THE CULTURE CLASH OF THE CHINESE AMERICAN
IN AMY TAN’S
THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
YULITA EVA SETIAWAN
Student Number: 084214054
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
THE CULTURE CLASH OF THE CHINESE AMERICAN
IN AMY TAN’S
THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
YULITA EVA SETIAWAN
Student Number: 084214054
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often.
If you don’t like something, change it.
If you don’t like your job, quit.
If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV.
If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting
for you when you start doing things you love.
Stop over-analyzing, life is simple. All emotions are beautiful.
When you eat, appreciate every last bite.
Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people, we are
united in our differences.
Ask the next person you see what their passion is, and share your
inspiring dream with them.
Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself.
Some opportunities come only once; seize them.
Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with
them, so go out and start creating.
Life is short. Live your dream and wear your passion.
This undergraduate thesis is
dedicated to my mother, Ratna
Widuri, who taught me to get up
after a fall and start again and to
my father, Budi Setiawan, who is
always supportive about every leap
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang betanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Yulita Eva Setiawan
Nomor Mahasiswa : 084214054
Demi kepentingan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
The Culture Clash of the Chinese American in Amy Tan’s
The Bonesetter’s Daughter
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian penyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta. Pada tanggal: 31 Juli 2012
Yang menyatakan,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I dedicated my gratitude to Jesus Christ, the mighty God, who always gives me the strength, hope, and guidance in finishing this undergraduate thesis. I would like to thank my father, Budi Setiawan, my mother Ratna Widuri, and my brothers for all the support, the patience, and the courage they give to me. To my English teacher for four years, Pak Sugeng, thank you for being an outstanding teacher and have inspired me to continue learning English with an open and positive mind.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my Advisor Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M. Hum. for her guidance, caring, and attention during the process of finishing this undergraduate thesis. I would also like to thank my Co- Advisor, Maria Ananta Tri Suryandari S.S., M.Ed., for giving me correction and suggestion.
My sincere gratefulness goes to my best friend and my most favorite go to hang out partner ever, Meilany, thanks for being my partner in crime for the past four years. I thank her for always being a helping hand and make my weekly commute to Jogja feels zillion times much blissful. I am also thankful to have the chance to befriend with the amazing members of OM Tertatih: Astu, Erlita, Via, and Dewi. I thank all of you for giving me supports when life gets rough.
warm and welcoming family during my time away from home. I am grateful to be surrounded by creative positive people.
I especially thank Cik Lala, who always provided an experienced ear for my doubts and always encourage me that I can always be what I want to be. I thank her for always being my backup during the writing of this undergraduate thesis. I appreciate all of her patience to hear me rambling about my chattering in the midst of her busy schedule.
I am also deeply grateful to all of the lectures and staff in Sanata Dharma University for providing me with the most excellent education and chance to improve myself.
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declared that the thesis which I wrote does not contain the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and bibliography, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, 25 Agustus 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Theory on Character and Characterization ... 8
2. The Relation between Literature and Society ... 11
C. Review on Historical Background ... 12
1. Review on Chinese Culture ... 13
2. Review on American Culture... 17
3. Review on Chinese American Identity ... 20
D. Theoretical Framework ... 22
A. Characteristics of Lu Ling and Ruth Young ... 29
1. Lu Ling... 30
2. Ruth Young ... 33
B. The Culture Clash between Lu Ling and Ruth Young ... 35
1. Values ... 36
2. Control ... 40
3. Covert ... 41
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 52 BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 57
ABSTRACT
YULITA EVA SETIAWAN. The Culture Clash of the Chinese American in
Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2012.
The Bonesetter’s Daughter is a novel written by Amy Tan. It is the fourth novel of Amy Tan. The novel is about the relationship between Lu Ling and her Chinese American daughter, Ruth. The relationship between the mother and the daughter is constantly filled with conflicts because both of them bring and value their on perception based on their different cultural background. The novel begins with the present life of Ruth with her struggle to handle her elderly demented Chinese mother, Lu Ling. Being demented makes Lu Ling utters peculiar comments about her family and her past. As Ruth aware of her mother’s dementia, she starts to read a memoir written by her mother about her mother’s past in China. Having little knowledge about Chinese, Ruth arranges the memoir to be translated and she begins to learn the truth about her mother’s life in China.
In order to reveal the culture clash, the thesis is concerned in three problems. The first problem aims to observe the characters and their characteristics in the novel. The second problem aims to observe the culture clash of the characters. The last problem aims to reveal the factor causing the culture clash.
In this study, the writer uses the socio-cultural historical approach to analyze the novel. This approach is appropriate to analyze the novel because culture clash represents a social problem based on social circumstance in society.
The result of the analysis shows that, Ruth’s rebellion toward Lu Ling is the result of Ruth’s attempt to assimilate with the American culture that glorified the sense of being independent. Being independent makes Ruth considers that her mother caring trait and her violation related to privacy are bothering. It is caused by the fact that Chinese culture disregards privacy as a need. Lu Ling performs a critical trait because she is attempting to monitor every bits of her daughter’s behavior because any good or bad action Ruth done will contribute to the family’s reputation. Regarding the matter of hiding feeling, Ruth with her reasonable characteristic trait thinks that Lu Ling’s nature to mask personal feeling is improper. The conflict happens because there are different perceptions concerning the freedom of expression. While Ruth emphasizes the importance of being honest and open, Lu Ling stresses the significance of maintaining harmonious relationship with others by hiding inner feeling.
ABSTRAK
YULITA EVA SETIAWAN. The Culture Clash of The Chinese American in
Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2012.
