Today we talked about the character Aunt Paula in Girl in Translation. The freewrite is to profile this character using examples from the text. Why does Kwok assign Aunt Paula redemptive characteristics? Is this typical in a super hero story?
Start looking more closely at Kwok's writing.
Homework:
Think about essay questions for this book. Continue reading. Do you have any questions for and of the characters? Make a list. Do you want to say "stop" to Kim, slap Aunt Paula or shake Ma? Why?
This is a chick book or fem fiction. Are there any strong male characters? Who are they? Is Kwok just as good as writing these characters as she is at writing her female characters? Make a list, compare and contrast these characters.
Announcement and reminder:
We meet in the COA Library Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012 for an orientation. Bring your essay questions and any research questions you might have to discuss.
We listened to an interview with Jean Kwok on my radio show. It was taped in May 2011 when the author was on tour. She is the third interview into the show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wandas-picks/2011/05/04/wandas-picks-radio-show
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14 comments:
Caeman Swartz
Professor Sabir
English 1B
13 September 2012
Aunt Paula, Politely Aggressive
In Girl in Translation, Kim’s Aunt Paula is layered a complex character. As Kim’s mother’s older sister, she was the first in line when it came to responsibility. When Ma, Kim’s mother, went to school, Paula worked as Ma says, She trained as a gold-beater so I
could finish high school”(96); when their father was sick, and when Ma ran off to marry her lover, Aunt Paula even stepped in to marry the man arranged for Ma. While none of these things sound like anyone’s dream of growing up as a child, she did it all the same.
Aunt Paula has provided a lot for Kim and Ma. She not only paid for them to travel to America, but she also got Ma a job, a place to stay, and even paid for Ma’s medical treatment back in Hong Kong when she got TB. But not all of this is as bright as it seems. Aunt Paula still expects Ma (and probably Kim as well) back the costs, the apartment is in a condemned building filled with rats and cockroaches that solely live off them saying “I saw a scattering of brown slowly recede into the walls as we walked into the next room: live roaches” (10), and the job is in a sweatshop Aunt Paula runs in Chinatown.
This light kindness with long shadows tells one quite a lot about Aunt Paula. She still retains all of her confusions upbringing from China and remembers everything that happened their. She most likely still thinks about all the things she has done, despite her own interest, to support their family, and what little kindness she was offered about it. Since Ma is her blood, it is her duty to help provide, but all she gives is what is expected and not an inch more. Like even though Aunt Paula flaunted her expensive white tea, when Kim suggested, “‘Shall we try that special white tea?’ I asked Ma. Ma gestured at the counter. It was bare except for an old ceramic pot and a box of inexpensive green tea.”(14) Aunt Paula ultimately feels that life is unfair, that her sister gets a free ride and she is determined to make that not the case in America.
Tamara Qirreh
Professor Sabir
English 1B
13 September 2012
Aunt Paula
In Girl in Translation, the picture that Aunt Paula paints seems very cold, she helps her sister and niece come to America but the apartment they live in is cold, infested with rodents and roaches and it is in a horrible neighborhood. Her sister and Kim work in the factory her and her husband own in order to repay their debt. Winters in New York are unbearable sometimes for the middle class let alone the poor and the extreme conditions Kim and her mother faced were triumphant. This new life for their family in New York is just an extension from the life together in Hong Kong. To Kim, as an eleven year old girl, her feelings towards her aunt are full of resentment and hatred, while her mother still has a respect and honor for her sister despite her callous behavior.
Aunt Paula had no choice but to grow up fast. With the death of their parents, Aunt Paula took care of her younger sister as a gold-beater; which by definition is an artisan who beats gold into gold leaf-a skilled worker who practices some trade or handicraft (free dictionary). The emotional stress and weight that must have burdened Aunt Paula is an honorable one. Ma explains to her daughter Kim, “When we were teenagers alone in Hong Kong, Aunt Paula took care of everything. She was smart and resourceful. She trained as a gold-beater so I could finish high school.” She worked hard to raise and support her sister so she could marry an American Chinese and live a good decent life.
