The Joy Luck Club

Too much water and you flowed in too many directions,

Too much fire and you had a bad temper.

Too little wood and you bent too quickly to listen to other people's ideas, unable to stand on your own

"Bad wife!" she cried. "If you refuse to sleep with my son, I refuse to feed you or clothe you." So that's how I knew what my husband had said to avoid his mother's anger. I was also boiling with anger, but I said nothing, remembering my promise to my parents to be an obedient wife.

He had no desire for me, but it was his fear that made me think he had no desire for any woman. He was like a little boy who had never grown up

I was surprised at what I saw. I had on a beautiful red dress, but what I saw was even more valuable. I was strong. I was pure. I had genuine thoughts inside that no one could see, that no one could ever take away from me. I was like the wind.

What is true about a person? Would I change in the same way the river changes color but still be the same person?

I wondered why my destiny had been decided, why I should have an unhappy life so someone else could have a happy one.

"It's no use," my mother would say. "We have made a contract. It cannot be broken." And I would cry even harder.

Of course, now I know the tree-trunk lady was the old village matchmaker, and the other was Huang Taitai, the mother of the boy I would be forced to marry.