What is the lesson of feathers from a thousand li away?
The swan has vanished and its single, remaining feather symbolizes a mother’s almost extinguished expectations, the sparse remnants of her hopes and plans to bequeath her fierce optimism and rich Oriental heritage to her daughter. As with most parables, there is a lesson here: Be careful what you dream.
What does the swan feather represent?
The Swan and the Swan Feather Well, we would argue that Tan is making a really strong case for the swan/swan feather to represent all the best wishes and hope for a better life in the new world.
Who is Popo and how did she affect both An-mei’s mother and An-mei herself?
1. Popo is An-mei’s maternal grandmother. She forced An-mei’s mother to leave the house and leave her children behind because she had remarried after her husband’s death. She made An-mei feel unlucky to have such a bad mother.
What does An-mei’s scar symbolize?
An-mei, too, carries a scar that represents her tie to her mother. These bodily wounds function as symbols for An-mei of a daughter’s corporeal bond to her mother, as reminders that one’s mother is in one’s bones.
What does the feather symbolize in feathers from a thousand li away?
What does the swan feather represent? The swan has vanished and its single, remaining feather symbolizes a mother’s almost extinguished expectations, the sparse remnants of her hopes and plans to bequeath her fierce optimism and rich Oriental heritage to her daughter.
Why did Suyuan move to kweilin?
Suyuan’s husband (an army officer) brings her and their twin daughters to Kweilin for their safety during the second Sino-Japanese War, and then he leaves for Chungking. Thousands of people pour into Kweilin to escape the Japanese (who are winning).
Why is a swan a symbol of love?
Intertwined necks of swans resemble a connected mind, body, and soul of two soulmates. Also, swans mate for life and only look for another partner once they lose their present partner. That fact alone signals true love and loyalty. Thus, swans resemble a beautiful and loyal partnership.
Do swans fall in love?
Yes, they can mate for life, but that does not necessarily mean that all swans mate for life. It’s the same with people – some form a relationship with a partner that lasts from when they were teenagers until when either one of them dies. Some do, some don’t.
Why did Rose’s mother say Rose was without wood?
Her mother once explained Rose’s penchant for indecision by saying that Rose was “without wood.” Lacking this sturdy fiber, Rose bends in all directions — she cannot stand alone, cannot take a stand for herself.
What happened to the greedy girl in An-mei’s grandmother’s story?
What happened to the greedy girl in An-mei’s grandmother’s story? The greedy girl poisoned herself after refusing to say whose child she carried and was cut open by monks only to find a white winter melon.
How does An-mei feel about her mother?
An-Mei also felt her mother looked strangely evil, with her haughty attitude, her strange clothes, and her high-heeled shoes. She seemed to be as bad as Popo had always described her. As Popo and An-Mei’s mother argued about whether she should take the children away with her, a pot of hot soup spilled on An-Mei.
What does Ying Ying mean when she says she was lost?
She feels as though she has not only lost her family, but that she has also lost her “self.” As an old lady many years later, Ying-ying poignantly tells how she “lost herself.” She says that she surrendered her identity as she felt herself being transformed into a shadow, insubstantial and fleeting.