i
THE SYMBOL OF BONE
IN AMY TAN’S THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By Indri Widiyanti Student Number: 031214054
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, October 10, 2009 The Writer,
Indri Widiyanti 031214054
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Indri Widiyanti
Nomor Mahasiswa : 031214054
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE SYMBOL OF BONE
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 pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 10 Oktober 2009 Yang menyatakan,
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to thank Allah SWT for the endless blessing and love in my life.
My highest gratitude is addressed to my sponsor, Henny Herawati, S.Pd., M.Hum., for her guidance, suggestion, kindness, support and patience during my thesis writing process. Without her, I could never finish my thesis.
To all lecturers in PBI, I thank them for their teachings, support, and helps during my days in Sanata Dharma University. I also thank PBI secretariat staffs, Mbak Tari and Mbak Dani for always helping me and answering my too-many-questions.
My great honour goes to my beloved Mom (Ibu Susmirah) for being my greatest mom in the world. “Ibu, thanks for always supporting and forgiving me. “I’m blessed to have her as my mother”, my Dad (Bapak Kaswin) for understanding and supporting me. “Thanks for always being my wisdom dad”. I also thank my brother (dik Galih) and my sister (dik Widya) for their support.
I would like to thank my cute best friends, Pipin & Lidya (thanks for being my very best friends and for always supporting me), Petra, Datu, Upik, Putri, Ignash, Priska, Meysa, Vanie, Liza, Devi, and all class B students (thanks for being my wonderful friends in PBI). To All the 2003 students, I thank them for the beautiful friendship and the wonderful times we shared.
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addition, to all JOGJAVANESIA crew, I thank them for their help, support and their understanding when I often come home late.
To the people I cannot mention one by one, I thank them for coloring my life. God bless us.
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For Mama
Finally I
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When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seem all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sight,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must-but…
DON’T YOU QUIT
.
(Unknown)
I dedicated this thesis
to the persons who make my life
worth living
MY WONDERFUL MOM AND DAD
MY BELOVED BROTHER AND SISTER
MY AMAZING ANGEL
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PAGE OF TITLE……….………..… i
PAGES OF APPROVAL.……… ………ii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY……….………..iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………...v
DEDICATION PAGE…… ………..………….…...vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS………...ix
ABSTRACT……….…...xii
ABSTRAK……….…………....xiv
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study ……….………1
1.2 Problem Formulation ………...5
1.3 Objectives of the Study……….…...5
1.4 Benefits of the Study………...5
1.5 Definition of Terms………....…………..6
CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL REVIEW 2.1 Theories of Literature……….9
2.2 Review on Chinese Mythology: Bone and Peking Man...10
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2.2.2 The Symbol of Bone………...………..………...12 2.2.3 Peking Man………..………...13 2.3 Theoretical Framework………14
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Object of the Study……….……….………15 3.2 Approach..……….……….…...17 3.3 Method of the Study ……….……….………..17
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS
4.1 The Symbol of Bone Presented in The Bonesetter's Daughter………20 4.1.1 The Relationship between ‘Bone’ and LuLing Liu Young……….22 4.1.2 The Relationship between ‘Bone’ and Ruth Luyi Young…...29 4.1.3 The Relationship between ‘Bone’ and Precious Auntie……..………....32 4.2 The Meanings of the Symbol of Bone in Conveying Chinese Values...37
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 Conclusions ………. …...41 5.2 Suggestions ……….45 5.2.1 Suggestions for the Further Study on The Bonesetter’s Daughter……..45 5.2.2 Suggestion for Teaching Intensive Reading II through Literature……..45
xi APPENDICES
Appendix 1
Lesson Plan and Material of Teaching Intensive Reading II …………..……...50 Appendix 2
Summary of The Bonesetter’s Daughter………57 Appendix 3
xii ABSTRACT
Widiyanti, Indri. 2009. The Symbol of Bone in Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Yogyakarta: Faculty of Teacher’s Training and Education, Department of Language and Arts Education, English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis discusses The Bonesetter’s Daughter, a novel written by Amy Tan. The reason of writing this thesis comes from my curiosity to know about the symbol of bone and how this symbol manifests its meaning in conveying Chinese values. There are two problems that become the focus of this thesis: (1) How the symbol of bone is presented in the novel and (2) How the symbol of bone manifests its meanings in conveying Chinese values. Based on those problems, this study aims to identify ‘bone’ as symbol and to reveal the meanings of symbol of bone in conveying Chinese values in Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter.
The method of the study is library research. The Mythological Criticism is used for the analysis of the data. The primary data of this thesis was the novel, The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Meanwhile, the secondary data used to answer the problems above were taken from several supporting references and also from internet sources. When necessary, quotations and statements from certain experts were also cited to clarify some important ideas.
Based on the result of the analysis, the symbol of bone is analyzed in its relationship within the characters, which are LuLing, Ruth, and Precious Auntie. From analyzing LuLing’s life, there are five significant points why LuLing has a close relationship with ‘the bone’ itself. First, LuLing is familiar with the bone since she is raised up by Precious Auntie. Second, LuLing lives with Liu clan in the village called Immortal Heart, where there are several hills, and which their names are connected with bone (Chicken Bone Hill, Old Cow Hill, and Dragon Bone Hill). Third, Precious Auntie gives LuLing the oracle bone. Fourth, Precious Auntie introduces the term ‘the dragon bones’ to LuLing by inviting her to dig the dragon bones in the cave. Fifth, it is when the Western scientists find that the dragon bones are the fossils of Peking Man.
In Ruth’s character, the symbol of bone is connected with her when she is six-year-old, she broke her arm. Here, “the bone” connects Ruth with her mother’s past life and her own grandmother whom she never know before, Precious Auntie. It is significant for Ruth because she weaves the missing link between her mother, LuLing and her grandmother, Precious Auntie. By her “broken bones”, Ruth gains her own strength and rearranges the missing puzzle between her mother and her grandmother. Thus, “the bones” become the sign for Ruth to rearrange the “missing bones” in her ‘”family body” since bone is the framework of the body.
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Auntie’s father is a bone doctor, she is taught to be a bonesetter also. Even though there is no woman bonesetter, but Precious Auntie is interested to learn more about the bone setting and the bone.
In its association with the three main characters, it is concluded that the one who becomes the real bonesetter is Ruth. It is because Ruth links ‘the missing bone’ between her mother, LuLing and her grandmother, Precious Auntie.
