Double Face

Foreigner

Focusing on: Double Face

When I read that Lindo, a Chinese citizen, was considered a foreigner when she went back to her home country, I found it really shocking and unfair. I knew that it was likely for a Chinese-American to be categorized as a foreigner, but I never imagined that it would be possible for a person who was born in China and had lived there, like Lindo, to be mistaken as an outsider. I was somewhat able to connect with her, in that I was also considered a foreigner when I visited Korea. Of course my circumstance was totally different, being that I had always been an American citizen, but just like Lindo, all the Korean citizens that I met were able to tell that I was foreigner just by looking at my face. I wasn't expecting to be mistaken as, or considered a Korean citizen, but I just found it amazing that people could just look at someone and tell if they were a citizen or not. One quote that really put things into perspective was when Lindo quoted, " I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix?" In contrast to the Korean-Americans that I had known, all the people who had come from Korea acted differently, despite the fact that they went to the same school and church. As time passed, these same exact people began to slowly change the way they talked, dressed, and even acted. I realized, that just like Lindo, that it was impossible for someone to have a combination of both an American lifestyle and, in this case, a Korean character. It was either one or the other, black or white...Apart from my reactions, I have a question about a quote that I read on page 305. When Lindo says, "I will ask my daughter what she thinks," what exactly is she trying to say?

One adjective to describe the relationship between Waverly and Lindo is " reflective ". The quote "I gave my daughter these faults. The same eyes, the same cheeks, the same cheeks. Her character, it came from my circumstances," described them as not only looking like each other but also having the same character, which happened to be both Chinese and apparently, Americanized. Going back to the title of this chapter, I believe that "Double Face" directly refers to Lindo and Waverly having identical faces, or in other words "identities."

One writing technique that Amy Tan used in this chapter was imagery. An example of this was shown on page 291 when she wrote, " But my daughter's eyes and her smile became very narrow, the way a cat pulls itself small just before it bites." Through Tan's choice to use imagery in this scene, I was able to easily imagine Waverly's facial expression and the connotation, feeling behind her "smile." Her use of imagery also helped me relate to the text, or what she was trying to say easily, through simply connecting everyday images and objects to emotions and intangible ideas.

I believe that this chapter relates to the allegory in that the grandmother is used to symbolize Lindo and the granddaughter is used to symbolize Waverly.Just like the grandmother, Lindo was once "so free and innocent" but now, in her old age, wants to teach her daughter to "shed her innocence so she [will] not be hurt as well," or in other words, to have American circumstances but a Chinese character. Also, when the grandmother says, " 'If I recognize evil in other people, is it not because I have become evil too? If I see someone has a suspicious nose, have I not smelled the same bad things?' " it reminded me of Lindo's realization of how she was able to see the American in Waverly because she too had become Americanized. Another aspect of the allegory that connected to the allegory was when the grandmother said " '...now come back and give me the answer!Good good, I am listening...' " to Lindo's words of " So now I think, What did I lose? What did I get back in return? I will ask my daughter what she thinks." In both of these scenes, the elders, or in other words the grandmother and Lindo, ended up coming back to the younger generation, in this case the granddaughter and Waverly , for the answer to their questions.