When the course of their lives took a turn, Aunt Paula was upset that her sister didn’t marry like she was supposed to. She tells her daughter, “I started giving music lessons and your pa gave me a job at the school. Soon after that, we were married (89).” They had given the American Chinese a picture of her and he came to choose a wife. Being the practical woman she was, Aunt Paula, “married him herself (89).” Despite how awful she seems and the position she has left her sister and niece in she has done a lot for them. It seems as if she has a grudge or a jealous streak for her sister but made sure Kim went to a decent school and they would soon live a better life. It is hard for Aunt Paula to be a sympathetic person towards anyone, even her own family because she has endured so much as well.
John Sung
English 1B
Professor Sabir
September 13, 2012
Aunt Paula Redemptive Characteristics
Aunt Paula is one of the only characters in the novel that is portrayed as the antagonist. The reader begins to view all of the harsh ways Aunt Paula treats Kimberly and her mother by giving them a unsafe apartment to live in, bragging about materialistic things that Kim and her mother can only dream of, and even being jealous of Kimberly when she was given a full scholarship to Harrison. Kimberly begins to understand how much her aunt resents her and her mother and states, “In other words, Aunt Paula wouldn’t mind if we stayed at the factory and that apartment all our lives”(119).
With every scene that Aunt Paula is in, each reader begins to resent Aunt Paula and her unfair ways. However, one must try to understand Aunt Paula when they finally learn about her past. Having to take care of Ma all alone when they moved to Hong Kong as children, one can only imagine what type of resentment one can build up when they were forced work just so they can send their little sibling to school. Another example is when the reader learns that Aunt Paula’s husband originally had seen Ma’s picture instead of Aunt Paula’s picture before coming to China. That must have made Aunt Paula very jealous and build much more resentment towards Ma. Paying for Ma’s medical treatments, green cards, and flight tickets, Aunt Paula did do her best to get her little sister to the States. Although Aunt Paula acts very sour towards Ma, Ma is still very appreciative towards Aunt Paula and sees the opportunity that she has given them when she tells Kimberly, “The road we could follow in Hong Kong was a dead one. The only future I could see for us, for you, was here, where you could become whatever you wanted. Even though this isn’t what we'd imagined back home, we will be all right"(20).
Coming from a Korean home where the Korean culture was embedded in my everyday life, the teachings of Confucianism is very clear to me. As I was reading this book I began to understand Aunt Paula more and more. Confucianism teaches that one must always respect your elders and that as an elder there is a burden to look out for your younger sibling. Although Aunt Paula sent Kimberly and her mother to an unsanitary apartment, one can see her acting like the older sister:
'You are my family!'She laughed. “'Did you not think I could provide for you?' She stood up, walked over to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. 'I’ve gone to great lengths and gotten you a job at the clothing factory. I even fired the old worker to make space for you. You see? Your older sister will take care of you.'
Although Aunt Paula has a clear resentment and jealousy issue with Ma, her actions do show that she does care for her by giving Ma and Kimberly a whole new life in America.
Sareth Chhoth
Professor Sabir
English 1B
13 September 2012
Aunt Paula’s Profile
In Girl in Translation, Aunt Paula is a key character in the novel. She is Kim’s aunt and Ma’s older sister. Some of the characteristics of Aunt Paula are jealousy and anger. She is jealous of Ma and Kimberly when she discovers that Kimberly has been accepted by Harrison Prep, a prestigious school. Aunt Paula surprised that the letter was an acceptance letter, “you’re going to Harrison Prep?” thinking that it was only an application shows her jealousy towards both Ma and Kimberly (119). Aunt Paula was also angry because she was not informed about Kimberly’s involvement with Harrison Prep.