The Bonesetter’s Daughter adalah sebuah novel yang ditulis oleh Amy Tan. Ini adalah novel keempat yang ditulis oleh Amy Tan. Novel ini menceritakan tentang hubungan Lu Ling dan Ruth yang merupakan keturunan Cina yang lahir di Amerika. Hubungan antara ibu dan anak ini senantiasa diwarnai dengan konflik karena keduanya menghargai persepsi kebudayaan dari latar belakang yang berbeda. Novel ini diawali dengan kehidupan Ruth saat ini dimana Ruth berjuang untuk menangani ibunya, Lu Ling, yang lahir di Cina dan yang sudah tua dan menderita demensia. Ketika Ruth menyadari bahwa ibunya menderita demensia, ia mulai membaca memoir yang ditulis ibunya mengenai kehidupan masa lalu ibunya semasa tinggal di Cina. Karena memiliki keterbatasan bahasa Cina, Ruth mengusahakan memoir tersebut untuk diterjemahkan dan ia mulai mempelajari kebenaran mengenai kehidupan ibunya di Cina.
Dalam mengungkap konflik kebudayaan, skripsi ini menfokuskan pada tiga permasalahan. Permasalahan yang pertama bertujuan untuk melihat karakter dan karakteristik tokoh dalam novel. Permasalahan yang kedua bertujuan untuk konlik kebudayaan yang dihadapi oleh tokoh dalam novel. Permasalahan yang ketiga bertujuan untuk mengungkap faktor-faktor yang menjadi penyebab terjadinya konfilk kebudayaan.
Dalam penelitian ini, penulis menggunakan pendekatan sosio-kultural historikal untuk menganalisa novel. Pendekatan ini sesuai untuk menganalisa novel ini karena konflik kebudayaan adalah sebuah masalah sosial yang berdasarkan pada kondisi sosial dalam masyarakat,
Hasil dari analisa ini menunjukkan bahwa, pemberontakan Ruth terhadap Lu Ling merupakan hasil dari usaha Ruth untuk berasimilasi dengan kebudayaan Amerika yang memuja kemandirian. Ruth menganggap bahwa kritik dan pelanggaran ibunya akan haknya untuk memiliki privasi sebagai hal yang menggangu. Hal tersebut dilakukan Lu Ling karena ia ingin mengawasi tingkah laku anaknya yang akan berpengaruh pada reputasi keluarga. Dengan pemikiran logisnya Ruth menggangap bahwa tindakan Lu Ling untuk menutupi perasaan sebagai hal tidak masuk akal. Sementara Ruth menekankan pentingnya untuk bersikap jujur dan terbuka, Lu Ling menekankan pentingnya menjaga hubungan yang harmonis dengan orang lain dengan cara menutupi perasaan.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Having the desire to seek for a better life is a natural trait that everybody has. For some people the desire is powerful that it encourages them to leave their native homeland and their family to start having their new life in a foreign country. Adapting to new surrounding and its society are essential for people who migrate out of their native country. It is inevitable that those people are also vulnerably exposed to culture that they are not familiar with. The common behavior that is usually carried out by the immigrant is preserving their native culture while on the other hand they are also trying to understand and perform the new culture they are currently socializing with. Sometimes the new culture they are dealing with is not always in line with the culture they used to live with. The difficulty that they might encounter is in a matter of moral value. They might find that the moral value within the new culture opposes to the native culture they grew up with.
omitting the native culture in order to completely blend in with the new culture does not seem appealing to some immigrants. They simply cannot detach themselves from their native culture because it is the culture they grew up with. The attachment of the immigrants to their native culture is stated by Evans (2006) in the article ―America as Melting Pot? We're Really More of a
Tossed Salad‖, as quoted below:
The distinctive qualities of race, religion and cultural heritage have been stubbornly retained by many who have immigrated to this country. Rather than a melting pot that boils away all the differences between us, we are more like a tossed salad with unique pieces of cultural heritage clearly visible and intact <http://www.ethicsdaily.com/america-as-melting-pot-were-really-more-of-a-tossed-salad-cms-14446>.
The quotation above implies that instead of assimilating into the new culture, the immigrants in America have tendency to preserve their native cultural heritage in the new country they are living at now.
When a number of different cultures interact with each other and share their beliefs, it is likely to happen that there will be some kind of disagreements which results in culture clash. An impaired ability to adjust in a certain environment is the result of the culture clash. Culture clash is a barrier for someone to socializing, learning, and basically functioning in a certain environment. With such difficulty adjusting to the new culture environment, conflicts may be found gradually.
Amy Tan is an American writer whose works expertise in exploring the mother daughter relationship while at the same time she also adds the conflicts of Chinese immigrant in the United States, the Chinese beliefs, and the Chinese tradition. The Bonesetter’s Daughter novel starts with the thorny relationship which is shared by Ruth Young and her mother, Lu Ling, in California, in the present time. Then, the story shifts back to Lu Ling’s early
life growing up in China where she follows the Chinese culture. Lu Ling’s life
in China shapes her characteristics as an individual with unique perspective of life which later on results in the clash culture she has to face when she has to deal with her daughter whose culture is influenced pretty much by the western culture. The Bonesetter’s Daughter ends with an epilogue which tells the reader about how Ruth understands her mother’s characteristics after she gains
her knowledge about her mother past. The writer believes the study of culture clash in The Bonesetter’s Daughter is needed to be studied because not only it exposes experience of Chinese American but also it also explores the universal experience of family relationship.
B. Problem Formulation
In the novel The Bonesetter’s Daughter there are some problems that formulated to explore the clash culture of Chinese American. The writer formulates three questions as stated below.
3. What factors cause the culture clash?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objective of the study is aimed to solve the problems in the problem formulation. The aims can be formulated more elaborately as follows. Firstly, this study aims to analyze the character presented in The Bonesetter’s Daughter. The analysis of characters shows the characteristics of
two people from different generations.
Secondly, this analysis aims to point out the culture clash presented in The Bonesetter’s Daughter. The analysis shows the culture clash which is shared by the mother and the daughter in the midst of bicultural circumstances. The conflicts are revealed through the characteristics that have been stated beforehand.
Thirdly, this study aims to reveal the causes of the culture clash between Lu Ling and Ruth. The causes are revealed through the characters and the conflicts that have been analyzed previously.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Culture clash
Marvin Harris and Orna Johnson (2007:10) in Cultural Anthropology
wrote that culture refers to the learned socially acquired traditions of thought and behavior found in human societies. It is a socially acquired lifestyle that includes patterned, repetitive ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. In The New International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of
The English Language, clash is defined as to conflict; be opposition (1996: 244). Based on the definition above, culture clash can be explained further as feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.
