Waiting between the Trees- Brian Harrison

Waiting between the Trees
"There is a part of her mind that is part of mine.  But when she was born, she sprung from me like a slippery fish, and has been swimming away ever since.  All her life, I have watched her as though from another shore.  And now I must tell her everything about my past.  It is the only way to penetrate her skin and pull her to where she can be saved." (242)

This passage shows the mother's need to be close to her daughter.  She is describing how she will tell her daughter everything about her past in an attempt to gain some closeness.  This passage shows the mothers cultural struggle and how her daughter appears to be in a different land.

"All around this house I see the signs.  My daughter looks but does not see.  This is a house that will break into pieces.  How do I know? I have always known a thing before it happens." (243)

This passage shows the mothers frustration and her inability to properly communicate truths to her daughter.  Although the mother wishes to show the daughter that her marriage may be ending, she cannot find a way to share this truth with her daughter because of their disconnection.

"I was like her.  That's why she named me Ying-ying, Clear Reflection." (243)

This passage yet again outlines the relationship between mother and daughter.  The daughter is mentioning how she is so much like her mother, or at least that her mother thinks so.  This brings the reader back to that common theme throughout the book, that is that daughters become their mothers, no matter how different they may feel.

"I will tell her of the baby I killed because I came to hate this man so much...My daughter thinks I do not know what it means to not want a baby. (248)

This passage shows how mothers and daughters become like one another and how mothers know what daughters are going threw even when the daughters do not think it is so.