Chapter Two: An-Mei Hsu - Scar; anecdote.

The narrator in this chapter has changed to a mother, An-Mei. She shares her anecdote about the scar she received on her neck, and her grandmother's attempt to make her forget her mother. An-Mei's mother left her and her brother when they were very young to live with her grandmother, Popo. Popo did not want the children to know or remember their mother, so she tells them she is a ghost. An-Mei knew her mother was not dead, but she knew her mother was forbidden. An-Mei had almost forgot her mother entirely until one day she remembered when her mom came pleading for her and her brother. Popo would not allow her An-Mei's mother to take the children. An-mei's neck was burnt by a bowl of boiling soup. As the burn turned to a scar, the memory of her mother turned to nothing. "That is the way it is with a wound.  The wound begins to close in on itself, to protect what is hurting so much. And once it is closed, you no longer see what is underneath, what started the pain" (47). The burn for An-Mei was the like the memory of her mother that she needed to forget, but would always be there in same way. This quote for me made me realize how strong these women are. When they are struck with tragedy or hard times, they don't crumble and fall. They keep going even harder than before. They do not let the fear or scar determine their future. An-Mei is not angry with her mother for leaving her, she simply loves her mother for her courage.