In the Fifth Chinese Daughter, Jade Snow Wong is the fifth daughter of eight children of the Wongs. Wong lived in Chinatown in San Francisco where he brought up his new family. For Jade Snow “it’s a place with haunting memories, wrapped in the atmosphere, customs, and manner of a land across the sea.” The family maintained the traditional Chinese customs even though they lived in America which is miles away from China.
As Jade Snow struggled through life to understand the concept of “individuality” through the terms of her parents, it was time for her to start college. She attended Mills College where she stayed with the Dean after arrangement. The arrangement was that she would do the household chores in return for a place to stay while she attends college.
One day, the Dean thought that Jade Snow was being left out and suggested to her that she should invite some of her friends from campus to dinner. So she did by inviting three of her Chinese friends as well as her Caucasian friend whom seemed very interested in the Chinese traditions (pg 157). That night of the dinner, her friends were delighted to have Chinese foods since they haven’t eaten it in a long period of time. Jade Snow “formulate and constructed delightful aspects of the Chinese culture” to present to her friends since they were eager to know about the Chinese background.
At the end of her junior year, she was recognized for her excellence in school and received a renewal for her scholarship. She had agreed to cook for a party for a quartet which was hosted by the Dean. Surprisingly, for the very first in her life she had her family to support and helped her in preparing the custom Chinese dishes.
After her graduation grew closer her Mama announced that she was going to have another child. Her Mama was unable to attend her graduation but that didn’t stop her father from going. For her it was the moment of “triumph”, she had proved to her parents that “she could balance her own budget and graduate from college” without a penny from them.
Due to the high importance her family placed on education and her own desire to learn, she graduated from Mills College. After her graduation, her younger brother Prosperity from Heaven was born. Finally, she had someone to teach what she didn’t learn from her father, the American culture.
She found a job at the shipyard and worked as a secretary during the War. During the period of her work, she discovered a talent for ceramics.
She finally decided to opened up own business with the blessings from her parents. She began selling her work in a shop named China Bazzar in Chinatown.
As her work progressed, her ceramics became popular in Chinatown.
During the course of her life she was finally content with what she accomplished as being the fifth Chinese daughter of her parents and was able to “wash away the former disgraces the women of the family suffered.”
Did Jade Snow prove to her father that the women in the family can accomplished something?
Was she discriminated by her own people within the community when she started her business? Why So?
Did Jade Snow Wong lose her traditions and values that her father taught her in the course of her life?
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1 comment:
No, i think her father just views her accomplishments as chinese women trying to rise up, and maybe this is in some way an embarrassment to him( her independece and achievements). Also I dont think Jade Snow Wong lost any values in her life. I think she still holds them close to her b/c thats all she knows and if she strays then what would her father think about that....
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