The second conclusion concerns with the manifestation of the symbol of bone in conveying Chinese values. The Chinese word for ‘bone’ is ‘gu’. Furthermore, ‘gu’ has several meanings: “bone, gorge, old, thigh, blind, grain, merchant, and character”. ‘The bone’ also appears in Chinese proverb: ‘It’s in your bones’ which means ‘that’s your character’. This saying has relationship with the oracle bones, since the oracle bones were used to write the history record of the Shang Dynasty. It means that the Chinese accepts the belief that someone’s history and character are written in the bone. In addition, it is interesting that Precious Auntie’s real name is Gu Liu Xin since ‘gu’ means ‘bone’ and ‘liu xin’ means ‘remain true’. Besides, her father is a ‘bone doctor’. It makes a stronger connection with the Chinese word of ‘bone’. Moreover, only the dragon bones which can be used as remedy. The Chinese people believe that they are the descendants of the Dragon. The Dragon is the sacred and divine creature for the Chinese. As a result, ‘the bone’ signifies its point as ‘the cure’, or a local knowledge that reflects ‘the Eastern wisdom’.
In Chinese belief, there is YIN-YANG concept. In its relation with the bone, the dragon bones are the YIN, the feminine element, because the dragon bones are hidden in the deep dark and cold cave for long time, while the Western scholars, who discover the Peking Man are the YANG, the masculine element. It is because they bring ‘the Western knowledge’ such as technology, science, and advanced tools compared to the Chinese. These combinations of ‘the Eastern wisdom’ and ‘the Western knowledge’ become the harmonious Yin-Yang. It shows that Amy Tan would like to convey the message that East and West can be in a harmonious relationship and in a balanced condition like Yin Yang, if they have willingness to learn from each other and accept the differences.
xiv ABSTRAK
Widiyanti, Indri. 2009. The Symbol of Bone in Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris. Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini membahas The Bonesetter’s Daughter, sebuah novel karya Amy Tan. Alasan penulisan skripsi ini bermula dari keingintahuan saya untuk memahami tentang simbol tulang dan bagaimana simbol ini dapat menguraikan nilai-nilai luhur Cina yang tersirat dalam novel tersebut. Dua permasalahan yang menjadi dasar dari penulisan skripsi ini yaitu: (1) Bagaimanakah simbol tulang digambarkan dalam novel ini dan (2) Bagaimanakah simbol tulang ini dapat menguraikan nilai-nilai luhur Cina. Berdasarkan permasalahan tersebut, studi ini bertujuan untuk mennggambarkan arti dari simbol tulang dan menganalisa makna apa yang ingin disampaikan melalui simbol tulang ini dalam nilai-nilai luhur Cina. Untuk mancapai tujuan studi ini, metode yang saya gunakan adalah studi pustaka. Untuk menganalisa data yang ada digunakan pendekatan teori mitologi. Data utama dari skripsi ini diambil dari novel The Bonesetter Daughter. Data penunjang yang digunakan untuk menjawab permasalahan di atas diambil dari beberapa referensi yang mendukung dan juga sumber dari internet. Jika perlu, kutipan dan pernyataan dari beberapa ahli juga disertakan untuk memperjelas beberapa gagasan yang penting.
Berdasarkan hasil analisa, ada dua hal yang disimpulkan. Kesimpulan yang pertama berhubungan dengan permasalahan pertama yaitu penggambaran dari simbol ’tulang’ dalam The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Penggambaran simbol ’tulang’ ini kemudian dianalisa dalam hubungannya dengan masing-masing karakter, yaitu LuLing, Ruth dan Precious Auntie.
Dari hasil analisa terhadap kehidupan LuLing, ditemukan lima poin penting mengapa LuLing mempunyai hubungan yang sangat dekat dengan ’tulang’. Pertama, LuLing sangat familiar dengan ’tulang’ semenjak ia dibesarkan oleh Precious Auntie. Kedua, masa kecil LuLing yang tinggal dengan klan Liu di sebuah desa bernama ’Hati yang Kekal’. Di desa itu terdapat banyak bukit yang namanya berkaitan dengan tulang-tulang binatang. Ketiga, Precious Auntie memberikan ’tulang ramalan’. Keempat, Precious Auntie mengenalkan LuLing tentang ’tulang naga’ dengan cara mengajaknya ke gua-gua untuk menggali ’tulang naga’. Kelima, adalah ketika ilmuwan-ilmuwan dari Barat datang ke desa LuLing dan mengumumkan bahwa ’tulang naga’ sebenarnya adalah fosil-fosil dari Manusia Peking.
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Dalam hal menganalisa kehidupan Precious Auntie, ada tiga hal penting yang berhubungan dengan simbol ’tulang’. Pertama, selama 900 tahun keluarga Precious Auntie telah menjadi tabib penyembuh tulang. Kedua, Precious Auntie mempunyai sebuah tulang naga. Ketiga, ayah Precious Auntie adalah seorang tabib tulang yang mengajari Precious Auntie bagaimana caranya menjadi seorang tabib penyembuh tulang.
Setelah ditelisik di antara ketiga karakter utama tersebut di atas, dapat disimpulkan bahwa yang menjadi ’sang tabib penyembuh tulang’ itu adalah Ruth, karena Ruth lah yang berusaha untuk menyatukan ’tulang-tulang sejarah yang hilang’ di antara dirinya, ibunya, LuLing, dan neneknya, Precious Auntie.
Kesimpulan kedua mempunyai fokus tentang simbol tulang yang dapat menguraikan nilai-nilai luhur Cina. Kosa kata bahasa Cina untuk ”tulang” adalah ”gu”. Dalam Bahasa Cina sendiri, kata ”gu” memiliki beberapa makna yaitu: tulang, jurang, tua, paha, buta, butir padi, saudagar dan karakter. ” Tulang” juga terlihat dalam pepatah Cina ” ada di dalam tulangmu” yang berarti ” itulah karaktermu”. Istilah ini memiliki hubungan dengan tulang peramal, karena tulang peramal digunakan untuk untuk menuliskan rekaman sejarah dari Dinasti Shang. Hal ini berarti bahwa bangsa Cina percaya jika sejarah dan karakter seseorang tertulis di dalam tulangnya. Yang menarik, nama asli Precious Auntie adalah Gu Liu Xin. ‘Gu’ berarti ‘tulang’, dan ‘Liu Xin’ berarti ‘senantiasa benar’. Apalagi, ayah Precious Auntie adalah seorang ‘dokter tulang’. Hal ini menambah semakin kuatnya makna pada ‘tulang’ itu sendiri. Kemudian yang dapat digunakan sebagai obat hanyalah tulang naga. Orang-orang Cina percaya bahwa mereka adalah keturunan dari Naga, karena Naga dipercaya sebagai makhluk yang sakral dan hebat bagi bangsa Cina. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa ”tulang” bisa diberi makna sebagai ”obat”, yang bersumber pada pengetahuan lokal yang mencerminkan ”kebijaksanaan budaya timur”.