2. Chinese American
Chinese in The New International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of
The English Language is identified as a native or naturalized inhabitant of China (1996: 231). Whilst in The Adolescent: Development, Relationship, and Culture, Rice defines that Chinese Americans are descendants of Chinese who immigrated to the United States (1993: 47).
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
The Bonesetter’s Daughter is the fourth novel by Amy Tan that was published in 2001. Amy Tan, who is an American writer, is notable for her proficiency exploring history, cultural, and familial relationship theme as can be found in every of her literature work. Tan’s literature works constantly talk about the familial bond of Asian American family. Snodgrass (2006: 530) in her book
Encyclopedia of Feminist Literature affirmed that:
Tan fills her four novels with examples of mother- daughter arguments and separations, a controlling motif in her two novels The Hundred Secret Senses (1995) and The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2001). The cause of much verbal and emotional strife is the creation of new identity in daughters who are more assimilated to American feminism than their mother is. Feminist critic explains that Chinese-born mothers try to preserve the courtesies they learned in girlhood as social graces intended to feminize their daughters. Simultaneously the mothers project a fierce affection blended with jealousy that their American- born daughters are freer in behavior and choices.
As it is seen through the quotation above, we can see that Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter as well as her other work, The Hundred Secret Senses,
Another study on The Bonesetter’s Daughter is done by Schultermand. In her book Transnational Matrilineage: Mother-Daughter Conflicts in Asian American Literature, Schultermand (2011: 149) stated that:
Tan focuses on language barriers within the immigrant family that mark the experience of the American- born second generation. In
The Bonesetter’s Daughter, this difference becomes most apparent in the mother’s limited command of English and her daughter’s unfamiliarity with the Chinese language. While the inability to speak Chinese is not central to Ruth’s identity as a Chinese American woman, it is the main point of contention in her relationship with her mother. Most specifically, the absence of a common language that mother and daughter share is emblematic of the cultural difference between the two.
commonality <http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2001-07-11/life style/0107100327_1_amy-tan-bonesetter-daughter-abridged>.
The citation above shows that The Bonesetter's Daughter not only can be analyzed in the matter of cultural conflict, but it also can be analyzed in the matter of mother daughter relationship. Coming from different generation, there must be some differences shared by mother and daughter. Older generations seem to believe that their childhood was normal and they try to impose their childhood norms and value on their own children. However, as time passes by, the sense of normality also changes. Applying what was normal to the present time can lead into arguments and fighting between parents and children.
Three previous critical studies provided above give some insights to what causes the culture clash to happen. Some of the criticisms focus on the generational gap as the cause of culture clash to happen. Other criticism shows that language barrier can lead people to the culture clash. This study tries to continue what have been discovered in The Bonesetter’s Daughter about the culture clash by exploring in details what conflicts are actually presented in the novel and trying to connect what causes the conflicts to arise.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory on Character and Characterization
work of literature and while they are doing so they will be engaged in reading the literature. In A Glossary of Literary Terms, Abrams (1993:23) stated that:
Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say – the dialogue – and by what they do – the action.
The quotation above shows that characters are the figure presented in the work of literature. It is the most distinctive feature than any other intrinsic elements because characters have emotional features. Emotional features can not be separated from the characters because characters are usually human beings playing their own roles in the story.
It is impossible to separate character from characterization. Ordinarily, characterization is the process by which the author creates a character. It is the process in which the author reveals the traits of a character. As stated in A Handbook of Literature, Holman and Harmon clarified that there are three basic methods of characterization as quoted below.
a.The explicit presentation of the character by the author through direct explanation, whether in a block’s introductory or throughout the work which is illustrated by action
b.The presentation of the character in action, therefore the reader will be able to conclude the attributes of character from actions
characterization of character in literary works to make the character understandable to the reader.
a. Personal Description
The author describes character’s appearance in details such as skin color, body shape, the clothes used by the character.
b. Character as Seen by the Author
The author uses another character’s point of view to describe the character.
What people in the story think about a certain character can be significant for the reader to picture the image of the character.
c. Speech
The author can give insight into the character in literary work through what the character says. Whenever a character speaks in conversation, we can see his personality from the opinion that he gives.
d. Past Life
The past events of a character can help the reader to understand what shape the character to behave in such way.
e. Conversation of Others
The readers should pay attention through the conversation of other characters and the things they say about the character. The author gives clue to understand a character’s personality from other’s conversation and their
f. Reaction
The author helps the reader to recognize a person’s character by the reaction
he gives toward to various situation and events. g. Direct Comment
The author gives direct comment on person’s character.
h. Thoughts
The author can give the reader a direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about.
i. Mannerism
The author can convey something about a person by describing his mannerism or habits.
2. The Relation between Literature and Society
Rene Wellek and Austin Warren (1956: 95) in their book, Theory of Literature, stated that literature is a creation of society that uses language as the medium. Literature expresses the reality in society, but it does not express the whole reality. It only pictures some specific situation in the society. Moreover, literature also presents historical and social truth of human life as stated in the quotation below.
expresses the whole of life or even the whole life if a given time completely and exhaustively.
Rohrberger and Woods (1971: 9) in the book Reading and Writing about Literature stated that:
They define civilization as the attitudes and actions of a specific group of people and point out that literature takes these attitudes and actions as its subject matter. They feel therefore, that it is necessary that the critic investigate the social milieu in which a work was created and which it necessarily reflects.
It can be assumed from the quotation above that the subject matter of literature is taken from the attitudes and actions of certain people. Therefore, studying the social background in which the literary work is created is necessary. In addition, literature is said as the expression of the ideas of the culture that create it.
