The Mother I Never Had

2. Scar
3. I thought this chapter was incredibly depressing. The idea of a child growing up without a mother because the mother did not have enough "face" to keep her child. An-Mei's mother wanted to keep her, but she was not allowed to because Popo thought that her mother should not have the right to take care of a child if she has no face. Even though Popo is watching out for An-Mei by making sure she does not become a concubine like her mother was, it is hard to imagine the pain An-Mei's mother had to do through because she was forced to give up her children. Another part of the chapter that saddened me was when Popo had to trick An-Mei to wake her up and prevent her from dying. I understand that Popo was just being wise and doing that because she knew it would work, but lying to An-Mei seemed unnesscary. The scene where An-Mei's mother cuts off a piece of her own flesh to put into soup for her mother disgusted me while warming my heart. It was really gross because having Popo drink the soup would be like a form of cannibalism. On the other hand, it was warming because An-Mei's mother loved Popo so much that she sacrificed a piece of her flesh in attempt to save Popo from dying.
4. The relationship between An-Mei and Popo seems to be considered as a tough-love relationship. Popo tells stories to scare An-Mei from misbehaving or going against what she says, but her intentions are good and all she wants to do is to protect An-Mei and have her grow up to be a good person. This is shown when Popo tells An-Mei stories about what her mother did to frighten her into being a well-behaved child. Popo also lies to An-Mei because Popo loves her so much that she does not want An-Mei to die from her ingury. Even though lying is something that is normally forbidden in society, Popo uses it for a good cause, and that is the love she has for An-Mei
5. A writing technique Amy Tan uses to enchance the story would be flashbacks. The flashback in this chapter tells us about An-Mei, the relationship she has with her mother, the relationship between An-Mei's mother and Popo, and how An-Mei recieved her scar. The way she uses flashbacks is really exceptional because it flows with the events happening in the chapter.
6. I learned that the Chinese culture is very strict and shows no tolerance or mercy when a person loses their face. It is considered unforgivable how An-Mei's mother became a concubine and she loses respect from everyone in the family. Another thing I learned was that family is incredibly important. An-Mei's mother cut off a piece of her flesh to put into soup because of a tradition. It was considered normal for a child to feed their parents a piece of their flesh to have them feel well again. In China, family is considered so imporant that children sacrifice their own meat to give to their parents.