Without Wood

Focusing on: Without Wood

Wild

The meaning behind the term "without wood" really got to me, in that I was just like Rose, who sometimes didn't have a "spine," and was a pushover. In this chapter, Rose is doubtful and lost about what to do about her divorce with Ted. She goes from person to person asking for advice, and comes to the conclusion that there are just "too many options" to choose from. When I read about Rose I felt frustrated, but was also able to totally connect with her shortcomings. As in the words of Ted, " '[ Rose] can never make up [her] mind about anything. "Apart from negativities, I also got kind of a warmth from this chapter. When An-mei, Rose's mom, said, " ' you only have to listen to me,' " I felt assurance from her words of wisdom. Though some may question, what is so lovely about a mother ordering her child to follow her commands, I believe that since a mother knows what's best for their child, they will try their best to nurture and help
them grow "strong and straight."

One adjective to describe the relationship between Rose and An-mei is " support ". I chose this adjective because An-mei told Rose to "stand tall and listen to [her]..."giving her wise advice. One scene that showed this was when An-mei was calling Rose and checking up on her. She knew that her daughter was having a difficult time, and so she told her to "stand up for herself." An-mei's fufillment of her words, continuous concern and advice for her, showed that she was a dependable support, mentor to Rose.

One writing technique that Amy Tan used in this chapter was symbolism. Tan applied symbolism when she described Rose as a garden, more specifically, as the weeds in the wild garden.Instead of simply saying something like, "my relationship with Ted caused me to become a disaster," she wrote, " ...the daisies had been crushed down by their own weight...the whole thing had grown wild from months of neglect," to express the seriousness of Rose's condition. Though she had been neglected for a long time, she was able to finally become free of a life of tending another person's needs, and thus was able to become "wild." This comparison was further shown when Rose said, " 'you can't just pull me out of your life and throw me away.' " By using words like "pull" and "throw away" Tan was able to emphasize Ted's cruelness, and make me pity Rose more, knowing that she was like a useless, ugly "weed" to him. This comparison was also directly stated when An-mei said, " 'And then you will be like a weed, growing wild in any direction, running along the ground until someone pulls you out and throws you away."

I believe that the theme of this chapter is "don't listen to what other people tell you, find out for yourself, and be free." In the beginning of this vignette, and way before this chapter, Rose was always being pushed around by Ted's loud, overwhelming thoughts, and was unable to really listen to her own thoughts and opinions. It was only after years of neglect, once her relationship was coming to an end, that she realized that she could make a choice, even if it were to be the last choice she would ever make concerning him. After her mother's painful questioning of " 'why don't you speak up for youself,' " and a time of reflection, Rose was able to boldly tell Ted, " ' you can't just pull me out of your life and throw me away,' "releasing all the anger that she had been storing up during her marriage.