Aunt Paula pretends to be a kind and polite person but in truth she is a mean person. Kimberly realized this and said,
I knew Ma didn’t want to admit Aunt Paula’s weaknesses to me. But I had understood what happened anyway. For just a moment, Aunt Paula had flipped her polite face over and we had seen the black face underneath. We would be allowed to work and not cause any trouble for her, but she didn’t want us to be any more successful than she was (119).
Aunt Paula’s true colors emerged when she heard about the success of Kimberly, getting an acceptance letter to Harrison Prep. That school was hard to get in and Nelson did not get accepted there.
Although Aunt Paula may be a jealous and angry person who hides her true colors, she sacrificed a lot for her younger sister. She took a job, being a jeweler so that Ma could continue to go to school (88). Ma was the one that was supposed to marry Uncle Bob and go to America but instead fell in love with Pa. For that, Aunt Paula married Uncle Bob and brought Ma and Kimberly to America. In many families or cultures, the older sibling always goes through a lot to make a better life for the young sibling.
Marco Gutierrez
Professor Sabir
English 1B
13 Sept 2012
Freewrite: Aunt Paula’s Redemptive Qualities
Based on the real life story written by author Jean Kwok, Girl in Translation, Aunt Paula is not the bad sister that some reader’s suggested, Kwok wrote up Aunt Paula’s character to have a good side to help with the family and help them come out of Hong Kong and live the American Dream; She had a heart to see them get the same opportunity for them. She paid for her tuberculosis which prevented Ma to come to America, and found them a place to live with a job for the moment.
According to the story, tuberculosis was a fever and she had coughed out blood on the handkerchief. The year earlier, this was the reason why Ma could not enter America twice with immigration to move to Brooklyn, New York. When Ma is better and moved, she has offered to work in the clothing factory, “I’ve gotten you great lengths and got you a job”.(13) Aunt Paula looks out for them.
Aunt Paula who was wealthy and running a clothing factory in Brooklyn decided to bring Ma and Kim Chang to America to live a better place for freedom. As Ma and Kim were immigrants, Paula offered them to stay in this apartment until they get a better place. It was tradition that Paula gave them a place to live for the while. Kim realized the truth of her intentions,
---- She’d done it all on purpose: letting us move on a weekday instead of during
---- the weekend, giving us the presents at the last moment. She wanted to drop us
---- here and have the factory as an excuse to leave fast, to get out when we were
---- still thanking her for her kindness. Aunt Paula wasn’t going to help us. We
---- were alone.(7)
The conditions that Ma and Kim they had to live were not suitable for them. The apartment had been infested with roaches and mice with no heating or power and a broken window which had to be sealed with an everyday garbage bag.
They did not know that the apartment was condemned to be destroyed. Kim found out through word of mouth from Al the Store Clerk, “Don’t you know?...The government’s going to build some huge compicks here. All the buildings on this block and across the street are going to be broken down.”(85) They were abandoned to what they looked at. They went to Paula and demanded that they need a better place to live, Uncle Bob was listening and Bob hesitated to answer them. Aunt responded with a balance in her words, told Ma that she can’t have people at work say she’s being unfair as they were family.(90) She had to do to protect her as she is doing what is good for factory.
Dung Le
Professor Wanda
English 1B
September 13, 2012
Aunt Paula Profiling
In the beginning chapters of “Girls in Translation” by Jean Kwok, Aunt Paula was portrayed as a caring aunt of Kim. She helped Ma and Kim migrate to America, gave her a place to stay and even gave her accessories for the place, “Aunt Paula went to the car and took out a cardboard box with a few items in it: a digital radio alarm clock, a few sheets ad small black-and-white- television (5).
