For much of the fourth chapter, “At the Western Place,” the
mother of author Maxine Hong Kingston takes on very harsh, critical-seeming
qualities. Although earlier in the book she did not come across as a very warm
or weak person, it in this section that one can see that she is a strong and
heavily opinionated person. She criticizes her own children harshly, as well as
her sister and niece, claiming that they are useless. The mother also forces
her sister, Moon Orchid, to confront her husband, who had raised another family
and married again, which causes huge emotional damage to Moon Orchid. However,
she does appear to regret this decision when she tries her hardest to comfort
her sister as she falls apart.
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