The Red Candle

Promises



Focusing on: The Red Candle

First and foremost I was offended when Lindo Jong, the narrator of this chapter, was stating that I (the readers) did not know the importance or commitment that it took to keep a promise. I was thinking, "you don't know who I am," but once I read her entire story I understood what she was trying to say.The Red Candle was about the story of her promise to her parents that she would marry Tyan-yu, a fat and pompous kid, and be a "good" wife to honor them. The depth and difficulty of her promise is overwhelming, especially because her situation is uncommon or even unimaginable today. Jong was expressing, through her words, that people in the past had to do the unimaginable, things that would change their lives and do it against their own will or for the sake of their family, unlike many people today. Apart from how I felt about the chapter as a whole, there were also a few characters who made me extremely irritated. I was especially annoyed by Tyan-yu, not only because he was a spoiled brat but also because of his cowardliness. His big head made him think that he was above everyone else, ultimately making him act like an immature king. Despite my hate towards Tyan-yu, there was also a scene in which I felt sorry for him. This scene was the scene in which Lindo realizes that Tyan-yu was afraid to lay with her, to have any sexual interaction with her. Though I was glad that he had no such desires for Jong, I was also sorry for him because I realized that he had also not been given the freedom to choose who he had wanted to marry. Another character that extremely bugged me was the servant girl. Even though the "only thing" she did was re-light the candle, her careless action had caused life-threatening troubles for Lindo. I felt refreshed and felt like I had finally gotten my revenge when Lindo lied to Huang Tai-tai, her mother-in-law, that the servant girl was Tyan-yu's "true spiritual wife," and that she was barren with his child. Though I felt sorry for her later on in the story, I also felt that she well deserved it because she had tried to decide Lindo's fate.

One phrase that can describe the relationship between Lindo and the servant girl is "secret rivalry." When the servant girl lies that the candles' flames were continuously burning throughout the night, Lindo's fate is ultimately on the verge of becoming a living hell for her. However, just in time Lindo is able to save her own life when she lies that the servant girl is the one who is the "true spiritual wife," of in other words the girl who was "destined" to take her place. Lindo had been the one who was losing in the beginning of the story, but in the end the servant girl becomes, in a sense, the girl who is "looking out from the window" and watching Lindo "running free" from her unwanted destiny.

One writing technique that Amy Tan used was symbolism. Her use of symbolism helped me get the deeper meaning behind the key themes of this chapter. For example, Tan mentions gold bracelets a couple times throughout Jong's story. Though there may be different interpretations of what the bracelets really represent, I thought that they symbolized the promises that a person had to keep. The words "promise," "free," and "independent," gave the connotation that the bracelets were a type of burden, and when the person was depraved of these "promises" they felt free and light. I was able to develop this connection through Tan's use of dialogue and words that surrounded the phrase "gold bracelets."

I believe that the theme, or life lesson of this chapter is basically to not forget or lose yourself even when you are overwhelmed by or hate life. Even though Lindo went through with the forced marriage, she promised that she would not forget herself. Lindo was able to save herself when she tricked her in-laws into thinking that she was not Tyan-yu's "true spritual wife," and thus was able to keep both her parents' promise and her own identity.