Amy Tan’s novel is an excellent example of a book that exudes both Chinese sensibilities and American straightforwardness, seemingly a proud declaration of the author’s Chinese American heritage.  Amy Tan has successfully juxtaposed pure Chinese culture with that of American modern attitudes for the perception of the reader, who, the author may have hoped as a writer of hybridism, shall view them with tolerance and withhold prejudice.  Tan’s skill of verisimilitude has placed these cultures into context of the human experience that is both tragic and redemptive, showing the interlacing of humans, their culture, and society through struggles and adversity. 

           Thus this critique shall further describe and analyze Amy Tan’s literary rendering of cultural integration and clash and the human experience, as well as extract from the novel major points to ponder.

Literary Style and Devices

            Amy Tan’s writing in the novel is dynamic.  She has the ability to shift from urban to rural, formal to informal registers, standard to the ethnic minority use of the language.  The novel’s main character, Ruth Young, figures in the 60’s to 90’s educated and slang usage of English.  LuLing Xin Young, her mother, is the mouthpiece for pidgin Hong Kong-British English and in the translation of her memoirs, the country diction sampling Nature (Chinese) imagery and idiomatic expressions.

            Her use of flashbacks regales the reader with a variety of settings, notably that of early modern China: the mountain villages, bustling Peking and Hong Kong, before and during the Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War.  She also recalled America’s not-so-affluent suburbs and districts in the 60’s and 70’s in Ruth’s pre-adolescent and adolescent years.  The flashbacks also contain sub-plots that are all essential to the main plot. 

           The novel has recurring images of fog, steam, fire and water, death, and suicide. Visible forms of water vapor drifting evoke mystery and eeriness.  They probably symbolize the sudden occurrence of events beyond human control and comprehension.  The fog can appear suddenly and create zero visibility (the unknown, the unforeseen).  Death is also one of the unknowns that definitely ends life and announces the start of its definition.  It certainly set the boundary on the analysis of Gu Liu Xin’s life, dominated by her ultimate sacrifice in the end, her suicide.  On the other hand, LuLing’s and Ruth’s lives were still full of possibilities, additions to their biographies.  However, the repetition of the death and LuLing’s threats of suicide may have an existentialist[1] message in them.  Death as a constant exhorts people to do what must be done before it is too late (LuLing may have been subliminally asking for love and understanding from Ruth in her suicide threats, although it may also be an overt sign of guilt for her own mother’s suicide.). There are no second chances.  The imagery of death may also represent the necessity for a part of oneself (egocentrism, hatred, cultural intolerance, etc.,) to die so that one can live fully, i.e., to have an authentic existence.

             The author utilized oxymora. Here are some examples: (1) “fire dragon-water dragon” (p.11), (2) “hot and cold faucet” (p.11), (3) “comedically tragic” (p.11), (4) “simple problems-difficult solutions” (p. 30), (5) “firm but still loose” (p. 54), (6) “best friends-worse enemies” (p.55), (7) “archrivals-gleeful conspirators”, and (8) yin and yang (p.54).

            Here are some examples of Chinese metaphors and idiomatic expressions in the novel:

1)      “…fish shadows dart downstream” – a Nature metaphor for the Liu family’s ink products.

2)      “…snorts of a ragged wind.” – the wheezes and huffs of mute Gu.

3)      “No oil for squeaky wheel” – Isolation dulls the mind

4)      “…turtle on its back” – confusion

            Two types of point of view were used in the narration of the story and have been instrumental in involving the reader into the plot: (1) the Third Person Omniscient[2] and the (2) First Person Participant[3].  The latter has the potential to elicit emotional and intellectual responses from readers in combination with the use of the Recognition Plotting.

               A Recognition Plot is so constructed that the principal reversal or peripeteia results from someone’s acquisition of knowledge previously withheld (Holman & Harmon, 418).  This construct is found in the novel’s subplot/flashback of LuLing’s life in China.  LuLing was unaware that Gu Liu Xin, her nanny, was her real mother.  Her discovery after Gu’s death had strengthened and scarred her as well, provoking the reader to deduce that if not for the revelation, she might not have reached America. Her truculence, ingratitude, and disobedience toward Gu pique the imagination of the reader to deduce the situation where she knew the truth.  This opens the door for the reader to sympathize for the tragic character of Gu and holds the key to the author’s tone of the novel. 

