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An-mei woo was raised "the chinese way." she 

was told " to desire nothing, to swallow other 

people's misery, to eat my own bitterness" 

(tan 215). The way she was raised allowed her 

to have an opinion, but she couldn't let others 

see it. Her mother daughter relationship was 

non existent until she was nice. Her 

grandmother, Popo, threw her mother out 

because she dishonored her family and 

became a ghost. Popo raised her until she 

died. Then her mother came back and took An-

mei with her. Their relationship was a good 

one until her mother died. An-mei was the only 

one to understand her mother and not judge 

her for what has happened to her.

An-mei raises her daughter almost half the 

chinese way. She believes in all the ancient 

chinese stories, but she wants her daughter 

Rose, to have a voice. She wants Rose to be 

able to speak for herself. An-mei doesn't 

want her daughter to be walked all over. She 

accepted standing up for yourself, but still 

needs balance in her life. She values 

listening to your mother, because she can 

keep you in the right direction. " you must 

stand tall and listen to your mother standing 

next to you. that is the only way to grow 

strong and straight. But if you bend to listen 

to other people, you will grow crooked and 

weak" (tan 191). 

Amy Tan has made An-mei Hsu a typical 

chinese women. she doesn't think anything is 

final and she doesn't speak her mind. An 

example of thinking nothing is final when Bing 

drowned, she wrote in the bible his name 

under deaths. She wrote it in erasable pencil in 

hopes that he will come home. An example of 

her not speaking her mind is when her mother 

returned home for the second time. She knew 

it was her mother and she knew that she 

wasn't allowed to speak to her. so she kept her 

mouth shut, so she would not disrespect Popo. 

Her life was very difficult, but i think she did 

the best with it that she could.

Amy Tan" And then my mother cut a piece of meat 

from her arm. Tears poured from her face and blood 

spilled to the floor. (pg 48)" 

" I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other 

people's misery, to eat my own bitterness. (pg 

215)"

Amy Tan strength in her writing, because she helps 

you understand the chinese culture and how the 

chinese way. 

Amy Tan weakness because she jumps from story 

to story, i didn't like that; its like a webb and you 

have to form it. you also have to read more into it. 

An-mei had an impact in china. when she was a 

little girl her mother walked out for the longest 

time and when she finally came back her parents 

didn't want nothing to do with her. the 

grandparents also didn't want An-mei and her 

brother to talk to her own mother. Their mother 

was a ghost in the family. An-mei was unhappy 

living with her grandparents. They taught her to 

distrust people and how to hide her pain and fear 

away from people. She didn't want people to 

know anything about her really. 

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