Aunt Paula’s good image grew when I read that she even gave Ma job so that she can start working and make money. However, her good image turned quickly turned bad when I found out the condition of both Ma’s living and working space, “Ma said, ‘Of course not. I know that you’re both very busy and you haven’t seen the apartment we’re in, but it is not very clean.’ Ma meant that it was below acceptable living standards. ‘And I don’t believe it is a safe place for ah-Kim.’” (31)
Aunt Paula’s true face came out when she found out that Kim made it into Harrison with a full scholarship. She was trying to tell Ma to throw away the application for Harrison because her son was rejected. Aunt Paula didn’t want Ma and Kim to be better off than her,
For just a moment, Aunt Paula had flipped her polite face over and we had seen the black face underneath. We would be allowed to work and not cause any trouble for her, but she didn’t want us to be any more successful than she was. And I wasn’t suppose to do better than nelson. In other words, Aunt Paula wouldn’t mind if we stayed at the factory and that apartment all our lives. (119)
Works Cited
Kwok, Jean. Girl in Translation. New York: Riverhead, 2010. Print.
Before you post your short essay on Aunt Paula, look at Dung Le and Marco's posts re: formatting.
Robin DeLaney
Professor Sabir
English 1B
13 September 2012
Does Aunt Paula have any redemptive qualities?
Aunt Paula is not unlike many real-life characters that I have known, be it a family member or just an acquaintance. They can be bitter, unhappy, jealous, with something to prove and mostly unhappy when others are at their best. Maybe it’s a competitive nature that has gone too far, or maybe there is so much hatred for self that people like this are unable to express sympathy or pride for others. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are not capable of being good people overall, or even immune to doing good deeds.
In the novel, “Girl in Translation,” by Jean Kwok, Aunt Paula is indicative of all the qualities I described above. Kim describes her, “For just a moment, Aunt Paula had flipped her polite face over and we had seen the black face underneath. We would be allowed to work and not cause any trouble for her, but she didn’t want us to be any more successful that she was. And I wasn’t supposed to do better than Nelson. In other words, Aunt Paula wouldn’t mind if we stayed at the factory and that apartment all our lives” (115). Aunt Paula has a back story that could possibly explain how some of her character flaws are derived. As a young girl, she saw her younger sister, Ma, flourish as an extraordinary music teacher, have the courage to marry the man she loved and prosper in her own life, but primarily because Aunt Paula worked to make sure this was possible for her. The idea that Aunt Paula did not run away from her family duties and set aside her dreams in order to move to the states and commit to an arrange marriage for the betterment of family, is indicative of a redemptive quality. If Aunt Paula did not sacrifice her happiness for an arranged marriage, no one in their family would even have the opportunity to live in the US. She did make sacrifices, which may not exactly be spelled out by the author, but are evidenced by the events:
‘Aunt Paula’s posture relaxed, as if she’d stepped into a new role. ‘You are my family!’ She laughed. ‘Did you not think I could provide for you?’ She stood up, walked over to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.’ I’ve gone to great lengths and gotten you a job at the clothing factory. I even fired the old worker to make space for you. You see? Your older sister will take care of you. The job is picking up a dead chicken, you’ll see. Aunt Paula was saying that she’d gotten Ma a sweet deal, like a free chicken dinner’ (14).
As the reader, we come to appreciate the horrible and dilapidated environment that Ma and Kim are required to live in, the mice, the roaches, the coldness, the poverty, and we blame Aunt Paula for this existence. Kim describes, “Even with the spray, the roaches were impossible to exterminate” (19). It may not be the motivation of Aunt Paula to abuse her family, but perhaps, to make them appreciate the hard work that is required to live successfully in the US. Perhaps in her mind, if she brought Ma and Kim to the states, and handed them an easy life on a silver platter, they would not understand her plight fully. They may not come to appreciate the sacrifice that she made in order for them to come to the US.
Works Cited
Kwok, Jean. Girl in Translation. New York: Riverhead, 2010. Print.
