The title is important in telling us about the power and status of women in Chinese and Chinese- American society because it seems as if they’re not important in this excerpt. The fact that the grandmother has no name tells us about her status and power in Chinese society that all women are considered unvalued and worthless. In the grandmother’s life, she didn’t seem important by mistakes she made. This story tells us about the power relationships between men and women as if men have the say in everything they want in their women. For instance, what’s right and wrong, like the women have no voice or no control in taking action! The presence and roles of mothers and fathers/ grandmothers and grandfathers in the lives of children and adults are the adults are teaching their beliefs on the right and wrong doings. The children must obey their adults.
The narrator’s fantasies tell us the status and power of young contemporary Chinese women are useless and taken over. The narrator’s own status and power within the Chinese American context is the experience towards Chinese American’s from year’s past and probably from his parents and his grandparents. Meaning, how the narrator’s experience being Chinese American is still present or on her mind. In both societies I believe men and older generations define the role in women. The story generally says women and girls in both cultures are valued by each society as slaves to me because these men just take over women.
Extension: I relate to the themes and issues in the story because I have seen a movie and a documentary of Chinese men dominating their women as in having all the control over them. The world of the narrator’s isn’t that much different from my world. Themes in the story are universal because people today have the same beliefs as their parents and grandparents.