C. Review on Historical Background
Diversity allows individuals to learn about the culture, religion, or social ideals of others. Unfortunately, culture clash can arise from diversity shared by a group of individuals. In Criminology Theory, Williams and McShane (1998: 71) wrote that:
Conflicts of cultures are inevitable when the norms of one cultural or subcutural area migrated to or come in contact with those of another. Conflicts between the norms of divergent cultural codes may arise: 1. When these codes clash on the border of contiguous culture areas; 2. When, as may be the case with legal norms, the law of one cultural group is extended to cover the territory of another; or
3. When members of one cultural group migrate to another
Culture clash within a family is potential to happen because members of the family are coming from different generations. In the journal entitled Journal of marital and Family Therapy composed by Lee and Mjelde- Mossey (2004: 510), it is stated that:
Cultural differences between generations can result in problems of cultural dissonance among generations. Family members with differing degrees of acculturation experience problems and misunderstandings resulting from their conflicting personal worldviews.
It can be concluded from the quotation above that members of the same racial or ethnics group may not necessarily share identical views of the world because each person has their own idea on how they perceive their relationship to the world. The idea is correlated with one’s cultural upbringing and life experiences and it
has powerful influence on people behavior and decision- making.
1. Review on Chinese Culture
Poon in his article entitled ―The History of China‖ stated that the
history of China as documented in ancient writings dates back some 3,300 years <http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/setting.html>. It can be seen through the citation above that China, owning over thousands of years of history, has produced history and culture. The Chinese has formed their strong traditions and moral values that play important role in societal structures namely the Constant Virtues.
Constant Virtues are generosity (ren), righteousness (yi), propriety (li), wisdom (zhi), and fidelity (xin). As elaborated by Smith (1983:145) in China’s Cultural
Heritage: The Qing Dynasty, the five Constant Virtues are described as follows. While ren is associated in the Four Books with filial piety, yi is associated with loyalty to the ruler or fraternal submission. Li
contributed to self- cultivation and the establishment of character. In various contexts, zhi is defined in the four books as the knowledge of filial piety and fraternal submission, as a feeling of approving and disapproving, and as the ability to recognize human talent. The fifth virtue of faithfulness (xin) receives prominent exposure in the Four Books, often in combination with other values such as loyalty, reciprocity, and sincerity
Five Constant Virtues are the moral standards that the Chinese ancestors passed down to their offspring to help maintain familial and social order harmonious. As associated with filial piety, ren carries meaning that children must obey, follow, and support their parents.The term yi is defined as loyalty to the clan and community. Li is identified as how one educates himself to form to a certain individual with specific characteristics. Zhi is the knowledge to help someone determine whether other is right or wrong. Xin is the combination of the preceding values. Furthermore, Dean in his article entitled ―The Five Constant Virtues of
China‖ elaborates the Five Constant Virtues as follows.
Ren, or benevolence, is the first and most important virtue among the Five Constant Virtues. It manifests itself in the inner mind in love and compassion for people and in avoiding harm or envy toward anyone.Yi, or righteousness, in contrast to benevolence involves thinking and acting from one’s own viewpoint. It demands rational action, self-restraint to resist temptation and the fortitude to do one’s duty. Li, or propriety, is the contents of propriety include loyalty, filial piety, fraternal duty, chastity, and respect. Zhi, or wisdom, is the innate knowledge by which one judges right and wrong, good and evil. Xin, or honesty, means that, externally, one’s deeds match
The Five Constant Virtues embody to the life of Chinese society and its values to the development of human civilization are widely recognized. One of the points in the five Constant Virtues is elaborated by Smith (1991: 33) in China: People and Places in the Land of One Billion as follows.
The epigraph, better to have superficial tranquility even if you’re a volcano inside, refers to the time honored ability of the Chinese to hide their feelings. By not letting her true feelings show, she is exhibiting one of the Five Confucian Virtues, namely xin which can be roughly translated to mean ―sincerity.‖
Masking personal feelings is common thing done by the Chinese. This characteristic can be traced back to the Confucian values. Hiding feelings is applied to maintain harmonious society. Chinese, at anytime, attempt to be polite and accommodating to maintain dignity in various situations and avoid arguments, conflicts and embarrassment in their pursuit to avoid losing face.
Frena Bloomfield (1989: xvi) in The Book of Chinese Beliefs wrote that Chinese people are a very role-oriented society. They have their own parts to play and are supposed to play them properly. Children are supposed to obey their parents and respect their teacher, and women are supposed to obey their husbands, widows are supposed to obey their sons, et cetera. The same idea was stated by Smith (1991: 34) in his book China: People and Places in the Land of One Billion. Smith also stated that the Chinese are obsessed with social order and the need to ―do the right thing.‖ In families this required the children, no matter how
old, to remain fanatically loyal to their parents; and in society at large it required individuals to serve others before themselves. In China’s Cultural Heritage: The
Mencius tells us that devotion to one’s parents is the greatest service and the foundation of all other services. The Great Learning remarks, ―If one is not obedient to his parents, he will not be true to his friends,‖
The quotation above shows the importance that to be a real man, one needs to start out by being a good son, daughter, or brother, and a good citizen of realm. The Chinese are obsessed with social order and the need to do everything right. In the matter of family, children are expected to stay passionately loyal to their parents. In the matter of living in society, individuals are required to serve others before themselves.
From the teaching of Confucius it can be seen that Chinese people are family oriented, as it is proven by the teaching that encourages children to devote themselves to their parents. As the impact of the idea of family oriented, Chinese people have their own perspective regarding the idea of individualism as it is revealed by Zhou (2009: 194) in Contemporary Chinese America: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Community Transformation through the quotation below.
Furthermore, the traditional Chinese family has little room for individualism. Every member is tied to the others, and every act of individual members is considered to bring honor or shame to the whole family. Thus, Chinese parents are expected to bring up their children in ways that honor the family, and children are expected to behave accordingly.
family members will also obtain the glory. Conversely, if one member causes humility, the other members will endure the shame.
Another striking culture of the Chinese is their belief to the supernatural world. Chinese thought has its ability to tolerate diverse and seemingly incompatible notions with sense of contradiction. Smith (1991: 38) stated that:
The conduct of human affairs was strongly influenced by the spirits of land, wind, and water. In this sense human life is just one part of the natural order, and it followed that if people behaved improperly the harmony between life and nature would be destroyed, and nature would somehow seek revenge on humankind.