Kevin Roper:
Aunt Paula is the brains of the family in “Girl in Translation” when it comes to quickly adopting the American culture. With her meticulous work and decisive actions, she makes for the only true antagonist of the book at the beginning. When she has a family meeting with Ma and Ah-Kim, you can sense that she is starting to get annoyed by the way things are going. She goes straight on to talk about Kim’s name. Aunt Paula is quoted by saying “It’s very important to have a name that is as American as possible. Otherwise, they might think you were fresh off the boat!” (11). Even though this is true, it is a little harsh what she says, claiming herself that it is the only way to adapt to their environment.
Aunt Paula then becomes serious when it comes to pure survival in their new lives in the United States. She manages the family finances and takes care of them when the going gets tough. She remains firm as the leader of the family in their rough transition to a new land. Aunt Paula gets a little angry when she comes out and proclaims standing up that “I’ve gone to great lengths and gotten you a job at the clothing factory” (13). She even goes on to say that she fired an old worker to make space for Ma and so has the right to be a little offended by Ma’s tone with her in this conversation.
Aunt Paula’s ultimatum doesn’t come though until Kimberly gets into Harrison Prep. Aunt Paula is worried so much about Kimberly’s lack of insight about other schools and Ma’s late payments of the rent that she flips out. Aunt Paula’s intentions are finally shown that she wants to be the center of the action in the lives of both Kimberly and Ma, thinking now that things are being done behind her back and that she can no longer trust them:
“For just a moment, Aunt Paula had flipped her polite face over and we had seen the black face
underneath. We would be allowed to work and not cause any trouble for her, but she didn’t
want us to be any more successful than she was. And I wasn’t supposed to do better than
Nelson (her brother). In other words, Aunt Paula wouldn’t mind if we stayed at the factory and
that apartment all our lives.” (119)
Even though this is the thoughts of an adolescent child—let alone an immigrant from another country—it makes her stronger to go through this, making her the new strength in the family.
Kwok, Jean. "Girl in Translation". Penguin Books Ltd. 2010.
Rosetta Egan
Professor Sabir
English 1B
13 September 2012
Aunt Paula is not a nice person. She is very cruel to Kim and Ma. Her cruelty stems from the resentment she harbors for Ma. Back in Hong Kong Ma was promised to marry a man, Uncle Bob, but Ma fell in love with and went to work for the man she married, Kim’s father ( Kwok 89). Aunt Paula was compelled to marry Uncle Bob. Many Chinese decided to move to the U.S. before the Chinese communist takeover in 1997. Ma was one of them but because her husband was dead, Ma was vulnerable and Paula still had not gotten over her anger with Ma.
The first clue that things would not be a pleasant at Aunt Paula’s house for Ma and Kim was after Aunt Paula promised them some expensive white tea. The next day Ma and Kim could not find the white tea and Ma realizes that Aunt Paula did not really mean for Kim and Ma to enjoy the tea.
“Shall we try that special white tea?” I asked Ma.
Ma gestured at the counter. It was bare except
For an old ceramic pot and a box of inexpensive
green tea. (9)
Ma tries to explain to Kim the cultural aspect of Chinese behavior and her debt to Aunt Paula.
Aunt Paula promises Ma and Kim that they would be staying at Aunt Paula’s house a “short square house . . . on Staten Island” (8). In lieu of rent Ma would tutor Aunt Paula’s son, Nelson. Ma recovered from a bout of tuberculosis in Hong Kong and Aunt Paula explains that she is worried about her children contracting the disease. After a week, Aunt Paula tells Ma and Kim that she found them an apartment and they would be working with her at the clothing factory.
Javier Mendez
Professor Sabir
English 1B
September 15 2012
Aunt Paula Character Profile
In the book “Girl in Translation” by Jean Kwok, the character of Aunt Paula is a shining example of bitterness, jealousy and, resentment. From beginning to end she shows no true redemptive characteristics. Every word of support and, advice are full of deceit and, and given out of personal interest. Any act of kindness is done out of guilt or obligation, and is still expected to be repaid. The resentment she has towards her sister’s simple happiness gives her cruelty no bounds.
