Blog #1 Question #2

Pearl and May live blissfully unaware of problematic situations in the world around them, the girls live in their own fantasy world, they are young, beautiful and have the privilege to enjoy their social status and money. The sisters grew up with wealth, they can’t fathom the everyday struggles of the people living in poverty, they weren’t expected to worry or learn the basic necessities needed to live life on a bare minimum because they were always sheltered and taken care of by their parents. However, their cocooned world, takes a turn for the worst when their father becomes indebted to the notorious green gang, leaving the family ruined. In order to savage something from his errors Mr. Chin offers up his daughters to repay his debt. Pearl and May don’t take this news lightly, they are shocked and angry at their father for gambling their wealth and arranging them marriages, but the girls cannot simply band together and shut themselves in their room until they get their way like they’ve usually done in the past, they have to find new ways of coping with disaster. Feeling trapped they succumb to their father’s will and obediently follow his instructions, still their feelings within gives rise to a new outlook on life; an oppressed and disenchanted view of the world, where they once saw excitement, glimmer and shine they now see depressing, grimy, and ugly sights in their beloved city.

Pearl receives a hard hit when her illusions of a future life with her love, Z.G., were shattered; the man who was supposed to be her savior doesn’t return her feelings. Pearl weeps out of desperation and sadness, and finds comfort in her sympathetic sister’s arms knowing that their bond is so strong that it’ll always bind them together, this moment is short-lived because Pearl decides to endure the hurt and pain on her own, choosing not to express emotion about Z.G. in front of her sister. Over the course of a short period of time, the girls get married and are supposed to be shipped off to America, but World War 2 is just around the corner. They plan to escape the arrangement and flee the region, all while struggling to cope with the fear of the green gang’s threat and survival of the hard times because their money is depleting, and to add to problems they must deal with the consequences that come along when war is about to break out from Japan’s invasion into China. The girls keep to themselves at this point, Pearl is constantly worrying about money for food and her heartbreak over Z.G. and has to endure anxiety, fear, and degradation. May is disconnected from her sister and stays out late at night, when she’s home she only takes naps trying to numb her feelings. Although they try to go out with their friends to try to restore some normality in their lives, they understand they are forever changed. Refugees begin to arrive in Shanghai, bombs are falling onto China and the girls remain disconnected and indifferent to the events that are occurring around them, passively dismissing them because they are near international territory and that the Japanese people dare not attack the British port. Disaster strikes as a day out in the town leads to a near death experience for the sisters, 4 bombs are dropped near them and they are separated by the explosion, they both make it out alive and return home to find out that their father is missing. These events are what shatter the girl’s state of indifference and drive them into a world of fear that eventually leads into an overdrive mode of their survival instincts.

In my lifetime I haven’t been faced with the challenging life or death obstacles the sisters had to deal with, but I’ve had petty obstacles I deal with. For instance, when I feel really anxious about waiting to get my classes I don’t just push it out of my mind like May does, I dwell on it like Pearl, and think of ways to help my situation, in this case I try to distress myself by going hiking to keep my mind off the situation that I cannot control. When I get stressed out with family problems I can depend on good friends to hear me out and offer comfort like May does for Pearl. Sometimes when a situation spirals out of control and I cannot deal with it, I disconnect from the world and act indifferently towards it so I will become immune to the pain and it helps me to push ahead in life.