A Pair of Tickets Essay Example

A Pair of Tickets Essay Example A Pair of Tickets Paper A Pair of Tickets Paper Essay Topic: Literature 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 â€Å"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 â€Å"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 mothers death, a letter arrived from China from her mothers 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 â€Å"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 sense that they make decisions together and look out for each other. The author comes from a very family oriented kind of family and this reflects in â€Å"A Pair of Tickets†. This was all inside the main character in this story she has Chinese blood, she is discovering what she thought would be a new world yet, she is having an easy time coping with it. The way she was in America is different to the way she is in china. For instance when she is in the airport she is not wearing makeup. The sacrifices made for love between parent and child. Almost every character in this story made a scarified for love the main character for instance, tries to reconcile with her real roots and goes to china to carrying with her mother’s dreams of coming home. June may is going to meet her twin sisters something that her mother would of like her to do. June May is to meet the lost twins this reunion will fulfill Suyuan’s dream. She struggles to find her inner self yet she did it for love to her mother despite all the obstacles that she came across such as language and culture. In the end she understands and accepts the importance of her Chinese heritage. Another example is June May mothers she abandoned her twins because she knew they were going to be better without her because she thought she was going to die On the other hand, the family members at the hotel want to eat American food is ironical that while they are in china and June May might expect Chinese food they all want to order hamburgers and fries and this is the deciding they want to eat it not June May. She thinks that in china there are not places like that. Jing-mei is not sure of her heritage. She has been denying herself of any Chinese heritage that is that is in her, Americanizing herself as much as possible to avoid her real self. This trip to China surely change all that. At last, she realized things she never had before at her 36 years of age she has never felt so alive and fulfilled. While June May is exploring different aspects of China, she is forced to deal with the internal conflict of false impression of china, this is showed when she goes the hotel and is so luxurious. Americans think that they are the only ones that have certain things yet when you go to a less develop country you see that they have better things. It is the perfect American country that makes us believe that there is nothing better out there that we are the best of the best. The really is different and June May have to go to china to realized this to be true. The believes and assumptions that Americans carried are not realistic. When the story begins June May has a wrong image of what it means to be Chinese. It is one governed by American culture, stereotyping, and prejudice. As she learns of her mothers sacrifices and life, and she sees her Chinese family all that image starts to change. At the end she learned to understand and respect her family. In this story in not only June May that is discovering her heritage but also her father is reconnecting with his childhood in china. Finally, June May is not denying her roots she was just not exposed to it before but visiting china changed all that now June May knows what does it means to be Chinese. I wasn’t hard because it was inside her it was nothing that she had to go find because it was in her. This story show the importance of family and how the love that you get from your family is the most essential things that I human needs because it really helps to shape who you are and who you will become later on in life. In todays society peoples background are always being pushed to the background due to the pressures on people to conform and just be like everyone else. How she abandoned the twins and the words the author uses to describe this moment are very emotional. The story is thus very touching and realistic and that is due to the authors background growing up. Knowing the authors biography also help us see the story from another perspective. As a younger woman Amy Tan was very much like June May. Americans and Chinese are not only different because of the cultural background but also their values are very different than the one that American have. Amy was a Chinese girl growing up in a world where she was surrounded by Chinese and American influences. Many people have a hard time finding their true identify. Once you are born in one place and move or become citizen of a different place. You are considered that where you are is what others think you are. For instance, when I go to the Dominican republic I’m not considered what I am anymore I’m Dominican but they call me something different Dominican-York. It is hard because in this country I’m just Dominican and in my own country I’m just another Dominican-York. I belong nowhere anymore. I don’t belong here or there. In the beginning Jing-mei is not sure of her heritage. She has been denying herself of any Chinese heritage that is that is in her, Americanizing herself as much as possible to avoid her real self. This trip to China surely change all that. At last, she realized things she never had before at her 36 years of age she has never felt so alive and fulfilled. During the trip to China and while she spends time with her relatives Jing-mei begins to reflect on the Chinese side of her life. All her life she had fought her inner Chinese. All the series of events such as the death of her mother and meting her sister finally make May June Reinvent herself. In conclusion, the trip to china was changed June May’s life forever. She is not the same person after she leaves china now she wants to embrace her heritage