of people try to pretend to be someone that they are not in order to fit in. Even if you do succeed in changing your outside, you can still keep who you are on the inside. But you don't always have to change who you are to be what others want you to be. You can still be yourself.
ReplyDeleteI love your post!! The quote is amazing. It's important in life because it shows that you don't know everything about a person. You might not know what position they're coming from, and you may never know, but you see the result, what is pushed by the motivation. You can't see where the wind is coming from, but you can still see the effects of it.
ReplyDeleteWhoa that's so cool. I didn't think of it like that! Yeah now I get that even when you think you know everything about someone, you're only seeing the effects of their wind. You never really know their motives.
ReplyDelete