Bangsa Cina mempercayai konsep YIN-YANG. Dalam hubungannya dengan tulang, tulang naga adalah sebagai YIN, elemen feminin, karena tulang naga tersembunyi di dalam gua yang dalam, dingin, dan dalam waktu yang lama, sedangkan sarjana-sarjana Barat yang menemukan fosil Manusia Peking adalah YANG, sang elemen maskulin. Hal ini dikarenakan mereka membawa : ”ilmu pengetahuan barat” seperti teknologi, pengetahuan dan peralatan canggih dibandingkan dengan Cina. Kombinasi dari ” kebijaksanaan budaya timur” dan ” pengetahuan budaya barat” menjadi YIN-YANG yang harmonis. Hal ini memperlihatkan bahwa Amy Tan ingin menyampaikan pesan bahwa Timur dan Barat dapat mempunyai hubungan yang harmonis dan dalam kondisi yang seimbang seperti YIN-YANG, jika mereka memiliki keinginan untuk belajar satu sama lain dan menghargai perbedaan.
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1 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This first chapter consists of five parts. The first part is Background of the
Study, which explains the reasons for choosing Amy Tan’s novel, The Bonesetter’s
Daughter, and everything that is related to this study. The second one, Problem
Formulation, states the problems to be analyzed in this study. In the third part,
Objectives of the Study, the purpose of the study is presented. The fourth part
identifies the advantages of this study in the Benefits of the Study. Finally, in order to
avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation on using the key words in this study,
Definition of Terms is presented in the fifth part.
1.1Background of the Study
We live in a society with hundreds of culture surrounding us. It is the way the
culture embraces us and puts the values on us. While in this earth we have millions of
diversities in culture, it is always interesting to choose one of them and analyze it to
learn more about something new.
Edgar and Sedgwick state that ‘culture’ is not easily defined, not least because
it can have different meanings in different contexts. Culture is the complex everyday
world we all encounter and through which we all move. Culture begins at the point
at which humans surpass whatever is simply given in their natural inheritance. The
element of a culture. As such, the two most important or general elements of culture
may be the ability of human beings to construct and to build, and the ability to use
language (101-102).
One of the exciting cultures to be noticed is Chinese culture. Hu explained
that from the viewpoint of world history, the most significant event since World War
II may well be the emergence of the China mainland of a dynamic, aggressive, and
totalitarian government controlling the largest sector of the world’s population (1).
Furthermore, Hu also clarified that the Chinese people are extraordinarily
conscious of their history. They love to read and retell the past, which is like a mirror
reflecting the present. Like other people, the Chinese possess a body of folklore
concerning the creation of the world and the origin of their nation, but they have
neither dignified their myths into a cult nor claimed divine descent as a chosen
people. Their mythology begins with P’an Ku, the creator who was followed by a
succession of mythical figures and semi divine beings from whom men learned and
rudiments of civilization (2-3).
Therefore, many literature works, such as novels, poems, and plays are written
to tell the prosperous stories and myths. One of the literary works that the writer is
interested in is The Bonesetter’s Daughter written by Amy Tan in 2001.
In this novel, Amy Tan does not only tell about the Chinese culture and myths
but also the relation with the Western culture. Being a Chinese who was raised in
occurs between Chinese and American, and later becomes the source of conflicts
between the characters in her novels.
Padmanugraha said that Amy Tan, born in 1952, is one of the most notable
figures in ethnic literature. With her first novel The Joy Luck Club, published in
1989, she is so prominent that she becomes “a household name”, besides receiving
awards and being translated into several languages including Chinese (274).
The writer has chosen The Bonesetter’s Daughter to analyze in this study
because it contains symbols in myths and superstitions. Having finished reading the
novel, the writer can feel the sense of darkness in the novel that carries many Chinese
superstitions. For example, the Chinese belief that shooting stars are “melting ghost
bodies” and it is a bad luck to see them (10), the fog is really the steam from fighting
dragons, one water, the other fire (12), and “long hair look like suicide maiden” (23).
The Bonesetter’s Daughtertells about the mother-daughter relationship named
LuLing Young and Ruth who have different background of cultures. LuLing Young,
who has judged to have dementia by the doctor, keeps her memory of her childhood
and her longing for the real mother by writing down all of her stories in Chinese,
while Ruth, a ghostwriter who has unmarried relationship with Art, finds that her
mother is hiding her past from her. Soon, when she finds the pieces of LuLing’s
writing in her drawer, she wants to reveal her mother’s memories. Her action of
revealing her mother’s memories raises problems and conflicts in her life. It
influences her relationship with her mother, her boyfriend, her colleagues at work,
The Bonesetter’s Daughter is divided into two major stories. The first is
about Ruth, a Chinese-American woman living in San Francisco. It tells about Ruth’s
everyday life, her thoughts and childhood memories, her love story with Art, and her
job as a ghostwriter. She worries that her elderly mother, LuLing, is gradually
becoming increasingly demented. LuLing seems increasingly forgetful, and makes
bizarre comments about her family and her own past. The second major story is about
LuLing herself, as written for Ruth. Several years earlier, LuLing had written her life
story in Chinese. It also reveals the existence of Precious Auntie.
Precious Auntie or Bao Bomu is considered as a nursemaid in the LuLing’s
family, but she loves LuLing very much. There are not many people in LuLing’s clan
like her for she had an accident with fire which makes her unable to talk like normal
people.
Her half face was bumpy while the other half was smooth and melted closed. The inside of her right cheek was stiff as leather and the left was moist and soft. Where the gums had burned, the teeth had fallen out. And her tongue was like a parched root. She could not taste the pleasures of life: salty and bitter, sour and sharp, spicy, sweet, and fat. She often told LuLing about her father, the Famous Bonesetter from the Mouth of Mountain, about the cave where they found the dragon bones, how the bones were divine and could cure any pain, except a grieving heart (3).
As a result, Ruth yearns to weave her memories with her mother’s memories
and Precious Auntie’s memories who is truly her grandmother. She would like to
know about her family history and recognize her forgotten grandmother. Thus, she
in China. Ruth wants to recollect the puzzles of her mother’s memories to find her
own origin.
Amy Tan uses ‘bone’ as the main symbol in the novel. Regarding this
thought, the writer intends to conduct a study to analyze the symbol of bone found in
this novel, its meaning, its representation in life, and its relation with the author’s
intention to convey particular messages to the readers.
1.2Problem Formulation
Based on the explanation of the background, the problems are formulated as
follows:
1. How is the symbol of bone presented in The Bonesetter’s Daughter?
2. How does the symbol of bone manifest its meaning in conveying Chinese
values?
1.3Objectives of the Study
This study has two objectives. The first is aimed to discover the symbol of
bone presented in The Bonesetter’s Daughter. The second aim is to propose the
manifestation of the meaning of symbol bone in conveying Chinese values.
1.4Benefits of the Study
The study of literary work has several advantages. For the writer, this study is
world of literature, this study is also expected to enrich the literary exploration on the
works of Amy Tan in particular, and other Asian American authors in general.
