Chapter Nine: Lena St. Clair - Rice Husband; parable

Rice Husband is about Lena's husband, Harold. Lena's mother, Ying-ying, is coming over for a visit to see their home. Lena begins the chapter with saying that her mother can predict evil events to occur. This reminds Lena of when she was little and her mother told her that if she did not eat her rice her husband would have 'pock-marks' for every grain she did not eat. After hearing this, Lena made sure to eat every grain of rice until she remembered her neighbor, Arnold. Lena quit eating hoping that would help her to not have to be married to Arnold. This later resulted in her anorexia. When Ying-ying came to the house, she broke a vase on a table. Lena says, "...I start to pick up the broken glass shards. 'I knew it would happen.' and her mother says, 'Then why you don't stop it?'" (165). This quote literally explains Lena's relationship with her husband. She never stopped him, and she let him do what he wanted. Lena needs to stop bad things, the vase and her husband, before they become too big to stop or break.