How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #10
"There is none other but you to whom I can leave this poor fool of mine when I am gone, and she will live on and on after me, seeing that her mind has no troubles of its own, and she has nothing to kill her and no trouble to worry her. And well I know that no one will trouble when I am gone to feed her or to bring her out of the rain and the cold of winter or to set her in the summer sun, and she will be sent out to wander on the street, perhaps—this poor thing who has had care all her life from her mother and from me. Now here is a gate of safety for her in this packet, and when I die, after I am dead, you are to mix it in her rice and let her eat it, that she may follow me where I am. And so shall I be at ease." (34.3)
It's clear that Wang Lung cares a lot about his daughter, but this is a passage that makes us pause and think. Wang Lung calls killing his first daughter her "gate of safety." Safety from what? What kind of a decision is Wang Lung making? Does he have the right to make this decision for his daughter? Why will no one else take care of her?