As revealed by the quotation above, the Chinese people have to put respect on everything throughout their life aspects. It is clear for the Chinese society that by acting appropriately someone could ensure that nature’s wrath would not be vented on them. The Chinese treats other living beings respectfully because they are all connected to each other. If they do anything harmful to others, their life will also be harmed. This belief is based on Confucius moral value that emphasized one not to do any harm to other if they do not want to be harmed by others.
2. Review on American Culture
As the third largest country in the world with a population more than 300 million people, the people of the United States of America are highly diverse. Grouling in his article entitled ―AMERICAN VALUES‖ stated that American
of the world <http://www.americanhospitals.com/ questions/american/ amervalues.htm>. Without its rich mixture of religions, races, and cultures, America would not be the nation that it is today. Founded upon the basis of equality and freedom for all, America acts as a stage where intensely different cultures not only coexist peacefully, but also thrive symbiotically and create a nation.
There are some basic values of American culture. The foundation of American values is individual freedom. Every American would agree upon the value of individual freedom. Individualism was reflected and encouraged by the government. Government guarantees numerous personal liberties such as freedom of speech, of assembly, of religion, and of the press. Thus, each citizen could express himself. In Characteristically American,Perry (1994: 9) stated that:
American individuality is the very opposite of singularity. The people of the United States are highly gregarious and sociable. The individual who holds himself apart, who will not ―join‖, who does not ―belong‖, who will not ―get together‖ and ―play the game‖, who does not ―row his weight in the boat‖ is viewed with suspicion.
The quotation above shows that American individualism is not the isolation of one human being, but rather the idea of being independent. Americans are encouraged to see themselves as individuals responsible for their own life. Americans believe that the ideal person is an autonomous, self-reliant individual. They generally do not prefer being dependent on other people.
judged by the standard of success. Their successes must be recognized. Success must be not only measurable, but observed, recorded, applauded, and envied.
The right to privacy is also a notion that runs deep in American culture. Penn in her article ―What Americans Are Like‖ informed as follow.
Closely associated with the value that Americans place on individualism is the importance they assign to privacy. Americans assume that people "need some time to themselves" or "some time alone" to think about things or recover their energy
<http://www.upenn.edu/oip/isss/handbook/like#individualism>. The citation above shows that privacy is the ultimate result of individualism. Privacy is seen as a very positive condition. For Americans private time is considered important for balancing mental and physical health.
Although it may seem contradictory to the American sense of privacy, Americans are raised to be open and direct. Penn stated that ―Americans
are not taught, as in some other countries, to mask their emotional responses.‖
Americans are fairly direct to show their feeling. They do not think it is improper to display their feelings. Americans generally consider themselves to be frank, open, and direct in their dealings with other people. Americans dislike dishonesty and insincerity. And they will quickly lose respect and trust to anyone who hints at what is intended rather than saying it outright.
Kohls in his article ―The Values Americans Live By‖ considered that
3. Review on Chinese American Identity
Living and growing up in the United States have definitely put a lot of pressure on the Chinese immigrants. Conflict is inevitable for the intergenerational relations in Chinese immigrant families. In the United States most children of the Chinese immigrants live alongside with other family members from their parents’ side. In this extended immigrant’s household, the native Chinese uses Confucian values emphasizing filial piety, hard work, and discipline as a normative behavioral standard to socialize for the younger generation.
However, it is not easy to enforce Chinese behavioral standard to the next generation. The difference pace of acculturation, bicultural, and generational conflicts are some of the difficulties that prevent parents to enforce the Chinese standard to their children. Children growing up in Chinese immigrant families simultaneously encounter two different sociocultural worlds: their parents’ culture
which they attempt to distance themselves, and the American culture which they aspire and are pushed to assimilate. The same idea is affirmed by Zhou (2009: 194) in Contemporary Chinese America: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Community Transformation as it is quoted below.
Children of immigrant parentage lack meaningful connections to the socio cultural world from which their parents came. They are unlikely to consider a foreign country as a point of reference, and are much more likely to evaluate themselves or be evaluated by others according to the standards of their country of birth or the one in which they are being raised (2009:194).
country. It is difficult for them to have connection to their parents’ culture due to
the fact that they were not born in the country where their parents were born. Another challenge that is faced within the intergenerational family is the difference goal orientation between the immigrant parents and their American born children as it is stated by Zhou (2009: 192-193).
Most immigrants structure their lives primarily around three goals, summed up by one Chinese immigrant as: ―To live in your own house, to be your own boss, and to send your children to the Ivy League.‖ They try to acculturate or assimilate into American society but only in ways that facilitate the attainment of these goals. The children, in contrast, want more. They aspire to be fully American. In the words of a U.S.-born high school student in Los Angeles’ Chinatown, they seek for ―American qualities‖ such as ―looking cool, going to the ball games, eating hamburgers and French fries, taking family vacations, having fun . . . feeling free to do whatever you like rather than what your parents tell you to.‖
It is revealed by the quotation above that there are different goals being proposed by immigrant parents and American born or raised children. The immigrant relationship. However, the filial piety norm makes more demands on the children side than on parents and children equally. In its traditional form, children’s
Nonetheless, the enforcement of filial piety toward the American born children seems to be a problem. Zhou (2009: 194) stated that:
Asymmetric filial piety, unconditional submission to authority, and face-saving override other familial values in the traditional Chinese family. Even though modernization has brought changes in China, these traditional influences still loom large among Chinese immigrants. The problem is that in the American context, these familial practices and values are frowned upon, and children and parents are expected to be independent individuals on equal terms. It can be seen from the quotation above that there is different perception regarding the Chinese filial piety between the immigrant parents and the American born children. In the traditional Chinese family submission to parents is absolute while in the American context both children and parents are expected to be independent individuals.