However, this study can also be addressed to the readers, who are mostly the
students of English Language Education Study Program and English Letters Study
Program. They can access the knowledge of the symbol used in Amy Tan’s novel,
The Bonesetter’s Daughter that leads to the semiotics study for those who want to
conduct an advance study on symbols and signifiers.
Concerning the readers, this study can be beneficial as well as one of the
references in conducting further research on the same novel.
1.5Definition of Terms
In analyzing this novel, it is necessary for the writer to highlight certain terms
to provide an accurate analysis and a clearer explanation in answering the problems
formulated. As the title is “The Symbol of Bone in Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s
Daughter” the writer will define the term of ‘symbol’.
According to Abrams, a symbol in the broadest sense is anything which
signifies something; in this sense all words are symbols. In discussing literature,
however, the term symbol is applied only to a word or phrase that signifies an object
or event which in its turn signifies something, or has a range of reference, beyond
itself. Some symbols are “conventional” or “public”: thus “the Cross”, “the Red,
White, and Blue”, and “the Good Shepherd” are terms that refer to symbolic objects
While Mallon state that symbols have a power beyond words, carrying a
multitude of meanings that speak to the soul, the mind and the emotions. Symbols are
different from signs. Signs point the way, whereas symbol always stands for
something more than immediate meaning. Symbols represent abstract ideas or
concepts that may not easily be put into words. The language of the unconscious is
the language of symbols. Symbols express an inner reality of which we are often
unaware, although humankind has been in touch with his reality since earliest times
(10).
Yet, Rohrberger and Woods explain that symbols are not things invented by
an author to confuse the reader, not strange objects with far-fetched meanings
arbitrarily attached to them; but they are, in literature as in life, a vital part of our
experience. A cross in a building says that it is some way connected to Christianity.
This call as “public”, “common”, or “conventional” symbols. Just as their meanings
are understood in life, so are literary symbols. This use of the symbol in literature
does not offer many difficulties, even for the untrained reader. But occasionally
authors use symbols in a more complex way. The symbol, by definition, stands for
something beyond itself and often for many things. The only way to tell what
symbolic identification the author wishes to make is by reference to the author’s use
of his symbol within his text (15-16).
However, Edgar & Sedgwick notify that symbol is a word with a variety of
meanings. Usually, the word ‘symbol’ is taken as referring to a sign or action of some
of norms and conventions. A symbol therefore communicates a meaning because it
stands for something else, although there is no necessary connection between it and
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9 CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter contains the description of the literature that is related to this
study. This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part is Review of Related
Theories, which consists of the theory of literature critical approach. The second part
contains a review of Chinese mythology, a general knowledge on the symbol of Bone
and a review on Peking Man, continued with Theoretical Framework on the last part.
2.1 Theories of Literature
The theory used in this study is taken from the fields of Literature, which is
Critical Approaches to Literature to assist the writer to analyze the manifestation of
the meaning of symbol bone in conveying Chinese values.
According to Rohrberger and Woods, there are five kind critical approaches to
the literature. They are the formalist approach, the biographical approach, the
sociocultural-historical approach, the mythopoeic approach, and psychological
approach (3). The formalist approach concentrates on the importance to apprehend
the total integrity of the literary work, so this kind of approach points out how the
meaning of literary works is delivered from the structure itself (6-7).
The biographical approach states that the necessity for an appreciation of the
ideas, life background and personality of the author to dig the understanding of the
literary objects. It can be said that this approach uses the biography of the author as
analyze the literary work based on the civilization around the author when he made
the story. So, in this approach the attitudes and actions at a specific group of people
become the subject matter (9).
The mythopoeic approach is used to discover certain universality recurrent
patterns of human thought which are considered sharing the same universal belief to
certain community mind. In general, the patterns include death and rebirth, guilt and
sacrifices, and also primitive rites. The mystical relationship found in a story can be
explained using this approach (11).
The last approach is the psychological approach which involves the effort to
locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns – that is psychology. This approach
uses the theory of human psychology as the references to analyze the characters in a
story. It asserts that each character’s behavior could be referred to the psychology of
human beings. Through this approach, the character’s thought and behavior can be
analyzed more deeply (13-14).
The mythopoeic approach will be used to analyze The Bonesetter's
Daughter.
2.2 Reviews on Chinese Mythology: Bone and Peking Man
This section has five parts, which discuss about the Chinese mythology, the
meaning of the symbol of bone, a review on Oracle Bone, which is considered as
2.2.1 The Chinese Mythology
Millidge state that the Chinese people have never demanded a clear separation
of the worlds of myth and reality. Indeed, they are so closely bound up that it is hard
to say where one begins and the other ends. Historical figures are made into gods and
myths are recounted as history (7).
The myths have intertwined itself in the Chinese culture that the tendency of
linking the fact and fantasy is big. It also indicates the power and importance of
‘mythology’ in the Chinese tradition. There is a good example of fact which
happened on the days of China revolutionary:
Chairman Mao, in the heyday of the Cultural Revolution (1968-1978), was often seen as the all-powerful god responsible for all good things that happened. When an airline hostess could offer the explanation that ‘there is no need to wear safety belt, because Mao, the Great Helmsman is in charge’, the feeling is conveyed the superhuman characters with fantastic powers, like those that inhabited the ancient texts (7).
In addition, the Chinese views dragon as a special creature. In Chinese
folklore, dragon is totally unlike the evil fire-breathing creations of European myth.
The Chinese dragon, or lung, is a charismatic creature, the rain bringer, the lord of all
the waters, and is now regarded as a symbol of good fortune. Dragon is also regarded
as wise creature, and it was popularly supposed that each one had a ‘pearl of wisdom’
in his mouth. Scholars and sages were known as ‘dragon men’ (29-30). Dragons
2.2.2 The Symbol of Bone
Chevalier, Alain, John Buchanan-Brown state that the symbolism of bones
follows two main lines of development. In the first place the bones are the framework
of the body and its essential and relatively permanent element. Second, bones contain
marrow, as the shell contains the almond. In the first instance, bones are the symbol
of resoluteness, strength and virtue (St. Martin). In this context it is worth quoting the
‘bone of my bones’ of Genesis 2:23. Bones are essential and somehow primordial
element of the being (109).
It is also explained that some people believe that the most important ‘soul’ is
contain within the bones. The Mongolo-Turkic people of the Ahtai, and similarly the
Finno-Ugrians, always honor the bones of game, particularly of big game animals, by
putting their skeletons together again after eating their flesh and being scrupulously
careful not to break a bone. The Bambara see the bones, comprising ‘the most
durable, not to say imperishable part of the human body, the inner frame of the visible
exterior, as symbolizing the essential element, the essence of creation”. Yo, the First
Spirit, who had existed before the creation of the world, is ‘the great creator of
marrow in the bones’. The hub of the four points of the compass, from which the
word of creation (Faro) spiraled out, is called ‘the bone in the middle of the world’.
