English SL
Grade 10
Suha Jin
Letter #22 and #5
Letter #22
Ninth Month, Fifth day
29 September 1946
Year of the dog
In letter number 22, there is an argument between Suang U and Mui Eng about how to raise their child. Suang U and Mui Eng had different ideas of raising child. Also, this letter shows the embarrassment that Mui Eng felt from being pregnant. This letter also includes anger. Suang U started feeling that now he has to be more confidence and take more responsibility. He had married, he would have a child soon, and his business is also running. He needs to take care of all of them.
First of all, Suang U and Mui Eng started talking about embarrassment from being pregnant. “Anyways, I wouldn’t let anyone see me like this it’s embarrassing”, “I am not going anywhere until it’s gone, I hate being pregnant”, “first I was sick, now I have this ugly thing in front of me” (p84) this passages show us that how Mui Eng hate to being pregnant and she think that being pregnant is embarrassing. Mui Eng is actually mad at herself being pregnant because of her looking, her physical appearance. Obviously, when women are pregnant, their stomach would get bigger. Baby is growing in there and living with one more life in their own stomach would be able to create ultimate anger. Their physical appearances are ugly because their stomachs are getting bigger and bigger all the time and they cannot move well, they cannot do something that they want to do as well. Being pregnant is really stressful. Those passages wrote above shows that how women may feel to being pregnant.
When Suang U and Mui Eng talked about being pregnant, Suang said that being pregnant is not embarrassment because it represents that pregnant means carrying baby in their stomach, which means they are taking care of new young life in their stomach. It is really hard work and only women can do it. So Suang U was really proud of his wife.
At the last part of this letter, I could find that they were talking about education of children. Both of Suang U and Mui Eng had different ideas to educate their own children. Suang U said that “The best education is one that teaches a person to take care of himself that is necessary for every man, in every generation. A wise man is one who can keep his own rice bowl filled, not depend on others to do it for him.” (p86) This represents that the idea of education of Suang U is be prepared and learn the skills and knowledge when they are young so they would not have any trouble to keep themselves and their family alive. The idea of Suang U is to have better life to live; we need to educate our children when they are young so they would not have any trouble later on. It sounds like to have better life we have to live in decided rule to make no mistakes. However, idea of Mui Eng is quiet different than Saung. “A child needs love, To love a child best is to prepare him for the truth. And the truth is that childhood is a dream that passes swiftly and can hardly be remembered in the light of dawn.” (p86) Mui Eng is saying that love is more important than preparing future like a machine. Teach them love and give them a dream to dream of and let them find their own goal is Mui Eng’s idea of education I think. She may let her child grow up lazy but teach him love and her child also can love his parents and children. When people love each other, they do not want to hurt each other. They try to get better and mostly the results are good. They bless their family’s happiness.
Letter #5
Seventh Month, Twenty Ninth Day
5 September 1945
Year of the Cock
Suang U felt a guilty that he left his mother in China and went a trip to find new job. He met a person who adopts him as his father. They arrive to Thailand and he finally got new job to do. It was teaching two daughters of their director. In this letter, how excites Suang U and two girls.
In letter number 5, it begins with excitement of Suang U. Suang U had decide to teach two daughters of his director Chinese an hour every day. “I CAN barely eat or sleep for excitement.” (p24) This passage shows that how excited he is. Generally, people cannot sleep or eat when they got too excited to something that they had been waiting for so long. “Starting tomorrow, I shall be spending a whole hour every day with that girl, the face of the moon!” (p24) This passage represents that, one of the daughters who he would teach is a person who Suang U interest in. When I read this passage, I thought that Suang U may excite just because he could spend an hour with the girl with face of the moon instead of having new work to do. I believe that Suang U was excited because of that girl because, he used the expression ‘the face of the moon.’ The moon does not have face however, comparing the face as the moon represents that the girl is really beautiful than others. The moon is an object that we are not able to touch and we only can see and dream about it. I believe that she is a dream girl of Suang U.
While Suang U teaches girls, he found out unique of them. “These girls! Fighting over stories all day long. Why don’t they fight over clothes like other girls?” It shows that those two daughters of his director are different unlike normal girls. Normally, girls are chatting and arguing about what they have and what they want to buy, such things as clothes, dolls, and shoes but, there two girls are fighting each other because of story of a book. It shows that they are not ordinary girls and makes Suang U more interest into the girl that he is looking for. It also shows that those two girls were actually had education unlike normal girls. In 1945, women still did not get chances to learn. Only people who learned can have an argument about literatures.
