Quote 4
And on that day, I showed Second Wife the fake pearl necklace she had given me and crushed it under my foot.
And on that day, Second Wife’s hair began to turn white.
And on that day, I learned to shout. (IV.1.175)
Even though she is taught that women should be silent, witnessing her mother’s suicide gave An-mei strength to find her voice.
Quote 5
"Not know your own mother?" cries Auntie An-mei with disbelief. "How can you say? Your mother is in your bones!" (I.1.134)
An-mei believes in the indivisibility of the mother-daughter connection.
Quote 6
I watched my mother, seeing her for the first time, this pretty woman with her white skin and oval face, not too round like Auntie’s or sharp like Popo’s. I saw that she had a long white neck, just like the goose that had laid me. That she seemed to float back and forth like a ghost, dipping cool cloths to lay on Popo’s bloated face. As she peered into Popo’s eyes, she clucked soft worried sounds. I watched her carefully, yet it was her voice that confused me, a familiar sound from a forgotten dream. (I.2.21)
When An-mei’s mother comes, An-mei watches her carefully, trying to reacquaint herself with this unknown woman. Despite her mother’s long absence, the mother-daughter connection has not ceased; An-mei not only looks like her mother, but some part of her has not forgotten her mother’s voice.