The use in India and Tibet of human bones for making sacred weapons and musical
instruments is no sense alien to ideas of asceticism, of surmounting the notions of life
In The Bonesetter’s Daughter, there is a term called ‘dragon bones’ and
‘oracle bone’. Hu explain that the discovery of thousands of inscribed bones and
tortoise shells, used for divination, has enabled historians to be on fairly firm ground
with regard to the Shang dynasty, which lasted from about the sixteenth to the
eleventh century B.C (12).
2.2.3 Peking Man
Tweddell and Kimball explained about the beginning of the prehistoric time in
China. They stated that the earliest inhabitants of China were the Homo erectus
(‘Peking Man’) of half a million years ago. Dwelling in a cave on a hillside near
modern Peking, they hunted, made tools, and used fire for warmth in the extremely
cold winters. Subsequent millennia brought later hunter-gatherers, who developed
regional cultures. Some time after 10,000 B.C. the Chinese began to farm (195).
While Hu explained that the hominids (Peking Man) roamed North China
millions of years ago. Archaeological evidence shows that the culture of China goes
back at least as far as the transitional chalcolitic stage, when bronze tools were being
substituted for stone and the people were making pottery, filling land, and
domesticating animals. Scholars placed this stage in China at somewhere between
2.3 Theoretical Framework
The theories reviewed previously will serve as the basis of the analysis in
Chapter 4. Each theory has its own focus and function in assisting the writer to solve
the problems formulated in the first chapter.
The theory of literature taken for serving as the basis of the analysis is namely
Theory of Critical Approaches to Literature, while as the tool for analyzing the novel,
the mythopoeic approach is used.
It will also include several points on Chinese mythology, the meaning of
‘bone’ according to the Dictionary of Symbols, the oracle bones or ‘the dragon
bones’ and the discovery of Peking Man. All of those points will complete the
analysis for they have a particular connection within each other in the novel.
To answer the second research question, which is to analyze how the symbol
of bone manifests its meanings in conveying Chinese values, the writer will
synthesize from the mythopoeic approach, reviews on Chinese mythology, the
meaning of ‘bone’ according to the Dictionary of Symbols, the oracle bones or ‘the
dragon bones’, the discovery of Peking Man, criticism, personal thoughts and opinion
15 CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the description of the methodology used in this study. It
consists of four parts, subject matter, approach, sources, and procedure. Subject
Matter deals with the major subject of the study, while Approach concerns with the
literary approach applied in analyzing the novel. Sources are the compilation of all
the reference books used in this study and Procedure gives the information on the
steps taken in doing this study.
3.1 Object of the Study
The Bonesetter’s Daughter is a novel written by Amy Tan. This is Tan’s
fourth novel published by The Ballantine Publishing Group in 2001. It consists of 403
pages and is divided into three main parts. Part One has seven chapters (One –
Seven), part Two is divided into six chapters (Heart, Change, Ghost, Destiny,
Effortless, and Fragrance), and part Three consists of two chapters (One – Three). It
also has a prologue entitled “Truth” and an Epilogue.
Part One is about Ruth’s story. It is set in New York. As the novel begins,
Ruth is already 46 years old. Part One describes the relationship between Ruth and
her mother, LuLing. Ruth is embarrassed with her mother in her childhood because of
her mother’s poor English. During her adolescence, she thinks her mother is a very
fact that her mother is suffering from Dementia, a kind of Alzheimer’s disease. In the
midst of her confusion, Ruth finds the pages which was written by her mother.
In the midst of her confusion, Ruth finds the pages which were written by her
mother. The pages are about her mother’s past life in China. Later Ruth has it
translated because they are written in Chinese.
The finding of the pages leads the reader to move on to Part Two, which is set
in China. It shows about LuLing’s childhood and her real personality back in her
youth and how she can finally go to America. LuLing has misunderstood her
nursemaid, Precious Auntie, who is actually her mother. When she finds out that
Precious Auntie is her real mother, it is already too late for both of them. She thinks
that Precious Auntie’s suicide is her biggest fault and LuLing lives with the thought
of feeling guilty for all her life.
The last part, Part Three, tells about the reconciliation of mother and daughter
while the setting is back again to New York. Ruth tries to learn about her mother’s
past life and seeks her own origin through the pages that LuLing wrote to her.
LuLing’s memory begins to fade but since she keeps all her memories in her writing,
LuLing’s effort to write her own history to pass it down to her daughter makes Ruth
believe that she and her mother can weave their relationship again with the new spirit
and forgive each other. Now, Ruth and LuLing can recognize their bad experience in
3.2 Approach
To analyze the problem formulated in this study, the mythopoeic approach is
used. Rohrberger and Woods explain that the mythopoeic approach is to discover
certain universality recurrent patterns of human thought which are considered sharing
the same universal belief to certain community mind. In general, the patterns include
death and rebirth, guilt and sacrifices, and also primitive rites. The mystical
relationship found in a story can be explained using this approach (11).
The writer identifies that the main symbol used in The Bonesetter’s Daughter
is “the bone”. Bone is the archetype which carries particular meaning that Amy Tan
wants to convey to the readers. That is why the mythopoeic approach is used both to
reveal the meaning of the symbol of bone and its representation based on the novel
and find out the messages embedded in the novel using the symbol of “bone”.
3.3 Method of the Study
In carrying out the study, the writer collected data from various sources. The
primary source was the novel analyzed entitled The Bonesetter’s Daughterwritten by
Amy Tan and published in 2001 by The Ballantine Publishing Group, New York. The
secondary sources were the sources that support the analysis of the novel in this
study. They were information and theories found in the books of literature, A
Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, A Glossary of Literary Terms,
Chinese Gods and Myths, Dictionary of Symbols, Reading and Writing about
sources to add to the criticism on Amy Tan’s works and her biography. To complete
information about all of the sources used to support the analysis, the writer provided a
list of references to refer to.
A library research was conducted in this study. It means that the data was
gathered by reading books and taking important notes in order to assist the writer in
conducting this study. The primary data was The Bonesetter’s Daughter, a novel
written by Amy Tan. Notes were taken while reading the novel. The secondary data
was taken from some books and articles from internet sources dealing with this study.
There were some steps used during the process to answer the questions stated
in the problem formulation. First of all, The Bonesetter’s Daughter was read three
times in order to get the essence of the story. Secondly, the subject to be discussed in
this study was decided; that was analyzing the symbol of “bone” used in The
Bonesetter’s Daughter. Next, the problem of the study was formulated and followed
by searching supporting data from various sources. Information about the Chinese
mythology, bone, oracle bone, and Peking Man were taken from some books and
internet sources.
