Preview

A Pair of Tickets Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1427 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Pair of Tickets Essay
A Pair of Tickets

In the short story "A Pair of Tickets," by judging from the title one might think that this is a simple story more about adventure than anything else. In “A Pair of Tickets” The author Amy Tan uses a symbols to help us understand the theme the story. Family and Culture are the most important topic in this story therefore; it gives us a better understanding of the story. As stated in the context of the story “Jing-mei is on a train to China, traveling with her seventy-two-year-old father, Canning Woo. As the train enters Shenzhen, China, Jing-mei begins to "feel Chinese." Their first stop will be Guangzhou. After her mother's death, a letter arrived from China from her mother's twin daughters from her first marriage. These were the two children whom she was forced to abandon on the side of the road On the hand, the internal conflict that the narrator faced while find her true identity is what helps to present the main theme of this story is ultimately love, the sacrifices that people make for love.

The story takes place in china. The setting of this story is very important as it all revolts around the Chinese culture. One as a reader can be able to place oneself in the same situation and experience the feelings that are being presented in this story. The story is being told from a first person point of view. The narrator is Jing-Mei “June May” Woo. She is the 36-year old American born daughter of Suyuan a women who made the big decision which was to abandoned her twins, however she did it for love because at the time she thought she was going to die. June May is the one telling the story. We only know what the narrator thinks. We can only make inferences about the rest of the characters in the story by the way they behave. The narrator embarks an adventurous journey. Along the way she learns many things about her real roots she discovers things that she never knew before.

This family is a very united family in the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The novel begins with a woman named Ruth Young, a self-sustaining woman who works at home as a Ghost-Writer. One day, she comes across a stack of papers written in Chinese and remembers that her mother, LuLing, had written them for her. As much as she wants to have them translated, Ruth carries a lot on her plate. Having to deal with her unsupportive husband, her job and most importantly her slowly dementing mother, Ruth finally finds time to have them translated.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What happened in chapter 1 The Wobbling pivot was that there was two men fighting over a bicycle and there were people listening to them in Tianamen Square. There was a riot that had happened in China where there was a riot that happened and there were a lot of people protesting for domestic traqulity in Bejing. In the streets of Changchun there were people in taxis and most of them that took a ride was businessman and foreigners because the fares prices were very high. There were policeman that were extremely violent or didn’t care about their actions about how they treated people in certain cities and china as a whole was corrupted. For example when some girl had been raped and killed there was no justice against that and the family pleaded for a trial and they got it but it took a while. Another example is when the girl had got murdered and was raped and she died and the young girl funeral was held but officials said that killing is not a crime. Also there were people trying to fight for their individual rights like people had anger over the unsafe mines and the polluted water that was not safe to drink. There were unsafe working conditions and endless demands of local officials for bribes and sex privileges. There had been a problem with the farming with the water supplies poisoned and their crops being ruined and there could be rising incidences of cancer and that was a panic. There were peoples homes destroyed for no apparent reason and if they resisted thousands were fined and even going to jail some of the time. The main two things that the officials wanted were money and power which they only got if from family or any kind of racial connections. There were many cities that were under attack in China and the people still protested and many were killed and very few police officers. If you broke any laws in China you may have been sentenced to death regarding these protests. There were other things like Education, public safety; food security and culture…

    • 394 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I think the author use flashback technique in her story. She write some scene which takes the narrative in time from the current point in the story. The readers understand that the author write about Old China, because she describe some traditions. Women in that time have not the rights, the main character could not say her opinion for her husband, father, brothers. Women can only do what the men order them. But in the old China women and men have different rights. Men can command the women, men more dominate at that time. Also, they have choice to study or marry. In addition, them government or parents give a field.…

    • 111 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Amy Tan’s story “A Pair of Tickets”, the protagonist June May and her 72-year-old father are on a train heading to China. Their first stop will be Guangzhou, where they will get together with her father's aunt whom he hasn't seen in 62 years. Their final destination will be Shanghai, where they will meet June's two half-sisters whom she has never…

    • 63 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The respondents came from various walks of life and different places in China, and the result is a book that goes into the lives and experiences of Chinese people ranging from artists to businesspeople, former Red Guards to rural migrants, prostitutes to Olympic athletes. However, for this assignment, it was asked to only read the interviews of a wealthy business man, a worker, and a Red Guard. I have heard about China Candid before and that’s why I know a lot about it. Sang Ye shows great interest in the personal experiences of his informants and they were presented not as representative of their occupation or class, but as interesting individuals with rich stories to tell. But with the context being modern China, political considerations affected the lives of all three people with whom he had conversations with. How the political expression was managed differed with every person. Some went along with the party line such as the Red Guard, while others distanced themselves from the authorities or make local officials a part of their schemes. Together, the personal stories told in this collection open a window onto what life is really like for both the Mao and post-Mao generations of…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    8. Leah begins to learn about the political history and events in China. What does she learn about life under Mao and Deng? What is Grandfather’s attitude to the protesters and why? (pages 37-38)…

