It is totally unfair for a woman to submerge her own personality just in order to cater to her husband and his family because doing so means losing the right of being an inpidual. To treat everybody as an inpidual is one of the fundamental beliefs in America. Anyone has the right to express his or her own views, which is guaranteed by law. Ever since the foundation of the nation, Americans are known for their pursuit of equality, equality between male and female, as well as between races. They feel it hard to understand why sometimes Chinese people give up rights easily and show submission. Obviously, by today’s standard, this conventional view on marriage as reflected in the works of early Chinese-American female writers should be totally abandoned.
Undoubtedly, it is vital and inevitable to pursue equality in a marriage and in a family. And this equality is on a higher level, not just the right of speech and decision, but equality of status and characteristics, which includes equal chances of job, education, and equal rights and obligations. As for Chinese-American female, they pursue equality with not only men but also white people. Therefore, parents should encourage them to pursue equality in all aspects. 来!自~751论-文|网www.751com.cn
China is a country with thousands of years of history and views on marriage were ingrained into people’s mind for centuries. Chinese a parent consider it is his or her obligation to help children find their spouses. Western people, however, hold that parents have no rights in selecting a spouse for their son or daughter. All that they provide for young people are medium and places to make friends. Although Chinese-Americans get in touch with western culture, still some old-fashioned people stick to some part of conventional Chinese views. In A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Mr. Shi went to America to see his daughter in order to persuade her to restore her marriage. However, he is different from Jade Snow’s parents in that he allows porce in a marriage and helps his daughter to find a new spouse though he is not optimistic about porce. Mr. Shi said” I need to know what went wrong and help you to find the right person the next time.” (Li Yiyun, 2005: 195)