Kingston comes up with different scenarios for her aunt and relates her aunt's story to her own life. In this passage, "If I want to learn what clothes my aunt wore, whether flashy or ordinary, I would have to begin, "Remember Father's drowned-in-the-well sister?" I cannot ask that. My mother has told me once and for all useful parts. She will add nothing unless powered by Necessity, a riverbank that guides her life."(325) Kingston realizes that she has no clue about what her aunt was really like. All she knows is that h

"After my grandparents gave their daughter away to her husband's family, they had dispensed all the adventure and all the property. They expected her alone to keep traditional ways, which her brothers, now among the barbarians, could fumble without detection. The heavy deep-rooted women were to maintain the past against the flood, safe for returning. But the rare urge west had fixed upon our family, and so my aunt crossed boundaries delineated in space." (327) In this passage Kingston is trying to imply that when her aunt was married she was expected to keep a suitable manner, but when her brothers had to leave her attitude changed and she did things in her own way. In China the women are expected to hold the family together and keep the tradition going but when Kingston's aunt broke the tradition it brought problems. Kingston relates with her aunt because living in America, a whole different world she is expected by her parents to also keep the tradition and to act accordingly to the Chinese culture. What Kingston is trying to imply is that there is a lot pressure from culture. Living here in America Kingston had to "establish realities," she had to act a certain way depending on the environment she was in. Whether she was in school or at home Kingston was expected to act a certain way, either by her parents or peers.

does when she speculates about her aunt's life.

"Walking erect (knees straight, toes pointing forward, not pigeon-toed, which was Chinese-feminine) and speaking in an inaudible voice, I have tried to turn myself American-feminine. Chinese communication was loud, public. Only sick people had to whisper. But at the dinner table, where the family member came nearest one another, no one could talk, not the outcasts nor any eaters. Every word that falls from the mouth is a coin lost. Silently they

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1236
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)