After gathering the data, the novel was reread and underlined the important
parts of the novel that supported the analysis about revealing the representation of the
symbol “bone” found in The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Then, the analysis was done
using the mythological criticism approach, review on Chinese mythology and
tradition, the meaning of “bone” and oracle bone, and the discovery of Peking Man in
websites related to the author’s biography were also collected. Finally, some
conclusions of the study were drawn based on the result of the analysis as the answers
20 CHAPTER 4
ANALYSIS
This chapter is intended to analyze the problems that are stated in the Problem
Formulation. The analysis itself consists of two parts. The first part discusses the
symbol of bone presented in The Bonesetter's Daughter, while the second part is
analyzing the meaning of the symbol of bone in conveying Chinese values.
4.1 The Symbol of Bone Presented in The Bonesetter's Daughter
China is well-know for its mythology. According to Millidge, the Chinese
people have never demanded a clear separation of the worlds of myth and reality.
Indeed, they are so closely bound up that it is hard to say where one begins and the
other ends. Historical figures are made into gods and myths are recounted as history
(7). Thus, for finding the meaning of the bone, it surely has to look at the myths that
surround the bone itself.
It is said that the bone in The Bonesetter’s Daughter is regarded as a ‘dragon
bone’. It is very interesting term, since in China, people believe dragon as a special
creature. In Chinese folklore, dragon is totally unlike the evil fire-breathing creations
of European myth. The Chinese dragon, or lung, is a charismatic creature, the rain
bringer, the lord of all the waters, and is now regarded as a symbol of good fortune.
Dragons are also regarded as wise creature, and it was popularly supposed that each
Scholars and sages were known as ‘dragon men’ (29-30). Hence, ‘ a dragon bone’
refers to a bone which has mythical power as a remedy, and how the bones were
divine and could cure any pain, except a grieving heart (3).
Chevalier, Alain, John Buchanan-Brown state that the symbolism of bones
follows two main lines of development. In the first place the bones are the framework
of the body and its essential and relatively permanent element. Second, bones contain
marrow, as the shell contains the almond. In the first instance, bones are the symbol
of resoluteness, strength and virtue (St. Martin).
Therefore, when we link the meaning given by Chinese to the dragon bone
and the meaning of symbolism of bone, I can say that the dragon bones are divine
bones, which have the mythical power from the Dragon, and become a symbol of
resoluteness and strength for the dragon bones are used to cure any pain. However,
the dragon bone in The Bonesetter’s Daughter is also called as ‘oracle bone’. The
oracle bone here refers to the bones from turtle shells like in what Hu explained about
the discovery of thousands of inscribed bones and tortoise shells, which were used for
divination (12)
Hence, in this part, the symbol of bone will be analyzed in its relationship
with the characters, who are LuLing, Ruth, and Precious Auntie. Surprisingly, I finds
that each of the characters has his or her own story related to the ‘bone’. Thus, in
discussing the symbol of bone presented in this novel, the writer would like to present
the relationship between the characters and the ‘bone’, and figure out the meaning
4.1.1 The Relationship between ‘Bone’ and LuLing Liu Young
There are some important findings related to the connection of the symbol of
bone and LuLing. There are five significant points why LuLing has a close
relationship with ‘the bone’ itself.
First, LuLing is familiar with the bone since she is raised up by Precious
Auntie because Precious Auntie always tells her a story about her father, the Famous
Bonesetter from the Mouth of the Mountain, about the cave where they find the
dragon bones, how the bones are divined and can cure any pain, except a grieving
heart (3).
In 1916, LuLing was born and raised in the Liu clan in Immortal Heart village
in the rocky Western Hills south of Peking. This family has the reputation of the
famous ink maker for six centuries. Precious Auntie or Bao Bomu is a nursemaid who
not only works in the ink maker studio but also takes care of LuLing. In fact, LuLing
is daughter of Precious Auntie but she does not know that Precious Auntie is her
mother.
In her childhood, LuLing thinks that having Precious Auntie is luck. However,
as she grows older she realizes that Precious Auntie is only her maid, not her mother.
Nevertheless, Precious Auntie loves her so much. She takes care of LuLing and
teaches her many things, such as counting, reading, and writing Chinese calligraphy.
This strong relationship between Precious Auntie and LuLing creates a new thought
for LuLing because she is always told about the story of the bone, the famous
Precious Auntie is the source of knowledge for LuLing to learn and know about the
bone since her childhood.
Second, LuLing lives with Liu clan in the rocky Western Hills south of
Peking, in the village called Immortal Heart. Coincidentally, in LuLing’s area, there
are several hills, which their names are connected with bone. They are Chicken Bone
Hill, Old Cow Hill, and Dragon Bone Hill.
In her childhood, LuLing becomes an active child that she usually plays with
her sister, GaoLing, and her brothers in the cliff behind their compound. The cliff has
an end called the End of the World, for people believe that unwanted babies, suicide
maidens, and beggar ghosts exist there (180). The place is full of garbage and once
they consider that the place is full of skulls and bones, where all the ghosts wander
and haunt them. When the big rains come, the End of the World is filled with the
water, but when the rain stops, the floodwater drains fast and the mouths of the caves
swallow the dirt and the trees, the bodies and the bone (182).
Precious Auntie once explained to me. Now you see why there are so many bones and hills: Chicken Bone Hill, Old Cow Hill, Dragon Bone Hill. Of course it’s just not dragon bones in dragon Bone Hill. Some are from ordinary creatures, bears, elephants, hippopotamus (182).
The fact that LuLing lives in the compound where there is a particular story
about ‘the bone’ makes it more interesting. It seems that Amy Tan, as an author,
wants to create such an atmosphere for LuLing to befriend with ‘the bone’ since in
Third, Precious Auntie gives LuLing the oracle bone. Before giving it to
LuLing, Precious Auntie always tells about the turtle bone. It is said that it has
strange characters written up and down there. People think it is not valuable because
of the scratches. When the scholars say that it is the oracle bone, people sell for twice
as much since it is said that the oracle bone has the gods’ words in it (183). Precious
Auntie also tells LuLing about the remedy with dragon bones, her family as the
famous bonesetter, and people collect the dragon bones in the Mouth of the
Mountain.
Hu explain that the discovery of thousands of inscribed bones and tortoise
shells, used for divination, has enabled historians to be on fairly firm ground with
regard to the Shang dynasty, which lasted around the sixteenth to the eleventh century
B.C (12). It is also called dragon bones or oracle bones.
In the writer’s opinion, the reason why Precious Auntie gives the oracle bone
to LuLing is because she wants to keep her family secret and wishes that LuLing can
continue the kin line of The Famous Bonesetter. As LuLing’s real mother, Precious
Auntie is somehow worried about the existence of her descendant and desired to pass
the knowledge of the bonesetter’s skill and the oracle bone to her only child, LuLing.
It looks as if the oracle bone is the heritage of the family of The Famous Bonesetter
from the Mouth of the Mountain.