D. Theoretical Framework
Each of the theory and review presented previously is needed to analyze the novel. The review of related studies is needed to strengthen the importance of studying and analyzing the novel. The theory on character and characterization give a great contribution to the study. This theory helps to see the characteristics of the major characters in The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Theory on character and characterization is applied to answer the problem number one.
separated from one individual because it gives strong influence to her characteristics.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The Bonesetter's Daughter is Amy Tan's fourth novel that was first published in 2001 and has been translated into more than twenty five different languages. An opera based on the story of The Bonesetter’s Daughter has also been performed on 13 September 2008 at the War Memorial Opera House of San Francisco Opera. Amy Tan dedicated The Bonesetter’s daughter for her mother Li Bingzi, and for her grandmother Gu Jingmei. Besides chosen as
New York Times Notable Book, The Bonesetter’s Daughter was also nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction and nominated for the IMPAC Dublin Award. Amy Tan is also the author of The Joy Luck Club (1989), The Kitchen God's Wife (1991), The Moon Lady (1992) and The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994), The Hundred Secret Senses (1995), The Opposite of Fate (2003),
Saving Fish from Drowning (2011).
The writer uses The Bonesetter’s Daughter published by Harper Perennial, London, in 2004. It consists of 338 pages and is divided into three parts and an epilogue which create an interesting story to read. The first part talks about the present time of the relationship between Lu Ling and Ruth in San Francisco which is mostly based on Ruth’s point of view. The second part
Lu Ling past life in China. The memoir writing is intended so that her daughter will know the truth about Lu Ling’s life in China. The third part once
more takes Ruth’s point of view. The third part talks about how Ruth manages
to cope up with her mother’s behavior with the knowledge she has gained
through the memoir reading. The epilogue tells how Ruth both reconciles with her mother and her ancestor.
Like Amy Tan’s other works The Bonesetter’s Daughter deals with
the relationship between an American-born Chinese woman and her immigrant mother. The relationship is problematic because there is a culture gap between the American and the Chinese. However, eventually the relationship is getting better ever since Ruth, the daughter, read a memoir written by her mother about her past life. It is through the memoir reading that Ruth’s mind is more open toward her mother’s native eccentric traits.
B. Approach of the Study
Every work of literature always includes intrinsic and extrinsic elements. Both elements have significant roles on the work of literature. In A Handbook of Critical Approaches, Guerin (1979: 20) stated that:
In this study the writer applied the sociocultural-historical approach. In Reading and Writing about Literature, Rohrberger and Woods stated that ―Critics whose major interest is the sociocultural-historical approach insist that
the only way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilization that produced it.‖ (1971: 9). This quotation shows that there is a relationship
between the literature and the reality happens in the civilization. The critics will focus on the actions conduct by a specific group of people in the civilization and its relation toward the work of literature.
Likewise, Rohrberger and Woods stated that, ―It’s necessary to investigate the social background in which a work was created and which it necessarily reflects, because literature is not created in emptiness and expresses ideas significant to the culture that produces it.‖ (1971: 9). This
implies that the culture being presented in the work of literature is a product of reflection on social realities that occur in a society and it took important role toward the literary work.
Additionally, Rohrberger and Woods affirmed that the traditional historical approach to literature usually takes as its basis some aspects of the sociocultural frame of reference, combining it with an interest in the biographical as well as knowledge of interest in literary history (1971: 9). This implies that what is represented in the text should be justified by the reality.
The sociocultural-historical approach is applied to analyze The Bonesetter’s Daughter in order to see the culture clash of the Chinese
approach will allow the writer to achieve deeper understanding about the society, culture, and historical background of the society where the novel takes place and time. By knowing the actual circumstance outside the text, the writer will be able to reveal the idea that the author wants to inform to the readers.
C. Method of the Study
The method carried out by the writer in the study of culture clash in
The Bonesetter’s Daughter was library research. The primary source was the
novel itself, The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan. The secondary sources were books and also several websites related to the theories and the approach which were used to analyze the problems.
Furthermore, there were some steps taken in analyzing The Bonesetter’s Daughter. The first step taken to start this study was reading the
whole novel several times. This step was done to understand the content of the novel thoroughly and to focus on some elements discussed in the novel.
The next step done by the writer was determining the topic and formulating the problem formulation. The problem formulation was used by the writer to restrict her into the scope limitation only of the topic chosen.
The third step was applying the theory of sociocultural-historical excerpted from Guerin’s A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature and also Rohrberger and Wood’s Reading and Writing about Literature. Theories
and Places in the Land of One Billion, and Characteristically American and also the theory on Chinese American Identity taken from Contemporary Chinese America would also be very useful to gain deeper understanding of the novel’s background of the culture clash.
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter aims to answer the problems which were formulated in the previous chapter. The writer divides the analysis into three main parts. The first part discusses the characters in the novel. The second part discusses the culture clash described in The Bonesetter’s Daughter. The third part discusses the causes of the culture clash. This makes the analysis easier to conduct in order. Important evidences will be provided to support the problems analysis.
A. Characteristics of Lu Ling and Ruth Young
The following analysis gives a picture of the Chinese American in the United States through the dialogue and the action done by the characters which is endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities. Their characteristics are the representation of the Chinese American in society. The analysis of the character in this novel is based on Abrams’ theory of character,
which is quoted as follows.
deeper knowledge about the characteristics of Chinese American in the United States is obtained.
1. Lu Ling
Lu ling is the protagonist character in the novel. She is also the narrator of the memoir writing in the second part of the novel. Lu Ling is a Chinese American immigrant. During her life in China, she had been unfortunate. She was born as a fatherless daughter and raised by a mute nursemaid who was actually her biological mother, a fact that she did not recognize until the day her mother died. Her life had been quite unfortunate after the day her mother passed away. She was sent to foster-home because she was believed to bring bad lucks towards the family she stayed with. Lu Ling somehow enjoyed living in the orphanage, even though she was not showered with love at least in the orphanage people loved her and acknowledged her without looking at her past. She also met her first husband while she was in the foster-home. However, her happiness did not last long. Pan Kai Jing, her first husband, was killed by Japanese soldiers during the World War II. Tired of the bitter memories which kept following her, she sailed away from China to America, a land without curse and ghost.
