Three Women

【Abstract】Pangs of Love tells a story of a Chinese immigrant family and explores their conflicts caused by the collisions of different cultures. In the novel， Mrs. Pang， Deborah， and Amanda play an important role for exploring the reasons of collisions， because they symbolize Chinese culture， American culture and the combination of the two cultures respectively. Through interpreting characteristics of the three female figures， this paper suggests that the conflicts are caused by the rejection of the other’s culture and indicates that Chinese Americans can find the sense of belonging in America but it is a long way to go.

【Key words】Female figures；Chinese culture；American culture

Pangs of Love tells a story of a Chinese immigrant family--the Pangs and explores their conflicts caused by the collisions of different cultures. Generally， males in the novel are regarded as main characters that should be interpreted deliberately； however， three women--Mrs. Pang， Deborah， and Amanda play important roles for exploring the theme. They symbolize different cultures--Mrs. Pang， Chinese culture， Deborah， American culture and Amanda， a combination of the two cultures. Their conflicts signify the clash between American culture and Chinese culture. This paper tries to interpreter these three women’s characteristics that caused their conflicts and to explore how these conflicts reflect cultures’ collision.

Mrs. Pangs is a typical Chinese woman， who values traditional Chinese culture on family， marriage and death. “Her mind isn’t cluttered with worries that extend beyond food and family.” （Louie， 1991， 250） Being a mother， Mrs. Pang is used to prepare food for their children， so she brings “a bag of goodies” to Bagel’s. Bearing Chinese values in mind， she always misses her hometown “I want to see Hong Kong again before I die” （Louie， 1991， 260） and values Chinese customs for death “marry a Chinese girl who will remember my grave and come with food and spirit money”（Louie， 1991， 261）.From the aspects of family， marriage and food， Mrs.Pang is a typical Chinese woman.However，her perseverance in Chinese culture causes conflicts with her children. Growing up in American culture， Chinese Americans value happiness and freedom （Cheng， 2003）. In their opinions， marriage is a way to enjoy happiness， not to produce sorrow. In contrast， Mrs. Pang believes marriage just means duty. In addition， Mrs. Pang’s way of expressing love is also rejected by her children， for example， Bagel （Mrs. Pang’s child） thinks that her action of bringing food to treat his friends disgraces him. In American culture， an adult should be independent and should not rely on their parents to do trifles for them. （Deng， 1990） However， Mrs. Pang， under the influence of Chinese culture， tries to do everything for her sons because she believes that they are always her children no matter how old they are. Thus， it is Mrs. Pang’s persistence in traditional Chinese culture and rejection of American culture that leads to the pangs of love and deepens gaps between her and her sons.

Deborah is a typical American girl， who is independent， self-centered and pragmatic. She “wants me （Ah-Vee-ah） to move out of my mother’s place， says I’m a mama’s boy” （Louie， 1991， 258）， because in America， the opinion that an adult should live independently is widely accepted （Deng， 1990）. Besides， Deborah is self-centered， who just cares about her own feelings and never cares for others. When Bagel’s friends are praising Bette Davis’s eyes， she criticizes they are “old bug eyes”. Though others do not like her dressing style， she insists on dressing in her way. As a typical American girl， Deborah never wastes her time on useless things. She is unwilling to communicate with her boyfriend’s mother and even do not greet her warmly， for she thinks these actions can gain nothing. Such kind of pragmatism deepens the troubles between Deborah and Mrs. Pang. With these typical American characteristics， Deborah conflicts a lot with Ah-Vee-ah and Mrs. Pang. Her words “a mama’s boy” disgraces Ah-Vee-ah. The careless dressing style and disrespect to Ah-Vee-ah’s mother not only make Mrs. Pang dislike her but also arouse Ah-Vee-ah’s resent. In turn， Deborah’s resistance of Chinese culture hurt herself： she is gossiped by Ah-Vee-ah and his mother， and Ah-Vee-ah does not regard her as “a keeper” for her typical American characteristics： independence， self-centeredness and pragmatism.

Amanda is a representative of the combination of American culture and Chinese culture. “She spoke Chinese…making coconut-filled sweet-potato dumplings…for New Year’s Day.” （Louie， 1991， 253） The fact that Amanda is loved by both Ah-Vee-ah and Mrs. Pang indicates only combining two different cultures can reduce collisions and create true love； and learning from the other’s culture can make the intergrowth of American culture and Chinese culture. However， Amanda broke up with Ah-Vee-ah and maried a Japanese man in the end. It demonstrates that Chinese are not totally accepted by Americans and there is still a long way for Chinese Americans to gain the sense of belongs in America.

In this novel， the three important women--Mrs. Pang， Deborah and Amanda play an important role in indicating reasons for conflicts， for they symbolize Chinese culture， American culture and the combination of the two cultures respectively. Mrs. Pang and Deborah’s adherence to their own culture and rejection to the other’s culture lead to pangs of love between relatives and lovers. Mandy’s example suggests that American culture and Chinese culture can combine together through accepting the other’s culture； meanwhile， it hints that being completely accepted by Americans and finding the sense of belong is hopeful but it is still a long way for Chinese Americans to go.

【References】

[1]Louie，David Wong.Pangs of Love.New York：Alfred A Knopf.1991.

[2]程愛民.美國華裔文學研究[M].北京：北京大學出版社，2003.

[3]鄧炎昌.現代美國文化與社會[M].北京：高等教育出版社，1990.