Fourth, Precious Auntie introduces the term of ‘the dragon bones’ to LuLing
by inviting her to dig the dragon bones in the cave. The inside of the cave looks like
Monkey’s Jaw (185). In the past, the cave was a special place where Precious Auntie
and her father were digging together to find the dragon bones for remedy. By asking
LuLing to do the same thing, it shows that Precious Auntie wants to pass her secret
family heirloom to her own daughter, LuLing, because the knowledge of the bone
must be passed through generation to generation. It means that LuLing has a strong
connection with the generation of bonesetter and holds the heritage of the dragon
bones.
However, the situation has changed in 1929. It is LuLing’s fourteenth year,
when many Chinese and foreign people come to Dragon Bone Hill at the Mouth of
Mountain to dug the quarries and burrow in the caves. They seek for dragon bones.
They also search and buy all the old bones from all the medicine shops. Since there is
a rumor that the foreigners want to start their own dragon bones factories, the
villagers chase them away (201).
By those facts above, LuLing’s acknowledgement with dragon bones gives
the impression that she still has “duty” to continue her journey on the “bone world”.
While the dragon bones itself in the Chinese culture is considered as the sacred bone.
It is because the Chinese believe that “dragon” is the most powerful and divine
creature. If someone can find its bones mean that he will get great power. The
Chinese views dragon as a special creature. In Chinese folklore, dragon is totally
unlike the evil fire-breathing creations of European myth. The Chinese dragon, or
regarded as a symbol of good fortune. Dragons are also regarded as wise creature
(29-30) and represent the male yang element (60).
Fifth, it is when the Western scientists find that the dragon bones are the
fossils of Peking Man. It is the time when a big change occurs in the village where
LuLing and Precious Auntie live. The initial finding of the teeth which belong to a
skullcap of an ancient human soon is announced by the Western scientists. It makes
people stop buying dragon bones for they do not want to use anything from the dead
(201) because it will cause bad luck. Yet, Precious Auntie still possesses four or five
dragon bones plus the oracle bone. She decides to return the bones to the cave for she
has a dream about her father who says that the dragon bones belong to their ancestor
(202). Shortly, the scientists declare that the bone comes from the Chinese oldest
ancestor, aged for one million years ago, and they call it “Peking Man”. This fact
leads to the new understanding that the people realize who their ancestor is.
Tweddell and Kimball explain about the beginning of the prehistoric time in
China. They stated that the earliest inhabitants of China were the Homo erectus
(‘Peking Man’) of half a million years ago. Dwelling in a cave on a hillside near
modern Peking, they hunted, made tools, and used fire for warmth in the extremely
cold winters. Subsequent millennia brought later hunter-gatherers, who developed
regional cultures. Some time after 10,000 B.C. the Chinese began to farm (195).
While Hu explain that the hominids (Peking Man) roamed North China
millions of years ago. Archaeological evidence shows that the culture of China goes
substituted for stone and the people were making pottery, filling land, and
domesticating animals. Scholars place this stage in China at somewhere between
2200 and 1700 B.C. (12).
However, the Western scientists also persuade the villagers to sell all their
dragon bones so that they will have money in return. By this fact, LuLing thinks
about the money, since she has some dragon bones from the Monkey’s Jaw. LuLing
assumes that if she can sell the dragon bones to the scientists, she will get a million
ingots and make Precious Auntie rich and soon the Liu family will respect her (203).
LuLing also hears that whoever can submit the dragon bones to the foreigners they
will receive a reward.
Little Uncle guessed that a person might earn a million coppers for a single piece of dragon bones. And Father said, “[…] A million silver taels are more likely.” By guesses and arguments, the amount grew to be a million gold ingots. […] “Old bones grow new fat” became the saying people had on their lips. And because dragon bones were now worth so much, […] no one could buy them for medicine anymore. […] But what did that matter? They were the descendants of Peking Man. And he was famous (203).
Thus, LuLing says to Precious Auntie that if she can sell the dragon bones to
the foreigners, they will get a million gold ingots so that they will be rich.
Nevertheless, Precious Auntie is angry because she believes that if she sells the
dragon bones to the foreigners, a ghost will come and curse her and all her family.
Moreover, the ghosts will not rest until all of her family is dead and gone (203).
In fact, LuLing still dreams about sneaking around the cave and finding some
find the immortal relics, LuLing also wants to do the same things. She even questions
to the naming of “Peking Man” for the fossil found.
“Why are they calling him Peking Man? The teeth came from the Mouth of Mountain. And now the scientists are saying that skullcap was a woman’s. So it should be called Woman from the Mouth of Mountain.” My aunts and uncles looked at me, and one of them said: “Wisdom from a child’s lips, simply yet true.” (205).
LuLing then meets Mr. Chang, a coffin maker, who becomes famous and rich
for he sells all the dragon bones to the foreigners. Later, LuLing has a conversation
with Mr. Chang about the dragon bones that she hides in the cave. Mr. Chang
interrogates LuLing about where exactly the cave is and her relation with Precious
Auntie. LuLing says that she cannot take the dragon bones for it will bring a curse on
her family for a whole life time if she digs out the dragon bones.
However, Precious Auntie scolds LuLing for that. She says about the curse
from the ancestor if they do not return the dragon bones to the place where they
belong. By giving all the bones to the scientists, the curse will haunt her and all of her
family includes LuLing (204). It shows that LuLing wants to sell the tradition to the
modernism. She is blinded with the blinking of the Western technology that can
produce a lot of money. The selling of tradition and local genius to the Western
4.1.2 The Relationship between ‘Bone’ and Ruth Luyi Young
Related to the connection of the symbol of bone and Ruth Young, there is one
main point that makes Ruth also have a close relationship with ‘the bone’ itself. Even
though she lives in the present time and is not directly connected with her mother’s
past life, but still there is a link which starts her acknowledgement with the bone. It is
when she is six years old.
In fact, Ruth has a problem in her childhood because of her dual identity,
Chinese-American. Her mother, LuLing, always instructs her about what she can do
and cannot do. LuLing is also over-protective of Ruth. She decides with whom Ruth
must befriend, what food she must eat and what activity she must do. This fact makes
Ruth confused and rebel against her mother.
One day, when Ruth climbs the slide, her mother monitors her and forbids her
to tumble down. She even yells to Ruth and asks her to stop her activity. LuLing’s
reaction creates a shameful atmosphere toward Ruth for she is not a kindergarten
student anymore who needs a mother’s control every time. In addition, her mother’s
language, which is Chinese English, sounds ridiculous in her friends’ ears.
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!” (77).
The feeling of humiliation and her rejection toward her mother’s existence
She threw herself down the slide, head first, arms straight out – the position that only the bravest and wildest boy would take – fast, fast, fast into the sand. And then she crashed face first, with such force that she bit her lip, bumped her nose, bent her glasses, and broke her arm (77).