One of Lu Ling’s characteristics is revealed through her action, as it
Blood ran from Ruth's nose and dripped onto the front of her white blouse, staining the broad lace-trimmed collar. She lay limply in her mother's lap, looking up at Teresa and the faces of the other children. She saw their fright, but also their awe. If she could have moved, she would have smiled. At last they were paying attention to her, the new girl at school. She then saw her mother's face, the tears streaming down her cheeks, falling on her own face like wet kisses. Her mother wasn't angry, she was worried, full of love. And in her amazement, Murphy, the author can give an insight into the character in literary work through what the character says. Whenever a character speaks in conversation, we can see his personality from the opinion that he gives (1972: 161). Lu Ling’s caring
towards Ruth can be seen through her speech.
"Something is wrong," LuLing persisted. Ruth was amazed that her mother was so perceptive. Maybe there was nothing the matter with her after all.
"It's that wife of Art's," Ruth finally whispered in her American-accented Mandarin. "I wish Art had not let her come."
"Ah! You see, I was right! I knew something was wrong. Mother always knows."
Ruth bit hard on the inside of her cheek.
"Now, now, don't worry anymore," her mother soothed. "Tomorrow you talk to Artie. Make him buy you a gift. He should pay a lot to show that he values you. He should buy you something like this." LuLing touched the necklace, which had been returned to Ruth's hands.
Ruth's eyes smarted with held-back tears (2004: 89)
Lu Ling’s care toward Ruth can also be seen through the dialogue above shared by
have already known that there is something disturbing Ruth’s mind. She tries to
comfort Ruth and gives Ruth advice to resolve her problem.
Lu Ling’s caring characteristic somehow also influences her other
characteristics. Sometimes she cares too much about something that she turns to be critical. Applying M.J. Murphy’s theory stating that characteristics can be seen through another character’s point of view to describe the character, Lu Ling’s
critical characteristics can be seen.
The combined living room, eating area, and efficiency kitchen afforded no place to hide. Ruth's only refuge was the bathroom, and perhaps for this reason she developed numerous stomach ailments that year. Her mother was usually in the same room as she was, doing her calligraphy, cooking, or knitting, activities that kept her hands busy but left her tongue all too free to interrupt Ruth when she was watching TV. "Your hair getting too long. Hair cover your glasses like curtain, can't see. You think this good-looking, I telling you not good-looking! You tune off TV, I cut hair for you. . . . Eh, you hear me. Tune off TV.... (2004: 104)
From the quotation above it is seen that Lu Ling always has something to criticize Ruth. Lu Ling is also quite assertive to have her will accomplished. She does not even asked Ruth if she wants her hair to be cut, she just directly asserts to her to have her hair cut because Lu Ling thinks Ruth looks unpleasant having too long hair.
She knew her mother was sneaking looks at what she had written, because one day she asked Ruth, "Why you like this song 'Turn, Turn, Turn'? Just 'cause someone else like?" Another time her mother sniffed and said, "Why smell like cigarette?" (2004: 132).
any clear or logical explanation. Lu Ling never gives up a chance not to criticize Ruth.
Lu Ling is pictured as an apprehensive mother. Quoting Murphy’s
theory stating that the author can convey something about a person by describing his mannerism or habits, Lu Ling’s apprehensiveness can be seen through the
following quotation.
Her mother, though, had often told Ruth throughout her childhood that shooting stars were really "melting ghost bodies" and it was bad luck to see them. If you did, that meant a ghost was trying to talk to you. To her mother, just about anything was a sign of ghosts: broken bowls, barking dogs, phone calls with only silence or heavy breathing at the other end. (2004: 9)
The quotation above shows that Lu Ling is an apprehensive person. She is a very superstitious person who always believes everything to bring bad luck. Lu Ling seems to live her life cautiously because her over superstitious point of view.
2. Ruth Young
Ruth Young is the American born daughter of a Chinese mother, Lu Ling. Ruth Young is a middle-aged Chinese-American who has trouble relating to her elderly China-born mother, Lu Ling. She is Lu Ling’s only child who has spent her life contending with her widowed mother’s demands, threats and
histrionics.
Ruth is a professional ghost writer who has helped and edited the writing of some popular books. Her success to be a ghostwriter is supported by her characteristics as being accommodating. Ruth’s accommodating trait can be
by exploring the conversation of other characters and the things they say about the character. The author gives clue to understand a character’s personality from other’s conversation and their opinion about him (1972: 162).
"He never will," Gideon replied. "You'll cave in, you always do. You'll probably be calling HarperSanFrancisco by the end of the week, persuading them to change the schedule."
"What makes you say that?"
"Face it, sweetheart, you're accommodating. Willing to bend over backward. And you have this knack for making even the dickheads believe they're the best at what they do."
"Watch it," Ruth said. "That's a hooker you're describing."
"It's true. You're a dream when it comes to collaboration," Gideon went on. "You listen as the clients blather on, egos unchecked. They walk all over you, and you just take it. You're easy." (2004: 42) It can be seen through the quotation above that Ruth is an accommodating person. She always tries to supply and fulfill the needs of others. This characteristic is, in some way, beneficial for her as her job is being ghostwriter. Ruth is not a demanding ghostwriter and she has the patience to listen client’s stories and then turning the stories into popular books.
Ruth is defined as an independent character .Applying Holman and Harmon’s method of characterization, Ruth’s characteristics can be seen through
the presentation of her action (1986: 81). Since her childhood, Ruth believed that she has to be her own problem solver. The quotation below shows an event that proves Ruth’s independence.
"Lootie give me so much trouble," LuLing dictated, as if Ruth were invisible, "maybe I send her go Taiwan, school for bad children. What you think?"
Ruth revised that to: "Perhaps Ruth might attend a finishing school in Taiwan where she can learn the manners and customs of a young lady. What is your opinion?" (2004: 43)
The quotation above shows that since her childhood Ruth has learnt on her own that she occasionally had to overcome a possibly embarrassing event caused by her mother’s poor English by rephrasing her mother’s talk in order to make it
more acceptable for the American society they are living with.
