Tanjung Rhu Short Story from QweeL Ling
Credit to MsYen for these notes :
http://cikguyen.blogspot.com/p/literature.html
Way. Concerned about something which he could not lay his finger on he was
not ready to go home. His mother's (Ah Ma) funeral was just a day before
and everything had been done correctly. He counted the number of ships in
the harbour as was his habit with his binoculars. The binoculars reminded him
of his mother.
Conflict
He recalled he had bought them for Ah Ma and was eager to give them toher. He wanted her to use them as she did not want to undergo a cataract operation. His wife was having tea with friends in a room. Ah Ma was in the garden feeding her chickens. Speaking to her in Cantonese, he mentioned the binoculars as see-far glasses. Ah Ma was irritated as it reminded her of her refusal to have a cataract operation. Later, she mentioned her willingness to use them at his office to see Tanjong Rhu where her husband's shipyard used to be.
Climax
Next morning, Ah Ma prayed in the altar room. Then, she talked to her dead husband to inform him of her going to their son's office. Her granddaughter, Ying offered to do the praying with the joss sticks for her but she would not allow it. Mr Li ticked off Ying for criticising her grandmother for wanting to do things her way. While waiting for Ah Ma, Mf Li looked at his father's photograph and remembered their time together. When they were in his office, Mr Li pointed out the ships and the whole harbour to Ah Ma but she could not see anything. Instead, she talked about seeing their old hut, walks and crabbing on the beach. Coming back to the present, Mr Li felt nostalgic and
wanted very much to go back to the time of his childhood. He tried to recall but had very blurred memories.
Falling Action
He recalled that he tried to ask Ah Ma again. But, by then, she had become very sick and was bedridden in hospital, unable to move or talk very much. Ying helped to look after her. Knowing that her father wanted to talk to Ah Ma, she lifted her grandmother's eyelids and told her father to say something. But, Mr Li could not and scolded Ying for not being respectful. Ah Ma moved restlessly and managed to say something about the key to the altar being hidden before she drew her last breath.
Resolution
Now back in his office/ the day was becoming dark and he suddenly thought of the altar and what he had promised Ah Ma at her deathbed. This was what had been troubling him the whole day, something he had left undone. He rushed home to do that one last thing for her. He paid his respects to Ah Ma but, he could not open the drawer. He cried and told Ah Ma he saw Tanjong Rhu that day and then decided to leave well alone.
Credit to MsYen for these notes :
http://cikguyen.blogspot.com/p/literature.html
PLOT
Exposition
Mr T. W. Li, a rich businessman stood at his office window high above ShentonWay. Concerned about something which he could not lay his finger on he was
not ready to go home. His mother's (Ah Ma) funeral was just a day before
and everything had been done correctly. He counted the number of ships in
the harbour as was his habit with his binoculars. The binoculars reminded him
of his mother.
Conflict
He recalled he had bought them for Ah Ma and was eager to give them toher. He wanted her to use them as she did not want to undergo a cataract operation. His wife was having tea with friends in a room. Ah Ma was in the garden feeding her chickens. Speaking to her in Cantonese, he mentioned the binoculars as see-far glasses. Ah Ma was irritated as it reminded her of her refusal to have a cataract operation. Later, she mentioned her willingness to use them at his office to see Tanjong Rhu where her husband's shipyard used to be.
Climax
Next morning, Ah Ma prayed in the altar room. Then, she talked to her dead husband to inform him of her going to their son's office. Her granddaughter, Ying offered to do the praying with the joss sticks for her but she would not allow it. Mr Li ticked off Ying for criticising her grandmother for wanting to do things her way. While waiting for Ah Ma, Mf Li looked at his father's photograph and remembered their time together. When they were in his office, Mr Li pointed out the ships and the whole harbour to Ah Ma but she could not see anything. Instead, she talked about seeing their old hut, walks and crabbing on the beach. Coming back to the present, Mr Li felt nostalgic and
wanted very much to go back to the time of his childhood. He tried to recall but had very blurred memories.
Falling Action
He recalled that he tried to ask Ah Ma again. But, by then, she had become very sick and was bedridden in hospital, unable to move or talk very much. Ying helped to look after her. Knowing that her father wanted to talk to Ah Ma, she lifted her grandmother's eyelids and told her father to say something. But, Mr Li could not and scolded Ying for not being respectful. Ah Ma moved restlessly and managed to say something about the key to the altar being hidden before she drew her last breath.
Resolution
Now back in his office/ the day was becoming dark and he suddenly thought of the altar and what he had promised Ah Ma at her deathbed. This was what had been troubling him the whole day, something he had left undone. He rushed home to do that one last thing for her. He paid his respects to Ah Ma but, he could not open the drawer. He cried and told Ah Ma he saw Tanjong Rhu that day and then decided to leave well alone.
THEMES
Seeing
It tells us how the different generations view or 'see' their culture. 1 examines the relationship between a successful businessman named Mr L and his mother, and looks into the different meanings of'seeing'. Mr Li look: at material goods as sources of happiness and a better life. He buys a pair o binoculars for his mother, who has cataracts, to see clearly. Mr Li assume* his mother needs a pair of binoculars to see more clearly so that the rest of her life would be more comfortable. But his mother sees Tanjong Rhu, not literally, but metaphorically, as the place where the children had grown up.Tradition vs modernism
• Mr Li's mother values the importance of traditional practice. Everything must be done properly and she must 'tell' his father about visiting her son's place of work. In Chinese traditions, praying to the ancestor and the dead is important to every family.
• Mr Li, his wife, Helen, and daughter, Ying, are moulded in modernism. Mrs Li plays host to her high society friends with her tea sessions, and Ying speaks in English with her father but in Cantonese with her grandmother.
Generation gap
A picture of a big generation gap arises, with a conservative mother who refuses to have her eyes 'cut open', a severe and slightly self-centred father who always assumes young people do not respect the elders and a naive daughter who openly shows her feelings and opinions without considering her audiences. This generation gap is a result of modernisation eating into old ways, causing each generation to misunderstand the next. It is a common situation faced by people living in rapidly growing societies.