           The major tone of the author is Feminist.  The novel serves as a reminder for the reader to scrutinize the power structures of misogynistic and patriarchal aspects of cultures (Chinese and American), and side with the disadvantaged, oppressed, and the ignored.  The poignant history of LuLing and Gu reveal how some women must face overwhelming odds to exist in the midst of sanctioned dehumanization.  But the most emphatic figure of oppression and tragedy is the character of Gu, deformed physically yet retaining her acuity, and crippling her potentialities nonetheless.  The Recognition Plot climaxed the injustices done to Gu. It is in that subplot that she had to suffer her daughter’s ignorance of their real relationship and was denied her daughter’s love and full attachment because of the Liu’s adherence to traditional Chinese norms.  LuLing’s betrayal of her own mother induces extrapolations of what-might-have-beens and appalls the reader, perceiving the possibility and even reality of such situations due to cultural inhumanity. Thus, Amy Tan’s attempt to evoke sympathy and increase awareness of culturally, politically, and socially imposed strictures and infringements on women’s human rights, is possibly achieved.  Feminism’s and Tan’s call to accord aid to and liberate the disadvantaged, who are mostly women, is an exhortation for humanization of the self, of both men and women.            The novel also salutes Feminism triumphant.  Ruth, in breaking out of the vicious cycle which started with her grandmother, serving as the bridge and optimizer of the past and present, of American and Chinese cultures, she emerged as the woman whose nature and life became complete, fulfilled, and actualized.            A comparison of American and Chinese cultures in the novel hints at the author’s valuing of both, and her advocacy for cultural tolerance and acculturation[4] 

            The diction is a confluence of the vulgar and educated and the provincial and urban.            Foreshadowing is extensive, and is indicative of the author’s exquisite plotting and mastery of storytelling.  The most notable of these pre-determinations is Precious Auntie’s (Gu) bequeathing of the Oracle Stone to LuLing, which. allowed her to recall later in life her mother’s surname, and complete Ruth’s search and understanding of her ancestry and sense of self.

Conflict of the Main Characters

            Three women in the novel shared a common conflict that afflicted their existence: women against society/culture/ingrained collective behavior.  Ruth had to go against American culture of individualism and pragmatism, at the expense of her relationship with Art, in order to live and take care of her mother, who had acquired dementia. Art had initially suggested that she just hire caretakers for his ailing mother-in-law, implying his early aversion towards people who are burdensome.  The bond Ruth felt for her mother won against the expectations of society.  Her mother, LuLing, had to endure her own family’s ostracism of her, as they consigned her to an orphanage in order to prevent her from further besmirching the reputation of the Liu clan.  Finally, Gu Liu Xin, the matriarch, was aggrieved by a jilted suitor, Chang, the suspect in the deaths of her husband and father.  She was reduced to being a servant in her in-laws household, and was forced to comply with their condition that she would hide the truth from her own daughter, in the name of social expectations.  Citing these, it can be supposed that the culture of a society played a major part in forming the mentalities and crucial decisions of the people they have come into opposition with as they tried to exercise their freedom.

Pervading Culture

            The Chinese culture of Gu Liu Xin and her daughter LuLing disregarded much of the freedom of choice of women and neglected to recognize their position in society, despite the fact that women are very essential in the family, the basic unit of society.  This situation was illustrated many times in the novel.

1)      The foot binding of the women was an ancient tradition. Such a practice was a painful process and deformed women’s feet.

2)      The parents chose the potential husband of their daughters, thus depriving them of the right to select their partners.

3)      Most Chinese then honored their male ancestors, but seldom paid respect to those who were female.

4)      Sons received larger portions of the inheritance than daughters.

            The American culture of Ruth contravened the lives of women not so much because of unfavorable rules, norms, and labor practices that may have survived the Women’s Liberation Movement[5], but rather of attitudes formed by materialism and hedonism that objectified women and identified them as dependents, weak, and incapable of decision.  This is exemplified by Art’s attitude toward Ruth’s mother.  He was more committed in shouldering LuLing’s expenses at a nursing home rather than let Ruth take care of her mother herself.  American culture sometimes places too much precedence to utility and productivity[6]over family ties.  Sometimes, little consideration is given to communication with women or sensitivity to their needs when the American propensity for materialism, social status mobility, and impersonal pragmatism are sometimes prioritized and obsessively attached to self-worth[7].  There was also a double standard of morality upheld against women, which was exemplified in the subplot of Lance and Dottie. Lance, implied but not stated, has had affairs with other women, but Dottie acquiesced to his shenanigans.  But when Lance learned Dottie had her own liaison with Danny, he drove her from his house.  This unfair application of morality puts men in a power position within relationships, and abrogates the equality of those involved.  The ideology of male supremacy and the belief of women in their own inferiority (Dixon, 299) perpetuate the double standard in penalizing and in the treatment of infidelity. However, this is hardly unique inAmerica. 

           Thus, Chinese culture has sanctioned restrictions on women’s rights while American culture sometimes conditions the minds of men to ignore their needs and impose their will on them especially if they are economically dependent.

Themes

            The novel’s dissection of the human (female) psyche under social and cultural duress and the exploration of cultural mélange creates many layers of meaning, implications, perspectives of the truth.  These can enrich the depiction of the human experience.

Main Theme

            This critique maintains as the novel’s major theme the significance of women in society as essential persons in the building and maintenance of families, as fundamental societal elements, despite their perceived disadvantaged position, hence, social and cultural factors that oppress women must be exposed and individually dealt with, in order to heal social evils and surmount threats to social disintegration. 

The Novel from Various Perspectives

A) Psychoanalytic – the psychological factors shaping the characters and their actions

1) The Mother-Daughter Bond

           Ruth’s bond to her demented, depressed, and isolated mother overcame the dictates of pragmatic culture and she finally succeeded where LuLing failed: showing her love to her mother as a daughter before her time was up.  Gu Liu Xin’s love for LuLing saved her from subjugation by the Changs, and without whose devotion and good upbringing of LuLing, Ruth may not have had a good life.  The Mother-Daughter bond is deeply rooted within females, and they feel an emotional need for each other throughout life (Neisser, 15).  Their relationship is presupposed by the observed innate behavior of females.  Women nurture intimate and supportive relationships more than the men (Rudolf & Conley, 115).  This bond is a strong factor in family solidarity.

2) Excessive Parental Control of Children

             Ruth felt anxiety and pressure from her mother’s authoritarian parenting, causing her depression and near entanglement with an older man (Lance).  She also almost committed suicide by drowning herself.  Parents who exercise excessive control over their children maybe contribute to their manic-depressive states and perfectionist tendencies, thus making them feel tremendous pressure and anxiety, later in life (Kenney-Benson & Pomerantz, 23).  Sometimes, parents who were not able to cope with societal pressures and the problems they cause affect their mental states which in turn have an effect on their handling of their children.

3) Negative Beliefs

             The belief in curses, vengeful ancestors, and persistent guilt over past grievous offenses are negative irrational notions that, when sustained, may cloud one’s perception of reality and lower self-esteem.  LuLing believed that her being the main reason for her real mother’s suicide and her lack of proper burial have accursed her existence.  She attributed the deaths of Kai Jing and Edmund Young, her late husbands, to her mother’s supposed curse.  It eventually contributed to LuLing’s depression, obsession with the spirit of Precious Auntie, her suicidal tendencies, and later, her dementia.  Fatalistic pessimism, a negative view of the world, is one of the main factors leading to depression that may have other negative psychological effects (Benjamin Jr., Hopkins, & Nation; 503).   

B) Structuralist –configurations of the primary interrelations within a story.

            The lives of three generations of ethnic Chinese women can be described as both damaged and redeeming.  Tragic events, detrimental circumstances, and inherited induced maladaptive behaviors marked their early experiences.  However, toward the end, their actions redeemed them of their mistakes and saved the other from the repercussions of the past.  Precious Auntie (Bao Bomu, Gu Liu Xin), damaged by the actions of Chang, saved her daughter from his son’s opium addiction by ruining the Liu-Chang marriage negotiations with her letter and suicide.  LuLing, mentally disturbed by guilt over Precious Auntie and her belief in her curse, was still able to raise Ruth in
Americaand save money for her future.  She had also prevented her from taking her own life.  Ruth, depressed and hounded by her mother’s eccentricity and suicidal tendency, eventually revived their bond, lived with her in her old age, and looked after her needs.  Hence, one can discern life encompassing “healing” cycles being concretized by the principal characters.Life Damage - Redemptive Acts. The cycle is further specified by the figure:

Tribulation                              Grandmother                          Her Sacrifice 

Tribulation                              Mother                                   Her Sacrifice 

Tribulation                              Daughter                                Her Sacrifice            Mother.

          This pattern implies that the effects of crucial, drastic, and unforeseen changes (due to society’s influence) and their resultant suffering were carried over to the next generation.  However, redemptive acts also allowed the next generation to diminish those effects and fortify them enough to end the vicious cycle.  In a sense, mother and daughter were like the barges inSan FranciscoBayengulfed by the fog (tragic events).  They avoided collision (total failure) through their foghorns (communication, their bond, their selflessness).  The pattern clarifies the role of family and of the connection between women that allowed them to survive sudden adverse events and situations.

C) Phenomenological – actual subjective interpretation cleared of preconceptions in extracting underlying principles.

            Philosophical truths can be inferred from the experiential aspect of the novel, the context of the reader, and discernment of the main Structure of the story: (1) the past forms the present, however the present can reform some of the consequences, situations, and mentality inherited from the past; (2) good and evil actions project into the future; (3) human beings can only turn to themselves and to other human beings in facing the unknown. 

D) Title Significance – the title as a window into the author’s intention and that of the novel

            Bonesetter’s Daughter apparently signifies Gu Liu Xin.  The title can also refer to LuLing and Ruth. They mitigated the dysfunctional circumstances of their family by their healing feelings of ties and responsibility toward one another.  The three characters, in essence, were all bonesetters, for they have gradually mended the broken bones that were the mind, body, and spirit of each other with the splints and curative herbs of communication across cultures, empathy, and concern innate to all human beings. As a Feminist novel, Bonesetter’s Daughter pertains to all women who have been the healers of society by virtue of their nature and capacity to feel. Women, as well as men, have the power to make society better.

E) Deconstructionist – critiquing the critique for unspoken implications sometimes adverse to the intended message

            As a Feminist ideological state apparatus[8], the positive or perceptible intent of the author apparent in the novel (its tone) is to influence the reader to sympathize with women victimized by culture and collective social attitudes, through the recounting of the instances and acts of oppression.  But is the Feminist aspiration the sole reaction of the readers to this novel?  For could it not actually influence the subconscious of the impressionable reader by desensitizing or immuring one’s mind to oppressive and misogynistic acts and situations depicted in its passages and scenes? Can the surfeit of female pathos and impression of the prevalence of male domination lead to apathy, surrender, and indifference, noting how the novel portrayed as natural those otherwise “unnatural” behaviors?  Some directors rationalize filming violence as actually socially beneficial because it can remind the viewers of the evils of violence.  However, several correlational studies support a link between the viewing of violent films and television programs and aggressive behavior in children and adults (Hjelle & Ziegler, 145).  There is a possibility that the violent and oppressive scenes in the book, especially against the female characters, that will be eventually visualized and might be committed to subconscious memory by the readers, would induce apathy if not aggressive behaviors against women.  If this is the case, then the novel may have defeated its own purpose.

F) Sociological – connection with society and its structures

            The family[9] is the basic unit of society.  In the absence of compassion and solidarity from other members of society, family kinship of persons is the strongest relationship, and as mentioned early, the strongest bond, in theory, is the mother-daughter bond.  This type of social relationship enables persons to authentically identify and communicate with one another and mutually assist each other, therefore, they will have better chances of “navigating within the fog”.  In the novel, LuLing and Gaoling, as cousins, succored each other during the war and in immigrating to America.  Ruth’s overseeing the Full Moon Festival reunion underscored her regard for sanguinary ties, and characterized her as a daughter who would care for her mother.  And because women are supposed to be more predisposed to maintain intimate and supportive relationships, and thus, serve as “nuclei” in the existence of families, the maltreatment of female family members and social hobbling of women is tantamount to undermining the very structure of society itself.

