Question 2 Response

In the beginning of the book, Pearl and May seem to be pretty oblivious to what goes around them, especially the poverty-stricken side of shanghai. Most of this, in my opinion, is because of their social status at the beginning of the book. They make good money as calendar girls, and it is subtly mentioned that their father is well off. However, once faced with problems that cannot be avoided, such as their father gambling away everything they had and selling Pearl & May away into arranged marriages, the beginning of the war between Japan and China (& World War II), and the horrible tragedy of the loss of their mother, it really pushes them to a point where decisions have to be made about their survival. The way Pearl copes is that basically, she makes a decision to move on, to not give up. Giving up would mean not just the end of her life, but of May’s as well, because after the loss of their mother, all they have left is each other.

In my life, I’ve never had to ensue experiences on the level of what the sisters in shanghai girls have had. However, I can relate somewhat to how they cope with it. Of course I’ve had obstacles in my life, but who doesn’t. There were times where I’ve struggled with discouragement from school, the unfortunate passing away of one of my friends from high school, and many smaller deviations from what my plan in life is. My way to cope was to tell myself that I’m not the only one who has had these problems, and that people have gotten through them, which means that I can too. Life doesn’t stop for you, so you can’t stop for it, less you want time to slip away.