It was interesting to see when Kim gained insight into Aunt Paula’s true self,
‘For just a moment, Aunt Paula had flipped her polite face over and we had seen the black face underneath. We would be allowed to work and not cause any trouble for her, but she didn’t want us to be any more successful than she was. And I wasn’t supposed to do better than Nelson. In other words, Aunt Paula wouldn’t mind if we stayed at the factory and that apartment the rest of our lives’ (1505).
In the first few chapters of the book, she behaves as if she were trying to help her family. Aunt Paula invites Kim and Ma into her home and tells them to make themselves at home and enjoy her comforts, buy she hides her most valuable teas (155). She then finds them a cheap apartment, finds them a job to earn a living. The apartment Kim and Ma move into is condemned and unfit to live in, and the job is in the sweatshop where Ma works pays her unfair wages and she is forced to work into exhaustion. And still in the end Aunt Paula has the courage to say ““I gave you work and shelter! and this is how you repay my human currency.” The currency of Humanity is kindness. “I brought you here! That is a life debt, one you can never repay” (3604).
One can only imagine how someone can become so depreciable as a person, the way Aunt Paula did. Ma tries to excuse her by speaking of the hardships, and the responsibilities that she had to take up when they where young in China, and her duties as a factory manager. But in the end she shows the truth, that she resents her sister and the happiness that she has been able to hold onto. She envies Ma for being able to marry for love, for finding small joys in poverty, for having such an exceptional daughter, and for succeeding in spite of her abuse. For even Ma admits it in the end, “Even if Aunt Paula bathed in grapefruit water, she wouldn’t be able to wash the guilt off.”(3619)
Works Cited
Kwok, Jean. Girl in Translation. New York: Riverhead, 2010. AZW File
Matt Dillon-Guerrero
Professor Sabir
English 1B
September 19 2012
The character of Aunt Paula is difficult to judge given the fact that she acts like a very nice individual and then in another situation, she can act like such a jerk. Here is a passage that demonstrates how Aunt Paula is a loving aunt: “Aunt Paula went to the car and took out a cardboard box with a few items in it: a digital radio alarm clock, a few sheets and a small black-and-white- television” (5).
At the end it all comes back to what Aunt Paula has sacrificed for the betterment of her family. Ma in fact attempts to convince Kim that: “The road we could follow in Hong Kong was a dead one. The only future I could see for us, for you, was here, where you could become whatever you wanted. Even though this isn’t what we'd imagined back home, we will be all right"(20).
However, at another point in the story the reader is able to get a fleeting glimpse of exactly how evil she is. This event was when Kimberly was accepted into Harrison on a full scholarship. Prior to being informed that Kim was attempting to persuade her to toss away the application because if the school would not accept her son they would absolutely not accept Kimberly. For just a moment, Aunt Paula flipped her polite face over and we saw the black face underneath. Because, it was fine if they were to get a shot at a new life as long as they were still beneath her, and as long as Kim was not as successful as Nelson. It was also at heat moment that it became immensely clear to Kim that in Aunt Paula’s eyes it would be acceptable if Kim and her mother were to be stuck in their dead-end job at the factory and their apartment for the rest of their lives (119).
Works Cited
Kwok, Jean. Girl in Translation. New York: Riverhead, 2010.
Caitlin Rockwell
Professor Sabir
English 1B
Profile on Aunt Paula
In the book “ Girl in Translation” the author Jean Kwok portrays Aunt Paula as helping Ma and Kimberly as little as possible. Aunt Paula says she is helping her sister, Ma and Kimberly by bringing them to America but really she is using them to help work in her and Uncle Bob’s factory. Aunt Paula gives them an apartment that is horrible and almost not habitable for human beings to live in, it is cold, there is a broken window, there are mice and cockroaches everywhere and there is barley any furniture. When Ma and Kimberley ask Aunt Paula why they have to stay in that apartment she only lies about having them live in a better house once they made more money in the factory.
“ When Ma politely asked Aunt Paula about how the heat worked,
Aunt Paula understood her real question and replied that she had
Asked Mr. N. for permission to fix it. She said we wouldn’t be
Staying at that apartment for much longer.”(45-46)
Ma and Kimberly realize that Aunt Paula lies about everything because they both make ever little money in the factory for working long and intense hours in the factory. It is hard for Ma and Kimberly to escape Aunt Paula in their early years in America.
Aunt Paula is Ma’s big sister, she is older and is supposed to be wiser, and she thinks she is just because she came to America first before Ma. Because Aunt Paula brought her and Kimberly to America Ma thinks she is forever ideated to her sister. Aunt Paula reminds Ma and Kimberly of this as much as she can. I think Aunt Paula just brought Ma and Kimberly over to America so she could have them work in her factory. She did not care how poor the work conditions were or how poor their living situation was, she just didn’t really care in my opinion. She did not want Kimberly to succeed in school or go to a better school then her son and she wanted to work them as hard as she could with such little pay. I feel as though Aunt Paula envied Ma for her life in Hong Kong so she tried to make their new life in America as horrible as she could in the first years of them living here.
Work Cited Kwok, Jean. Girl in Translation. New York: Riverhead, 2010. Print.
Anna H.Y. Lim
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
13 September 2012
Character Profile on Aunt Paula
As children, we grow accustomed to listening stories about great heroes or heroines who show tremendous amount of courage in fighting against villains. Then as we experience life, and meet people who hurt are hurtful, and we characterize them as the “villains” in our own stories—it is easier to categorize people as “bad” or “good.” The author of Girl in Translation, Jean Kwok, however, shows us through the character of Aunt Paula that each person is complex. Though she fails in many was to show sympathy and love for her younger sister and Kimberly, the reader cannot simply label her as “evil” because the author reveals the hardships Aunt Paula face earlier on in her life as the story progresses that softens the reader’s view of her.
From the beginning of the story, Aunt Paula fulfills her obligation as a family member. When Ma and Kimberly arrive in New York, they instantly face extreme hardships. Aunt Paula seems to be doing nothing to remedy their situation; however, as neglectful as she acts towards Ma and Kimberly, their family bond with Aunt Paula is an essential factor in their survival—at least initially. They could not come to the States if it were not for Aunt Paula; and from her perspective, she has done nothing but “gone to great lengths” to “take care” of her younger sister and her daughter (13). Nonetheless, this does not make the reader feel better about Aunt Paula’s character—her lack of love for Ma and Kim—until Ma explains to Kim about Aunt Paula’s past that sheds some understanding as to her underlying emotions:
When we were teenagers alone in Hong King, Aunt Paula took care of everything. She was smart and resourceful. She trained as a gold-beater so I could finish high school. I was supposed to be the on to marry an American Chinese, since I wasn’t good at much except for music, and some people thought I was pretty. But then I started giving music lessons and your pa gave me a job at the school (88-89).
Although Ma does not directly tell Kim, the reader can easily read the through the lines that Aunt Paula’s feelings must have been disregarded in the family. Not only that, she, herself, must have had to disregard her emotions. Anger, resentment and bitterness could not be dealt with on the surface because Aunt Paula was the elder daughter of the family, the bread-winner, and the sole provider. She must have felt unworthy, lonely and hurt. In spite of it all, Aunt Paula manages to be a dutiful member of the family.
The author, Kwok, demonstrates through Aunt Paula’s character that even people who seem cold-hearted and even abusive are never one-dimensional. Each person is complex and complicated. Even “bad” people have stories and feelings of their own. At the end of day, however, I believe that a person is not what happened to him or her; a person is who he or she chooses to be.
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