In Chapter 18, Winnie is put through the worse night of abuse this far. It was because she danced with an America. soldier named Jimmy Louie. That night Wen Fu divorces her at the point of a gun, then does other horrible things to her, including raping her, all while still pointing a gun at her head and threatening to kill her and everyone in their house if she doesn't do what he says. The next morning Winnie tries to leave because she is now divorced, but Helen and Auntie Du try to stop her. The point out that her divorce isn't valid because it wasn't witnessed. Winnie begs them to be her witnesses, butt hey won't do it because they don't understand how bad Winnie's marriage actually is. Helen agrees to help her escape, but she makes a terrible mistake by telling Wen Fu where Winnie went.
My main questions are: how does Winnie ever forgive Helen for what she did that day? Winnie will eventually help Helen get out of China and come to the United States, but why does she do it when Helen betrayed her when Winnie was trying to do the same thing? It is possible that Winnie feels some sort of obligation to Helen for helping her many desperate circumstances, like Yiku's death and the day the Japanese dropped the propaganda papers. Another reason could be the promises that Winnie made when the bombs were falling over their city and she didn't know where her son was. One of those promises was to be a loyal friend to Helen. This promise of loyalty could have made Winnie see that she has to forgive Helen in order to keep this promise that she believes helped her find Danru safe and sound after the bombings in Chapter 17. All of the reasons I have listed so far are possible answers to my questions, the most probable answer is what Winnie says when she is begging Auntie Du and Helen to sign her divorce paper as witnesses. In the midst of her begging she says, "If you do this, I am in your debt forever"(ebook 351). Even though they don't help her in the exact way that she wanted, they do hide Winnie and Danru for a night; which could make Winnie still feel like she has to uphold her promise despite the torret of misfortune their actions caused her.
That is a really good question. Personally I don't think I would be able to forgive someone if they did that to me. Helen and Aunt Du were Winnie's chance to be free and Helen instead became the cause for Winnie's continued suffering. I personally believe that the only reason they two could even remain on speaking terms would be out of necessity. The two obviously got out of China somehow, and even though Winnie shows her annoyance, she talks to Helen. She tells everyone that they are sisters. Also, I wonder if Helen realized that Wen Fu never intended to be kind to Winnie. When she brings him to her, she even says "you promised to be kind" (311). Maybe she didn't know? (Although I don't really know how she could miss it, he's been a horrible human being throughout the entire book) Either way, you pose some good questions (and reasonable answers) because frankly, I have no idea how Winnie is able to forgive Helen.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with that question. This isn't even the first time Helen has helped Wen Fu stay with Winnie. Helen has repeatedly thwarted Winnie's attempts to get away from Wen Fu. Not only that, but Winnie also completely disagrees with Helens way of seeing things. She has mentioned multiple times that Helen twists her words, and sees things differently. She hates that Helen thinks something is true and won't change her mind, like the incident about where the fabric came from. This is the straw that broke the camel's back in my opinion; I wonder how Winnie and Helen are still friends.
ReplyDeleteI think Winnie often wonders that herself, but she knows that Helen is really the only woman she can talk to. Though she and Helen are very different, Helen does demonsrate some kindness. Helen has had her own problems, to be sure, but she is, like Winnie, bound to her husband. The culture is so different from ours... it is hard to imagine accepting a culture like this.
ReplyDeleteCece - your commentaries are very insightful. You probably don't need to include as much plot detail. Just get to the point. I love the way you include excerpts from the text to discuss!