The Magic of Will Power

2. Half and Half

3. This chapter was pretty straightforward and I enjoyed reading it. It really frustrated me that Rose wasn't willful and was incredibly indecisive. So many things happened because she lacked the ability to chose for herself. If she had been more willful and actually made some decisions in her marriage, she might have been able to save it. If she were as determined to save Bing as her mother was, then maybe they would have found him. It was her lack of decisiveness that caused Bing to fall into the waters in the first place. I was so frustrated when I read that she just stood there trying to decide what to do instead of letting her impulse kick in and dive in after her baby brother. Not only was Rose inable to make up her mind, she does not even try to save her marriage or look for her brother. I'm not only sad because of Bing being lost, I'm angry at Rose for not even trying to do something about it.

4. The relationship between Rose and her husband Ted was a basic damsel in distress relationship. In the beginning, Ted was always there for Rose and he always protected her. He called all the shots and made sure everything was okay. Later on, the damsel in distress portion of the relationship starts to wear off and Ted pushes Rose to make decisions and be his partner in marriage instead of being constantly protected and shielded by him. It's proven that she cannot handle the challenges that stand before her, not even the simple ones such as what to eat for dinner. Ted eventually tires of Rose's neediness and dependancy on him and leaves her.

5. One writing technique that enhances the chapter is flashbacks. Tan flashes back to the time before Rose and Ted got divorced and shows Rose's inability to choose for herself. She flashes back even furthur to show more about Rose's character and how she didn't learn from her mistakes. The flashbacks showed the ripples effects of Rose's flaws. Not only did she lose her marriage, but she lost her baby brother as well.

6. The main conflict of this chapter is internal. Rose is constantly battling within herself on what decisions she should make. Rose never wins or loses these battles because she always gives up and lets someone else decide for her. Even though there is no obvious outcome, she is still having these emotional battles within herself.