Quote 1
So I walked closer yet, until I could see the face of the Moon Lady: shrunken cheeks, a broad oily nose, large glaring teeth, and red-stained eyes. A face so tired that as she wearily pulled off her hair, her long gown fell from her shoulders. And as the secret wish fell from my lips, the Moon Lady looked at me and became a man. (I.4.113)
Her desire for the Moon Lady to be real and able to grant wishes transforms a frightening man into a beautiful Moon Lady. But Ying-ying’s illusion is shattered on close inspection.
Quote 2
"She become so thin now you cannot see her," says my mother. "She like a ghost, disappear." (III.1.94)
Ying-ying further draws out the similarities between herself and her daughter; like Ying-ying, Lena is transforming into a ghost because she is allowing her true self to be suppressed, never speaking up for herself.
Quote 3
"Lena cannot eat ice cream," says my mother.
"So it seems. She’s always on a diet."
"No, she never eat it. She doesn’t like."
"And now Harold smiles and looks at me puzzled, expecting me tot translate what my mother has said.
"It’s true," I say evenly. "I’ve hated ice cream almost all my life."
Harold looks at me, as if I too, were speaking Chinese and he could not understand. (III.1.90)
Here, Lena compares real barriers to comprehension (Harold understood Ying-ying’s English, he just couldn’t wrap his head around it’s veracity) to linguistic barriers to comprehension.