    • 774 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Jan Wong starts out as a naïve, nineteen year old, Canadian student who is displeased with the capitalistic nature of her surroundings. It was the early seventies and to the author, she was experiencing a cultural revolution all her own. Opposition to the Vietnam War was strongly prevalent, the notion of feminism was beginning to arise, and there was a strong desire against conformity of any nature. The author grew up middle class to second generation Chinese citizens and was fueled by bourgeois guilt, and by a feeling of separation from her roots. “Curiosity about my ancestry made me feel ashamed that I couldn’t speak Chinese and knew so little about China” (14). After devouring every morsel of information that she could, she firmly believed Mao and his “comrades” were the only people who had a legit shot at establishing a utopic society. It was official. Jan Wong was going to Beijing.…

    • 1587 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Her stepmother struck her hard in the face, her father whipped her multiple times, and her siblings blamed her for their mother’s death. Just wonder she felt, Adeline Yen Mah, with her horrid family, separation from her only loved ones; her aunt and single grandfather, and her genius mind that only her beloved Aunt Baba treasured. As it seems, this depressing novel, Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah, the one who lived through it all, was the most unfortunate girl in all of eastern China.…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The portrayal of a character throughout the plot of a short story or novel is essential to the successful picture a reader vividly imagines while interpreting a writer’s text. Main characters in such publications most certainly possess certain traits or characteristics intentionally expressed in order to resonate within the reader. Possible characteristics portrayed through the actions and thoughts of such characters may include: perseverance, stubbornness, or couragessness. While examining the prominent traits of main characters Jing- Mei (Two Kinds) and Silvia (The Lesson), the reader is capable of witnessing character traits of immense resilience and countering traits of acceptance to change though the actions expressed by these two characters.…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Jig’s choice will definitely shape her future with the American, the baby, and her view of herself. "The railroad junction—a place where one can change directions—symbolically represents a point in time when the couple can…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Heritage is defined as something that is passed down from preceding generations, such as a tradition. It could also be defined as the status acquired by a person through birth. Heritage helps to develop a persons values showing what they believe in; particularly about the values of their family. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” and Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets”, the author’s seem to explore a common theme of heritage. Alice Walker is exploring the concept of heritage as it applies to an African-American family. Amy Tan is displaying the theme of heritage as it relates to Chinese and a Chinese-American family. Dee, from Everyday Use, and Jing-Mei, from A Pair of Tickets, have different adaptations of their heritage, but ironically it takes a trip back home to reveal the truth.…

    • 1641 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    June May was raised in San Francisco (which had many Chinese people at this time). She had a father and a mother who raised her in San Francisco. When June May’s mother passes away she soon find out that she has a twin sister in China that she never knew about. Her twin sister had written her mother a letter that they received a couple of months after her mother had passed away. So June May and her father decided that they were going to travel to China and see if they could find her twin sister, in addition to looking for her they were also going to visit family they hadn’t seen in years. When they arrived in to China June May is constantly comparing things she sees to what America is like.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Belonging Trial Paper

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Furthermore, as she comes to the realization of her connection to Chinese culture. The use of irony “but today I realize what it means to be Chinese. I am 36 years old. My mother is dead and I am on a train… I am going to China” exhibits her attempts to rekindle her ties with her culture. There is a sense of isolation evident as her mother was her last correlation to her heritage and in order…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Joy Luck Club Identity

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Suyuan had to make the hard decision to leave her twin babies on the side of the road in hopes some kind stranger would take them in, that way she would not have to see them die. Suyuan searches for her babies all through her life in America, sending multitudes of letters; they finally get in touch with her two months after she has died. Because her mother is not alive to meet her children, Jing Mei takes her place and the trip enables her to finally recognize her Chinese ancestry. The minute she enters China she "feels different" and can realize that she is "becoming Chinese" (306). At fifteen Jing Mei believed she was only as Chinese as her "Caucasian friends" (306). Yet her mother counters thoughts, telling her: "Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel and think Chinese" (306). Once in China Jing Mei decides her mother was right and she "has never really known what it meant to be Chinese" (307). She has never understood her mother or her heritage. This trip is the connecting link to understanding her life. She begins to feel natural in China, thinking to herself on the train: "I am in China… It feels right" (312). Jing Mei sees the landscape, the people, the histories, and the families in China and sees where her mother was speaking from all of those years. She knows a "little percent" of her mother know (15). It becomes "obvious" to Jing Mei to see what "part of [her] is Chinese"; it is "in her family, in her blood"…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The railroad tracks symbolize that they are at a crossroads in their relationship. The girl comments on the beauty of the white hills and the country being brown and dry. This statement is symbolic of life and death in which the tense conversation over the abortion operation is about. As the American and the girl talk about the issue of abortion, the girl is often referred to as Jig. This nickname is appropriated because she is always dancing around the topic. The waitress of the story is not mentioned often but I do know that she does not speak English, therefore the girl is dependent on the American. This situation reflects the terms of their relationship also. She is allowing him to make the decision whether or not to have the…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays