I am so glad that Jili got her will to live back. I agree with her, and her mother. If you are gone, it doesn't help anyone that depends on you or cares for you. Jili is worth way more alive than dead. I am sorry for the conditions that they have to live in now, and with her Grandma sweeping, it must be horrible to come back home to an empty, sad place.
Even I, when I read about that time in the park, felt like I was Jili and I was thinking of a happier place. But so much has happened in the book, I had forgotten about it.
As for the epilogue, I am a little mad that not one of the Red Guards got punished. Of course, I know that they were as brainwashed as the rest of them, but did they realize their actions after Mao died? Did they regret them? I am glad that everyone got a happier life, like Chang Hong. I smiled when I read she married "a blck whelp". Ahh, the irony in some things.
I understand how the Chinese people thought Mao was God. Since he made the country pretty much isolated, I see how they looked up at a person with so much power. I just hope that any of this ever happens in China or any country ever again.
Let me just say, I’m so happy it didn’t have a happy ending-that would make it way to unrealistic (I know everything did turn out well-in the epilogue). But I don’t think I could be in a situation like that. I’d probably go mad. To watch your old, frail grandma sweep the streets, have to take care of your dying mother, be trusted with the lives of your little siblings, and think of how much stress Ji-li has! It must really feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel and life will go on like this forever.
ReplyDeleteI am happy she realized how important family is and remembered her promises. The epilogue made me realize how real this was. I felt horrible when I figured how scarring that is for her. It is great that she started her company to help people understand the USA and China better. I wondered how she got her life in the US started without money or knowing english. Did she start out living on the street? I hope not.
ReplyDeleteI thought the epilogue was very interesting. I did not understand the crimes he did. It was cool to see what the characters have done since then. It said that the names of the characters and certain details were changed in order to keep the privacy of individuals private. I wonder who's names were changed, because obviously her name had not been changed, and maybe the names of other family members.
ReplyDeletechapter: 17 ji li chooses her family over her future
ReplyDeleteepilouge we see where the charecters are today
I think that it was great that the book did not end happily, because this is always so much better then like "Cinderella Found Her True Love" blah blah blah. I think that it is good that she chose family.
ReplyDeletejk
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