G) Feminist – critique on the novel’s significance to the libertarian aspirations of women

1) Oppressive Social and Cultural Structures

             Some aspects of culture stifle the freedom of and violate the rights of women.  Society should recognize those cultural errors and effect changes within that culture and subsequently, within that society.  2) Solidarity Among Women             Sometimes, “if other people cannot do the job, you have to do it yourself.” More often than not, a woman is in the best position and disposition to help another woman. This realization is illustrated in the initial contrasting attitudes of Ruth and Art toward moving in with aging LuLing.

3) The Disadvantaged Women 

            More women than men suffer poverty, unemployment, physical abuse, and socio-cultural apathy and impositions[10].  As the tone and literary devices have conveyed, inaction and discrimination towards the disadvantaged and the oppressed compound social and psychological problems, which have long-term consequences.  As seen in the novel, Chang’s brutal act destroyed Gu Liu Xin’s hopes for a family of her own, and its reverberations were still transmitted to the life of Ruth.  This is solely a micro-examination of an individual experience, whereas more women fall prey to such ordeals.  This has far reaching implications to society, unless society and its individuals act accordingly.

Advocacy for Profound Societal Change

            Some of the social structures, which imposed injustice on the women sector of society, have been amended.  Yet, one only has to observe that in the absence of culturally ordained overt status quos, discriminatory and insensitive behaviors and attitudes persist that continue to harm women and the family.            It is probably the keen awareness of this invisible enemy, the new fog, that the author, in writing the novel, has realistically portrayed authentic human behaviors in lieu of the commercial entertaining fare of action, gore, thrillers, and sex.  And in highlighting innate humaneness of women, the author is knowingly or unknowingly subscribing to the social learning theory of Bandura and responsibly presents to the reader, and to society, positive behavioral models that they can emulate and internalize or imitate (Bustos & Espiritu, 37).

            Therefore, the novel grounds societal change in each individual of both sexes.  Each individual must regularly submit to self-evaluation in relation to one’s responsibility toward one’s closest neighbor, the family.  One must also assess one’s sense of responsibility to the community, especially towards the disadvantaged.  Going through the examination, the individual then may try to eliminate negative attitudes, thinking, and behaviors and develop one’s altruism and sensitivity.  Only then can profound societal change be gradually attained.

            Ultimately, the basis for the perpetuation and humanization of society is the collective and individual treatment of its helpless: the children and the sick, the poor and the elderly, the unemployed and the disadvantaged women. 

             Ruth Young was the heroine that underwent productive introspection and internal change, the modern “bonesetter”.  And the novel may be seeking to form more people like her for the future of society, of the status of women, and that of the family in an increasingly technologically and materialistically depersonalized world.

Conclusion 

            The Bonesetter’s Daughter is a touching novel that is full of sensibility, culture, values, and Feminist aspirations.  The fluidity of narration and the pertinence of the chapters to each other enthrall and engross the reader to the lives of the principal characters.  Amy Tan displayed her seemingly detailed eyewitness account of history and human situations, as the pages come alive with their joys and pains.            The novel is timely as the notions of family, relationship, and the sanctity of womanhood are challenged by the modern society’s macro-criteria of competitiveness and pragmatism that threaten to preoccupy the human mind and heart at the expense of others’ humanity.  The novel is frank but subdued in asking the reader, “How’s your relationship with your mother, your grandmother, or to your wife?  Have you taken the time to consider them in spite of the hustle and bustle of work?  Are you working for yourself or for a family?     The problem with modern society is that everything either becomes an accessory or a commodity, an instrument or a source of gratification.  And when the usefulness of these accessories and commodities passes from the interest of the consumer, they are now viewed as inconveniences, excess baggage, or liabilities.  Unfortunately, the main victim of this socio-psychological behavior is the family and its women.  Unless individuals reexamine and change the attitude towards their families, the society will remain internally stagnant, or worse, it may allow the baser and animalistic instincts of men to worsen the situation of the future society.            The novel has the potential to contribute to such a change in modern attitudes, emphasizing the Feminist, Humanist theme.  In promoting awareness for the significance of the family, of the human duty to assist the helpless human, and the advantages of acculturation and confluence of the positive traits of diverse cultures, the enlightened individual reader may undergo self-evaluation, catharses, and conversion, and which in turn, may reconfigure the future society as very much more humane than it is in the past. 

