When Nath and Lydia's mother leave unexpectedly, they are both affected by that and how their father reacts. James is really sad and confused and starts to doubt himself. He lets the kids watch television everyday and doesn't take good care of them. Because of the parents' issues, Nath and Lydia are isolated from the outside world. They aren't even allowed to go swimming. The only time they go out is for groceries.
Each day, they hope to wake up and find their mother back. "...perhaps they might enter the kitchen and find their mother at the stove, waiting for them with love and kisses and hard-boiled eggs" (127-8).
Nath's relationship with his father is also affected. Nath finds interest in astronauts. "Daddy, can you believe people can go practically to the moon and still come back?" (134). James is emotionally unstable and is still focused on Marilyn and if she'll ever be back, so he doesn't think when he criticizes Nath for thinking about astronauts instead of his missing mother, and slaps him. The relationship between Nath and his father breaks at this point.
Because of their parents' issues, there is also a point in time where Nath and Lydia begin to think that it's their fault that their mother left and their father is sad. They start to believe that they must have made her really angry, so much so that she just got up and left.
Marilyn did not want to be like her mother. They did not have a good relationship. Her mother did not approve of James. And Marilyn also didn't like her mother because her mother was a traditional stay at home mom and she wanted to be a doctor. But she never really got the chance to become one. When she had Lydia, she pushed her to study and be good at all subjects like math and science. I think in a way Marilyn was trying to live through Lydia since she never got the chance to pursue her dreams. But because Marilyn pushed Lydia so much, Lydia was never able to be actually interested in what she wanted to be interested in. But she wants to please her mother so she is always following what her mother wanted her to do. In the end, Marilyn finds the cookbook in Lydia's room and realizes that Lydia liked the cookbook and wanted to cook with her mother instead of learning about math and science.
I think it's still a common problem today of parents pushing their kids to do something that don't want to do, but are doing it because parents are making them. The parent is right sometimes about what will work out later in life having gone through growing up before. I also think it is important for a kid to have their own time to do what they want to do, not because they are being forced to do it. I think it's important for a parent to understand their child and spend time with them. Sometimes a kid just wants to spend time with his parents because they know they can't be young forever.
It's also interesting to see how views on what is acceptable and what isn't changes from generation to generation. Like Marilyn's mom basically saying interracial marriage wouldn't be good, but Marilyn of course had a very different view on this subject.
James cheated on Marilyn with Louisa. Nath was able to smell the perfume so he confronted James, which made James yell at Nath even though Nath didn't do anything wrong.
What do you think of the way that Ng decides to structure the book? Why does she begin with Lydia's drowning and then use flashbacks to fill in details?
How is Marilyn affected by the sexism of the society in which she has grown up and in which she still lives? How does it affect her sense of self and her relationships with her husband and her children?
When Nath and Lydia's mother leave unexpectedly, they are both affected by that and how their father reacts. James is really sad and confused and starts to doubt himself. He lets the kids watch television everyday and doesn't take good care of them. Because of the parents' issues, Nath and Lydia are isolated from the outside world. They aren't even allowed to go swimming. The only time they go out is for groceries.
ReplyDeleteEach day, they hope to wake up and find their mother back. "...perhaps they might enter the kitchen and find their mother at the stove, waiting for them with love and kisses and hard-boiled eggs" (127-8).
Nath's relationship with his father is also affected. Nath finds interest in astronauts. "Daddy, can you believe people can go practically to the moon and still come back?" (134). James is emotionally unstable and is still focused on Marilyn and if she'll ever be back, so he doesn't think when he criticizes Nath for thinking about astronauts instead of his missing mother, and slaps him. The relationship between Nath and his father breaks at this point.
Because of their parents' issues, there is also a point in time where Nath and Lydia begin to think that it's their fault that their mother left and their father is sad. They start to believe that they must have made her really angry, so much so that she just got up and left.
Marilyn did not want to be like her mother. They did not have a good relationship. Her mother did not approve of James. And Marilyn also didn't like her mother because her mother was a traditional stay at home mom and she wanted to be a doctor. But she never really got the chance to become one. When she had Lydia, she pushed her to study and be good at all subjects like math and science. I think in a way Marilyn was trying to live through Lydia since she never got the chance to pursue her dreams. But because Marilyn pushed Lydia so much, Lydia was never able to be actually interested in what she wanted to be interested in. But she wants to please her mother so she is always following what her mother wanted her to do. In the end, Marilyn finds the cookbook in Lydia's room and realizes that Lydia liked the cookbook and wanted to cook with her mother instead of learning about math and science.
ReplyDeleteI think it's still a common problem today of parents pushing their kids to do something that don't want to do, but are doing it because parents are making them. The parent is right sometimes about what will work out later in life having gone through growing up before. I also think it is important for a kid to have their own time to do what they want to do, not because they are being forced to do it. I think it's important for a parent to understand their child and spend time with them. Sometimes a kid just wants to spend time with his parents because they know they can't be young forever.
DeleteIt's also interesting to see how views on what is acceptable and what isn't changes from generation to generation. Like Marilyn's mom basically saying interracial marriage wouldn't be good, but Marilyn of course had a very different view on this subject.
James cheated on Marilyn with Louisa. Nath was able to smell the perfume so he confronted James, which made James yell at Nath even though Nath didn't do anything wrong.
ReplyDelete