The Joy Luck Club Blog #1
      The parable, Scar, from Feathers from a thousand Li away, is a short story about An Mei Hsu's family's relationship. The title, Scar, is meant to not only symbolize her permanent physical scar but also her psychological one. The day Hsu was not permitted to go with her mother but had to stay with her grandmother was the day she got her scars because not only was a cauldron of hot soup spilled on her but her mother abandoned her after the death of Hsu's father. An-mei scar represents her tie to her mother. Her wound functions as a symbol of An-mei's daughter’s bond to her mother.      Hsu recognizes how hard it was living with her grandmother Popo but she never rebelled or did anything to find her mother because she respected her elders. One of the themes of this parable is tradition, culture and having respect for your elders. An-mei’s story is also about respect for the ancient ways and respecting your elders. This shown through An Mei's admiration yet fear of her grandmother. She described as always being afraid of all the stories her grandmother told her but yet she obeyed because she feared being like her that person whom her grandmother always described in her stories, her mother.
      She understood that her mother’s attempt to cure Popo by cutting her own flesh and putting it in a soup was an act of deep love and appreciation. Instead of being angry with her mother for abandoning her and leaving her through a very hard time, An-mei, sympathize with her mother and she tries to excuse their mothers’ actions by describing a tradition that requires women to sacrifice their daughters.