References

Benjamin Jr., Lully T. Hopkins, J. Roy. & Nation, Jack R. Psychology, 2^nd ed.
New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1990; p. 503.Broom, Leonard. Selznick, Philip.  Sociology.
New York: Harper & Row, 1977; p. 315.Bustos, Alicia. Espiritu, Socorro. Psychological, Anthropological, and Sociological Foundations of Education, 2^nd ed.
Quezon City: Katha Publishing Co., Inc., 1996; p. 37.Dixon, Marlene. Why Women’s Liberation? In Lora, Ronald.
Americain the 60’s, Cultural Authorities in Transition.
New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1974; 295-300.Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory, an Introduction. Minneapolis:UniversityofMinneapolisPress, 1983; p. 186.Hjelle, Larry A. Ziegler, Daniel J. Personality Theories, 3^rd ed., Basic Assumptions, Research, & Applications.
New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1992; p. 145.Holman, Hugh C. Harmon, William. A Handbook to Literature.
New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1986; p. 418.Kenney-Benson, Gwen A. Pomerantz, Eva M. The Role of Mother’s Use of Control in Children’s Perfectionism: Implications for the Development of Children’s Depression Symptoms. In Journal of Personality Vol. 73, No. 1.
Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, February 2005; p. 23.Kim, Bryan S.K. Atkinson, Donald R. & Unemoto, Dawn.  Asian Cultural Values & the Counseling Process: Current Knowledge & Directions for Future Researchers. In Heppner, Paul P (Ed.) Counseling Psychologist, Vol. 29, No. 4. Thousand Oaks(
USA): sage Publications, July 2001; p. 571.Neisser, Edith Glicksman. Mothers & Daughters; A Lifelong Relationship.
New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1967; p. 15-17.Rudolf, Karen D. Conley, Colleen S. The Sociological Costs and Benefits of Social Evaluative Concerns: Do Girls Care Too Much? In Journal of Personality Vol. 73, No. 1.
Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, February 2005; p. 115.Sanborn, Patricia F. Existentialism.
New York: Western Publishing Co., Inc., 1968; p. 15.Tan, Amy. Bonesetter’s Daughter.
New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2001.McCormick, Kathleen. & Fowler, Joseph Lois.  Waller,
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Massachusetts: DC Heath & Co., 1987; p. 1253-54.Williams Jr., Robin M. American Society, a Sociological Interpretation, 3^rd ed.
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[1] “Man fashions his own image…he has only the conditions that he creates.  His essence (life actions) can only be defined after he exists” (Sanborn, 15). [2] The Third Person Omniscient implies that the narrative voice knows all the character’s thoughts (Waller, McCormick, & Fowler; 1253-1254). [3] The First Person Participant both tells and is involved in the story (Waller, McCormick, & Fowler; 1253-1254). [4] Acculturation is the adaptation from one culture to another, which includes retaining selected aspects of one’s indigenous culture (Kim, Atkinson, & Unemoto; 571). [5] This movement obtained equal pay and job opportunities for women in the 1960’s (
Dixon, 295)[6] Practicality points to secular emphases of culture, and hints at dissipation of ultimate “values” in favor of efficient and quick adaptability to immediate interests and satisfaction (Williams, 467). [7] Passive, hedonistic gratification…in American society has become increasingly prominent in recent decades (Williams, 469). [8] An instrument of an ideology that presents a social reality as a truth that forms minds to act according to that truth (Eagleton, 186). [9] “In all societies throughout human history, families have been the main vehicles of group identity…institutions – religious, economic, political, legal, and educational – rested on the continuities of the family (Broom & Selznick, 315).” [10] Women (in America) remain the most oppressed (Dixon)