The breaking-her-arm accident in her six-year-old causes a big change in
Ruth’s life. In class, Ruth is considered as a brave girl because she can stand the pain.
Ruth becomes popular and everybody wants to be her best friends since then. Her
mother soon shifts her attitude toward her and becomes well-loved and blameless
(80) to her. Her mother also creates a sand tray for her as a substitution for paper and
pen to write.
… LuLing presented Ruth with a large tea tray with smooth wet sand gathered from the playground at school. “Here”, she said, “you practice, use this.” She held a chopstick in her left hand, then scratched the word “study” on the miniature beach. When she finished, she swept the sand clean and smooth with the long end of the chopstick. Ruth followed suit and found that it was easier to write this way, also fun. The sand-and-chopstick method did not require the delicate, light-handed technique of the brush (83).
This new method of writing comforts Ruth. She turns out to be ‘a star’ in her
class. Her friends treat her as though she is Helen Keller, a genius who did not let
injury keep her from showing how smart she was (84). Her mother also uses her
ability “to speak with the dead” to communicate with Precious Auntie. Ruth’s mother
believes that Ruth can communicate with the spirit and write all the conversation in
her sand tray.
There are some points to underline regarding those findings. First is the fact
breaks “the bone” of her arm. She does not break her nose or her leg. The author,
Amy Tan, chooses “broken arm” to indicate that there must be something about “the
bone” and the process of breaking the bone itself. According
to Chevalier, Alain, John Buchanan-Brown, bones are the symbol of resoluteness,
strength and virtue. It is also believed that the most important ‘soul’ is contained
within the bones (109). It can be connected to Ruth’s broken arm that she is breaking
the strong connection between herself, her mother, and her grandmother by rejecting
her mother’s existence: “She’s not my mother!” Ruth shouted back. “I don’t know
who she is!” (77).
Second, the problem of “bone” becomes more interesting when this accident
brings Ruth to the new change. Since she cannot do anything with her broken arm,
she receives love and care from her mother, she happens to be popular in class, and
for more important is her acquaintance with the spirit of Precious Auntie via the
medium of sand tray.
Her mother put the chopstick in Ruth’s hand. “Here, do this. Close your eyes, turn your face to heaven, and speak to her. Wait for her answers, then write it down. Hurry, close your eyes.” […] “Ask her if she understood everything I just said,” LuLing ordered. “Ask her if my luck has changed. Is the curse over? Are we safe? Write down her answer.” (86)
Here, “the bone” connects Ruth with her mother’s past life and her own
grandmother whom she has never known before, Precious Auntie. It is significant for
Ruth because she weaves the missing link between her mother, LuLing and her
grandmother, Precious Auntie. By her “broken bones”, Ruth gains her own strength
grandmother. Thus, “the bones” become the sign for Ruth to rearrange the “missing
bones” in her ‘”family body” since bones are the framework of the body.
4.1.3 The Relationship between ‘Bone’ and Precious Auntie
Looking at the title, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, it appears that the focus of the
story in this novel is the bonesetter’s daughter. In addition, it is found out that
Precious Auntie is the daughter of the famous bonesetter. However, Precious Auntie
plays an important role in this story because she is directly connected to the bone and
passes it on to her own daughter, LuLing. Thus, the writer finds out that there are
some important findings related to the connection of the symbol of bone and Precious
Auntie. There are three significant points why Precious Auntie has a close
relationship with ‘the bone’ itself.
First, for nine hundred years, Precious Auntie’s family has been bonesetters
(183). Her father is the Famous Bonesetter from the Mouth of the Mountain (3). He
uses bones to cure bones (183). Moreover, becoming the bonesetter is a tradition and
an inheritance. Precious Auntie’s father does not have to go to special school to be a
bone doctor. He learns from watching his father, and his father learns from his father
before him (184). It shows that Precious Auntie is the generation of the bonesetter.
She is taught by her father about the knowledge of bone, the remedy using the bone
and how to treat sick people or bone setting. Furthermore, her father always asks her
They also passed along the secret location for finding the best dragon bones, a place called the Monkey’s Jaw. An ancestor from the time of the Sung Dynasty had found the cave in the deepest ravines of the dry riverbed. Each generation dug deeper and deeper, with one soft crack in the cave leading to another farther in. and the secret of their exact location was also a family heirloom, passed from generation to generation, father to son, and in Precious Auntie’s time, father to daughter to me (184).
Second, Precious Auntie possesses a dragon bone that later she gives it to
LuLing as a remembrance of her past life and an heirloom for the future.
I have a bone, probably from a turtle, she told me. […] It looked like a dried turnip with pockmarks. My father almost ground this up for medicine. Then he saw there was writing on it. She turned the bone over, and I saw strange characters running up and down (182).
Usually, the bonesetter uses dragon bones in making the medicine for the
remedy. Somehow, the dragon bones they use may have inscription on it, like what
Precious Auntie possesses and it is called Oracle Bone. It is an inscribed bone and
tortoise shell, used for divination, has enabled historians to be on fairly firm ground
with regard to the Shang dynasty, which lasted from about the sixteenth to the
eleventh century B.C (12).
As the daughter of the Famous Bonesetter, Precious Auntie is already familiar
with the bones. She helps her father to collect the dragon bones, sort them out and
help her father in his medicine shop. However, she also knows about the oracle bone,
which is a special dragon bone for it has ancient character on it.
The only oracle bone that Precious Auntie’s possesses is the valuable treasure
for both Precious Auntie and LuLing. It becomes important that the oracle bone
comprises of different sad stories. For Precious Auntie, the oracle bone becomes her
memorabilia of her beloved father, the Famous Bonesetter from the Mouth of
Mountain, who is killed at her wedding. Besides, the oracle bone is given to LuLing
because she is her own daughter. It can be said that the oracle bone is the only
precious heirloom from Precious Auntie to LuLing as “the memory” and the heritage
from the Famous Bonesetter’s family. While for LuLing the oracle bone becomes her
only golden ticket to fly away to America after she is desperate in Hong Kong and
waiting for the visa to be approved. LuLing then tries to sell the oracle bone, the one
that is given by Precious Auntie in three shops.
The first belonged to a bonesetter. He said the bone was no longer used as medicine, but as a strange curiosity it was worth a little money. […] The next shop sold jewelry and curious. […] He said it was genuine, but not a good example of an oracle bone. […] The third place was an antique shop for tourists. […] Then he asked me many questions. […] I left that store, angry and insulted (326-327).
Actually, LuLing is confused whether she should sell the oracle bone or not
for it belongs to her mother, Precious Auntie and her grandfather, the Famous
Bonesetter. It indicates that the oracle bone plays an important role in this part for it is
the only link for LuLing to connect herself to her mother, Precious Auntie and her
ancestor.
