Two women work side-by-side in a dimly lit factory building, and one is wearing a determined expression while the other young woman wearily sews the cloth with a sigh. Hands moving deftly across the cheap fabric, their lives are told by the lines in their hands and the sweat on their faces, but these women walk away from their work with an inner truth: life can be unfair, but the way one deals with unforeseen hardships is what matters. These women leave their homes in the countryside for a multitude of reasons, from an innocent curiosity to see the world to the need to escape abuse, and these motivations influence their paths as migrant workers in the city. The women who set out to explore end up overwhelmed by the disrespect and dire circumstances …show more content…
In her words, “One of those awful beatings three years ago made [her] determined to leave [her husband], and that’s how [she] started [her] life as a migrant worker.” This desperate motivation to leave the city--and her corresponding goal to make money--is more mature, and in addition Hui already experienced hardship in her life to prepare her for her future in the merciless city. While Fan Yusu in her youth aligns more with Xiaohong’s story, the more experienced Yusu supports the argument that women who had previously experienced tragedy or hardships are better prepared for life as a migrant worker, and they manage to find ways to happiness. In the her words, “the rural women don’t kill themselves [anymore], but they all flee their hometowns, and so downtrodden women find agency in leaving their abusive realities and working for a better …show more content…
It is this attitude of perseverance that many women coming from difficult backgrounds exhibit as migrant workers, and from this experience, they emerge with more positive outlooks than their younger counterparts. For instance, Hui exclaims at the end of her personal account that “having experienced life as a migrant worker, [she] was no longer ignorant about the outside world, [her] steps were no longer as hesitant, and [she] believed at heart: no matter what happened, [she] would go on living, living without complaint, regret, or shame.” It is interesting to see that one woman set out to become a migrant worker to explore the world and ended up feeling trapped by it, but the woman who left her home to simply escape her husband actually discovered the sheer width of the world and found a sliver of happiness in it. The accounts of Xiaohong, Fan Yusu, and Hui showcase how incoming life experience greatly helps the migrant workers handle the hardships of migrant work, and how ignorance leads to