Another characteristic of Ruth is reasonable. Different from her mother, Ruth is hardly superstitious. It is a part of being American that makes her being reasonable. As stated by Holman and Harmon, one way to characterize a character is through the explicit presentation of the character by the author through direct explanation (1986: 81). Ruth’s reasonableness can be seen through
the quotation below.
She did not actually believe that her laryngitis was star-crossed, or that the meteor shower had anything to do with her inability to speak. Her mother, though, had often told Ruth throughout her childhood that shooting stars were really "melting ghost bodies" and it was bad luck to see them. (2004: 9)
The quotation above shows that Ruth does not believe that her laryngitis has something to do to the superstitious belief. Unlike Lu Ling, Ruth also does not see things to bring bad lucks.
B. The Culture Clash between Lu Ling and Ruth Young
McShane. It is stated that ―conflicts of cultures are inevitable when the norms of one cultural or subcutural area migrated to or come in contact with those of another.‖ (1998: 71). Cultural conflict occurs when a society of a certain cultural
norms makes contact with the other society with different cultural norms. Having different cultural opinions involve between people, the conflict is inevitable.
1. Values
Chinese people expect their children to obey their elderly. According to Frena Bloomfield (1989: xvi) in The Book of Chinese Beliefs, she stated that ―Chinese people are a very role-oriented society. ― This implies that everyone has
their own parts to play and is supposed to play them properly.
In The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Ruth shows rebellion toward her mother. As a Chinese, Lu Ling finds Ruth’s rebellion as unacceptable. Ruth is raised by a Chinese immigrant mother, Lu Ling, who is a single parent because of the death of her husband when Ruth was a toddler. Both Lu Ling and Ruth have different understanding on culture belief. The quotation below shows how different cultural belief resulting them to get into conflict.
But then confusement a familiar voice, loud and shrill, rang across the playground: "No! Luyi, stop! What are you doing? You want to break your body in half?"
Ruth stood at the top of the slide, frozen with shame. Her mother was the busybody watcher of kindergartners, whereas Ruth was in the first grade! Some of the other first-graders were laughing down below. "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!" Her mother's eyes locked on hers. Although she was clear across the playground, she heard everything, saw everything. She had magic eyes on the back of her head. (2004: 65-66)
The quotation above shows that Ruth is trying to show off in front of her American friends by sliding down the slide with unusual position. Lu Ling, who is in the same playground, notices Ruth’s action and she is afraid that her daughter
mockingly ask Ruth if Lu Ling is her mother. Ruth is ashamed of her mother and her Chinese accented English which immediately caused her to deny in front of her friends that Lu Ling is her mother.
Another quotation shows that Ruth cannot accept Lu Ling with her typical Chinese trait, as being too caring, is shown through the conversation below.
As usual, LuLing opened the door without knocking. And when Ruth looked up with an innocent expression, LuLing shouted, "You smoking!"
"No I wasn't!"
"Still smoking." LuLing pointed toward the window and marched over. The cigarette had landed on the ledge below the window, announcing its whereabouts with a plume of smoke.
"I'm an American," Ruth shouted. "I have a right to privacy, to pursue my own happiness, not yours!"
"No right! All wrong!" "Leave me alone!"
"Why I have daughter like you? Why I live? Why I don't die long time 'go?" LuLing was huffing and snorting. Ruth thought she looked like a mad dog. "You want I die?"
Ruth was shaking but shrugged as nonchalantly as she could. "I really don't care." (2004: 134)
The conversation above shows that Lu Ling does not give Ruth enough privacy. This is shown by Lu Ling striding to Ruth’s room without knocking at the door
Ruth is a responsible person that always manages to do her job well and she has limited free time as the consequence. Ruth’s tendency to be a work
oriented person is influenced by American value which considers that it is sinful to sit around doing nothing as it is affirmed by Kohls in his article ―The Values
Americans Live By‖ <http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/pages/faculty/alee
/extra/American_ values.html>. In the mean time, Lu Ling finds it irritating that Ruth puts her job first and neglected her. The conflict is revealed through the following quotation.
She was always busy, unlike some freelance writers who fretted over the trickle of jobs in the pipeline.
"So busy, so success," her mother had said recently when Ruth told her she didn't have any free time to see her. "Not free," LuLing added, "because every minute must charge money. What I should pay you, five dollar, ten dollar, then you come see me?" The truth was, Ruth did not have much free time, not in her opinion. Free time was the most precious time, when you should be doing what you loved, or at least slowing down enough to remember what made your life worthwhile and happy. (2004: 38)
Through the quotation above it can be seen that Ruth always puts her work above her responsibility of being a daughter. Ruth’s time is dedicated to her work thus
she has no time to visit her mother.
The three incidents, which are presented above, mark that Ruth violates Chinese culture value saying that children should obey and respect their parents. Loyalty to one’s parents is an absolute moral value which is embedded in
relationship, children are required to obey, follow, and support their parents in order to lead a righteous life.
2. Control
Lu Ling sometimes ends in a tense relationship with Ruth. While Ruth thinks Lu Ling’s control over her is unacceptable, Lu Ling believes that her
action is the standard of Chinese mothering. Lu Ling’s mothering method is equivalent to the quotation taken from Smith’s China’s Cultural Heritage: The
Qing Dynasty. He stated that ―based on Mencius’ teaching devotion to one’s
parents is the greatest service and the foundation of all other services.‖ (1983: 141). Equivalent to Mencius’ teaching, Lu Ling expects Ruth to be devoted to her
mother. Despite all of the controls Lu Ling puts on Ruth, Ruth should be grateful that Lu Ling fusses herself to control her daughter for her daughter’s good in order
that Ruth will become an excellent individual in society. The quotation below marks Lu Ling’s control over Ruth.
Her mother was usually in the same room as she was, doing her calligraphy, cooking, or knitting, activities that kept her hands busy but left her tongue all too free to interrupt Ruth when she was watching TV. "You hair getting too long. Hair cover your glasses like curtain, can't see. You think this good-looking, I telling you not good-looking! You tune off TV, I cut hair for you. . . . Eh, you hear me. Tune off TV. . . ." (2004: 104)
