Xu Xi's Short Story 'Famine'

Decent Essays
Show More
Summary: Xu Xi’s short story “Famine” shows us the impact of food on one's life and how it can relate to specific memories from the past. The story follows a fifty-one year old cantonese woman who travels to New York for the first time to experience what it is like to live a life of luxury. Shortly after the death of her parents, she leaves her reserved and secluded life in the rural countryside of China to experience new opportunity and a higher quality of life in America. It is here in New York where she guides us through her recollections of her past.
Evaluation: Many visual images came to my mind as I read this short story. I was easily able to visualize a woman arriving in the Unites States not knowing what to expect. The luxurious hotel

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Year Of Red Dust Analysis
    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Year Of Red Dust Analysis

    With regard to Chinese culture and beliefs, rapid fundamental change was not anticipated by the people of Shanghai after the Communist Party of China (CPC), led by Mao Zedong, defeated the Chinese Nationalist Party, also referred to as the Kuomintang (KMT), on October 1, 1949. However, significant adjustments were made to once the CPC took power. The book, Year of Red Dust: Stories of Shanghai, by Qiu Xiaolong, is a collection of fictional stories that illustrate the daily lives of the Chinese people previous and post the 1949 divide. Two stories in particular, “(Tofu) Worker Poet Bao I” and “Return of POW I,” give insight into how Shanghai was affected once CPC became the ruling party, and the culture of the city before October 1949, respectively . The prior story highlights how radically different Shanghai became under the CPC, such as the change in infrastructure and the development of communes.…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    What Is The Theme Of A Pair Of Tickets By Amy Tan
    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages

    What Is The Theme Of A Pair Of Tickets By Amy Tan

    Learning about family heritage can have an array of different emotions: confusing, scary, happy, and sad all wrapped in one. After coming into terms with one’s heritage, people can be at ease and finally enjoy and become closer to their present life. This journey is changing Jing Mei physically to no make-up and no hair style. Even her beliefs are changing, to where she’s beginning to accept her Chinese heritage, the language and recipes. She also apprehends that her American lifestyle is not too different from the Chinese lifestyle.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Old Man Isn T There Anymore By Kellie Schney Analysis
    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Old Man Isn T There Anymore By Kellie Schney Analysis

    A Dive Into Culture In the story, “The Old Man Isn’t There Anymore,” the author, Kellie Schmitt, focuses heavily on the differences between Chinese and Western cultures. Schmitt challenges the reader by introducing concepts that were not yet known to the reader and making her recall the differences that she has faced in the past regarding different cultures. Schmitt uses her experience from the past three years of her living in Shanghai, China, she illustrates the contrast between the two cultures using her encounters with her “housemates” in China. By sharing her experience of attending a funeral and living in a house with multiple people, Schmitt effectively demonstrates the gap between the expectations and ceremonies of the Chinese and Western societies.…

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Summary Of From Restaurant To Panda Express
    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Summary Of From Restaurant To Panda Express

    Sierra Evans BIS 257: Asian American Studies Book Report November 25, 2015 In From Canton Restaurant to Panda Express: A History of Chinese Food in the United States, Haiming Liu describes the evolution of Chinese food in America and the progressive journey of how it became the globally recognized phenomenon it is today. Liu provides an in depth description of the struggle early immigrants went through being immersed in American culture, as well as the fundamental role Chinese food played in their integration, acceptance, and survival. Chinese restaurants have spread like wildfire, and Liu describes the process in which a foreign and feared upon cuisine became the success it is today. Reading this book gave me new perspectives by drawing…

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Stereotypes In Marilyn Chin's Elegy For Chloe Nguyen
    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Stereotypes In Marilyn Chin's Elegy For Chloe Nguyen

    In Marilyn Chin’s “Elegy for Chloe Nguyen (1955-1988),” she speaks about the life of her friend that has passed away at the age of 33. She compares their lives side by side, with Chin growing up poor and Nguyen growing up wealthy. Both women grew up in a similar cultural background, but a different class background. It’s almost as if Chin admired how intelligent and well-rounded Nguyen appeared to be, despite Nguyen experiencing moods of emptiness throughout her life. As the poem progresses, it’s evident that there is a shift in Nguyen’s mood, thus shifting the poem.…

    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Inside Out And Back Again Character Analysis
    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Inside Out And Back Again Character Analysis

    “...saving lunch seats...” (Lai,229) When you come to a new school and make new friends it is nice to know that you matter. When someone saves you a lunch seat it means a lot because you don’t have to be worried about where to sit. When Ha eats the new food in America she doesn't like how the food comes wrapped in plastic or in cans. One of her favorite food back in Saigon was papaya, when she came to America she got dried papaya and was unimpressed. When Ha adjusts to the dried papaya it shows strength because she is willing to get over it and make the best out of it.…

