Rice Husband - Four Quotes 2/24/12

"To this day, I believe my mother has the mysterious ability to see things before they happen." (149)

-This is the opening sentence to the chapter. I think it's important because it kind of lets us begin to guess what's going to happen to Lena and her mother. I immediately thought that it would be a section about how her mother knows what happens when, which in some ways it was. The last scene in this section shows how this sentence is true, which emphasizes its meaning.

"My loathing for Arnold had grown to such a point that I eventually found a way to make him die." (152)

-Lena talks about Arnold, and how she had hoped that she wouldn't end up marrying him. The fact that her mother was able to point something out that would happen 20 years into her future also takes us back to the first sentence. By not eating rice and all of her other foods, she believes that she is the cause of Arnold's unfortunate demise, and the ice cream that she gorged herself on because of this situation comes up later in her marriage.

"And I remember wondering why it was that eating something good could make me feel so terrible, while vomiting something terrible could make me feel so good." (154)

-The ice cream plays an important part here. It makes her vomit from all of the guilt she had from Arnold's death, and it later sparks the argument between her and Harold. They had been splitting tabs between themselves to "keep the marriage honest", and in fact tabbing each and every little thing turned out to have the opposite effect. I thought it was crucial when Lena's mother told Harold that she didn't like ice cream, and he didn't think anything of it. That was what planted the seed for the argument to begin.

"Or that maybe it was because when you're Chinese you're supposed to accept everything, flow with the Tao and not make waves." (156)

-This quote is hard to explain, but it felt important. I think Lena is saying that when you're Chinese, stereotypically you're supposed to know quotes that have a hidden meaning of wisdom and know why the moon sets over the water in a certain way and all that. You aren't supposed to "make waves", as in you're supposed to listen to your mother and nobody else. This creates the old tradition vs. new tradition conflict that was discussed in the beginning of the book.