The Moon Lady

Secret Wish

Focusing on: The Moon Lady

My initial reaction to most of this chapter was adoration. I was entertained by the way Ying-Ying St. Clair behaved and found her innocence and immaturity cute. She reminded me of my little sister and thus made me feel as if I was her amah, who was both irritated and entertained by her clumsy yet adorable actions. Apart from adoration, I was also slightly disgusted. When Amy Tan describes the scene in which Ying-Ying runs back stage to seek the Moon Lady, she describes the Moon Lady's womanly characteristics and truly convinces readers that she is indeed a female. But when it is revealed that the Moon Lady is actually a man, I felt slightly nauseated and felt sorry for Ying-Ying who had to be exposed to this, it was as if my little sister had just discovered that Santa Claus wasn't real.

One phrase to describe the relationship between amah and Ying-Ying is "mother-daughter." Though Ying-Ying may have a biological mother and amah may have a biological son, they both are set apart,distant from their blood relations and are instead close to each other. As Ying-Ying puts it, "amah loved me better than her own child."Amah cares for Ying-Ying like a mother and Ying-Ying plays the role as her daughter perfectly. She describes herself to have become, "spoiled because of her," and also describes amah as to have,"never taught me to think about her feelings." As in the case of many mother daughter relationships, Ying-Ying thought of amah "only as someone for my comfort...a blessing you appreciate and love only when it is no longer there." Despite Ying-Ying's disobedience, amah loves her endlessly and cares for her dearly. She does more for Ying-Ying than anyone else can do for her, Amah in a sense becomes her mother and thus Ying-Ying becomes her daughter.

One technique that Tan uses in this chapter is simile. Her use of similes help express the extent or amount of reaction that she wants the reader to feel as they read about a certain action that a character carries out. For example, instead of just saying, "she yanked the full length of my hair," Tan chose to write" she yanked the full length of my hair like the reins of a horse," describing the force of amah's strong pull realistically.

The main conflict of this chapter is Ying-Ying's inability to find her family after she falls into the lake. In the beginning of the story, despite the hot weather, Ying-Ying is in pure bliss when she is safe and sound with her earthly comforts. However, once she falls into "the cool comfort of the water" she is separated from her family, her amah, and her peace. Once her peace is shattered, her true troubles begin. Through this conflict Ying-Ying realizes the importance of being found, and belonging. This conflict is more internal than external and is a human vs. self conflict, in that Ying-Ying comes to a realization, after losing her loved ones, of the importance of the people in her life.