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Juxtaposition In The Blue Kite
    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Juxtaposition In The Blue Kite

    From: Patricia Niedzwiecki To: "patricia.beck@bbh.com" Date: 10/07/2015 08:19 PM Subject: Zack Zack Niedzwiecki COR 330 Professor Esckilsen October 7, 2015 "The Blue Kite": An Homage to the Unseverable Bonds of Family and Humanity A Beijing street filled with the bustle and hum of children playing games and kicking up dust from an unpaved courtyard. The excitement of an impending marriage -- a young couple surrounded by relatives and friends coming together to welcome them to their new home and celebrate the union. This opening scene, earnest in its wholesomeness, belies the tumult of the backdrop -- Communist China during the 1950s and 1960s -- some of the most unsettled years in the country's long history.…

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Summary Of Man Awakened From Dreams
    • 1463 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Summary Of Man Awakened From Dreams

    Man Awakened from Dreams: A Book Review In the book, Liu Dapeng describes a number of themes about Chinese history and at the same time gives the issues of daily life of the Chinese society. In the book, Dapeng describes how the Chinese society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was organized and lived. To do this, Dapeng presents the way the society was living in the guidance of the Chinese values such as the Confucianism set of values. The text presents a portion of the diaries of Dapeng at the time, about the society at the time.…

    • 1463 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The House Of Lim Analysis
    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The House Of Lim Analysis

    In Margery Wolf’s novel “The House of Lim,” the author recounts her own life experiences of living abroad in rural Taiwan. In 1959, Margery and her anthropologist husband, Arthur P. Wolf, lived with the Lim family in the countryside for several years. During this time, she analyzed their time with the family, who followed traditional Confucian beliefs. For its time, Wolf’s novel was one of the first outside perspectives written about life in this region. A small village, Peihotien, was a perfect example of authentic country life.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Analysis Of Fred Wah's Diamond Grill
    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Analysis Of Fred Wah's Diamond Grill

    Throughout this excerpt of his book, Wah narrates his inner confliction between wanting to eat the beef and greens dish served at the restaurant, a staple of his Chinese culture, and not wanting to be seen by other Chinese-Canadians due to his embarrassment of only being half Chinese. This confliction emerges from Wah’s insecurity of being caught in between white and Chinese, further amplifying his feeling of separation…

    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Summary Of The Dragon's Village
    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Summary Of The Dragon's Village

    The Dragon’s Village is an autobiographical novel of Yuan-Tsung Chen’s role in the land reform of revolutionary China in which property was extracted from the landlords and redistributed amongst the peasants. This exposure to the end product of her political beliefs forces her to reject the romantic notions she had previously attributed to the communist movement and to the life of peasants. This awakening does not, however, cause her to reject the land reform movement in itself, but is better characterized as a disillusioning. While raising moral disagreements with the violent means by which the reform was enacted, the author maintains an emotional connection and respect for the peasants (albeit without rose-tinted glasses) and for their…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Analysis Of Ruth Reichl's Tender At The Bone
    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Analysis Of Ruth Reichl's Tender At The Bone

    In Ruth Reichl’s, Tender at the Bone, the reader witnesses the impact that food can have on peoples lives along with the relationships we form through food. Food becomes a catalyst in Ruth’s life, finding her true identity and the people she wants to surround herself with for the rest of her life. Ruth Reichl’s love and passion for food opens up a world unimagined in educating her and nurturing her into the women she is today. Ruth is determined to escape the negativity and control her mother has attempted to put on her since she was little, and live a life full of love and happiness through overcoming her deepest fears. In order to understand Ruth’s growth in life, it’s equally important to understand the decline of Ruth’s mother and how they…

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Grapes Of Wrath And The Jungle
    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Grapes Of Wrath And The Jungle

    Globally, millions of impoverished families struggle with survival. Measly finances create some of the difficulties in life. Historically, immigrant workers of the early 1900’s suffered from meager finances. Unfortunately, many Americans had no awareness of the disturbing struggles that immigrant workers endured. The Grapes of Wrath and The Jungle revealed poor laborers’ treacherous living condition to oblivious Americans.…

    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Lin Family Shop Analysis
    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Lin Family Shop Analysis

    “The events in this story took place in 1931, it was a period of great stress for the Chinese people. Groaning under the triple oppression of imperialists, feudal landlords, and comprador-capitalists. The working people suffered greatly. Even the industrialists and the traders did not know which way to turn. It was a cut-throat society.…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Dear Miss Breed Essay
    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dear Miss Breed Essay

    She knew how awful it was to be there, but she also had remained positive. In the text it says “Yesterday I ate rice, weenies, and cabbage with a knife. That was a new experience for me! You never realize how valuable a thing is until you experience it. The dining rooms are very small here because there is one to each block.”…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  Cookie Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings