Names in "A Pair of Tickets"
In Amy Tan's "A Pair of Tickets" (the last chapter of The Joy Luck Club), the understanding of the importance of names is the key to truly apprehend a sacred relationship between mother ("Suyuen") and daughters (June or "Jing-Mei", "Chwun Yu" and "Chwun Hwa").
To understand the story as a whole, it is necessary for us to know the meanings of their names. The mother and daughters' names each bears its individual meaning, but all these names are indeed "intertwined" into a deeper relationship among each other. It is through a deeper understanding of these Chinese characters' names that opens our eyes (readers from different cultural background) to see how mother and daughters are strongly attached emotionally.
In Chinese culture, names are not merely "labels" to distinguish one from the other nor are they used as "mediums" that "reflect" one's identity and individuality; names represent all the long-term greetings and expectations from parents to children. A name is the essence of a person, and it is a gift (the first gift) from parents to be carried for the rest of one's life.* A person's name is like a title of a book or poem: we use a title to identify the nature of the book and its "essence", while we use a name to identify a person and his/her individuality. Chinese name is distinctive in a sense that each name has a story behind it, e.g. June's mother named her twin daughters in China "Chwun Yu" and "Chwun Hwa" since they were born in spring ("Chwun"), "Yu" (rain) was given to the first born and "Hwa" (flower) to the second which indicate their sequence of birth ("rain comes before flower": par. 88); furthermore, rain and flower are nature's elements that exist for one and the other, indicating these twin daughters would stay inseparable.
In this story, Tan has not left out the importance of names which is essential in our understanding of the meaning and purpose of her writing. What would be the impact if she left out the explanation of the meanings of those characters' names? Would there be a difference? The answer is obvious. The meanings of mother and daughters' names are the "essence" of the whole story that necessitate us to apprehend the mother's deep love for her daughters.
The scene where Suyuen had to abandon her
twin-daughters in China
During WWI, Russia was in dire straits; they were at war with both neighboring and distant countries while also having internal conflicts. Recognizing the need to appease the German war machine, Lenin felt it essential to have the Russian state bound to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Brest-Litovsk). Essentially ceding territory to Germany, this treaty created a sort of buffer between Germany and Russia, allowing the Russians to focus more on internal affairs. However, in April of 1922, Germany and Russia signed yet another treaty; the Treaty of Rapallo had both Germany and Russia renounce territorial and financial claims against each other. To ensure that relations would remain peaceful for at least the near future, Germany and Russia signed the 1926 Treaty of Berlin. Among other things, the purpose of the Treaty of Berlin was to solidify neutrality, sh...
A Pair of Tickets by Amy Tan tells about a daughter, June-May, who travels to China to meet her twin sisters and announce the death of their mother. The issue at hand is that June-May has never been to China, nor has she ever met her twin sisters. June-May worries of not fitting in and standing out as an American is China. She has lived her life under the impression that nothing other than her parent’s origin makes her Chinese. This all changes once she is in China. It is in China that she begins to realize the meaning of love and self identity. The true transformation begins to set in once she learns of her mother’s hardships and meets her family members in China for the first and the last time. By the end of the store, June-May has not only become her mother but has also become China.
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Amy Tan’s “The Pair of Tickets” expresses an unique story of a woman named Jing Mei who is travelling through China. She was raised in San Francisco California as American Chinese. But after her mother, Suyuan Woo passes away, she embarks on a journey to China to discover her Chinese family root, finding her twin sister. During the travel, she meets family members in China including the twin sisters whom she have never met before. By utilizing symbolism and imagery, Amy Tan weaves the theme of the story that Jing Mei who previously rejected her Chinese identity is finally becoming Chinese (179 Tan) into the elements of the story. We can see that Jing Mei is starting to discover her mother’s story in China. And when she does, her life soon begin
One’s power and position in a society can give them the “right” or ability to name or un-name a person. Someone can gain this right by his or her status socially, financially, and even racially. If it’s their own child, of course, they have every right in the world to name him or her. But in some cultures, as is evident in “No Name Woman”, they have the right to take away someone’s name if they have disgraced their family and/or community. A name is very significant because it gives a person a sense of who they are, an identity. In “No Name Woman”, Kingston’s aunt had no identity except for the story her mother told her and in “Mary” Marguerite’s new boss, Mrs. Cullinan changed her name to Mary which then, in a way, removed Marguerite’s original identity and gave her a new one, one she didn’t want.
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At the core of Porter’s theory is the idea that in order to be successful in the global marketplace, firms must first have a strong ‘home base’ to start launch from. Once this condition is established the firm will be able to engage in exports and FDIs ...
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