Commentary on an excerpt from The Jade Peony
In the excerpt from ‘The Jade Peony,’ Wayson Choy conveys the feelings and emotions of a little boy who has just lost his mother. Feelings of shock and awareness are created by the lack of detail present. The author uses the activity around the boy to exemplify and focus on the silence in the boy’s head. Choy uses tone, imagery and the narrative first person to convey the context and feelings of the narrative voice.

A sense of distance and detachment from surrounding is established in the first paragraph with the sound of ‘footsteps’ and ‘voices.’ Nevertheless loud auditory imagery such as ‘a chair fell,’ ‘the curtains whipping,’ and ‘snapping’ illustrates the sense of an echo in the boy’s head. It conveys that everything affects him more, and that his senses are more vulnerable. This, therefore establishing that he has gone through some sort of trauma.

The actions in first paragraph like ‘kept calling, rush, whip, shuddered and hesitated for a second’ are extremely quick.
This is contrasting to the slow movements like ‘pull and clung’ in the second paragraph therefore illustrating the way time felt slower to the boy and the way the world spun around him. The shock he feels, is therefore highlighted.
The quick movements in the first paragraph could also portray the urgency of the situation.

‘Rigid arms’ and ‘mommy’s head move’ are the first time that the reader is given some clue about the mother’s death. The rigid arms indicate lifelessness, while ‘mommy’s head move’ portrays lack of control, for the mother and the child.
The realization of her death only dawns on the boy with ‘would never say again…’

The boy being ‘carried’ manifests his despair and shock. ‘Carried’ is repeated twice in one sentence emphasizing on the strong feelings of sadness of the boy. The ‘vacant stare’ of the boy indicates how scared he is and the shock he is going through. Being carried from the arms of his mother to another woman indicates motherhood and protection and therefore makes the situation of loss clearer to the reader. It also suggests that the boy will continue to have a ‘mother figure’ in Mrs. Chin.

The characters that surround the boy also help in conveying his emotions. As the passage is written in first person and many details are left out, the reactions and movements of the Chin characters help the reader understand the situation and the boy’s emotions better. The ‘vacant stare’ of the boy is reflected into their faces, thereby helping the boy and reader to understand his emotions completely.
The lack of detail also contributes to the effectiveness in conveying the emotions in the passage. At this moment, the boy is completely stunned and reactionless, although he is filled with emotions of sadness and disbelief. The ambiguity in the passage can be translated as the void felt by the boy.

The author also uses tone to convey the context and feelings of the narrative voice. The first paragraph has a tone of urgency with auditory words, directly relating to the urgency of the situation.
The distance created in the paragraph by the footsteps and sounds in the other rooms, adds to the trepidation of the boy since he can’t see but only hear what is happening.
The next paragraph is more descriptive, as the boy cannot focus on anything else besides his mother. In the last two paragraphs, the atmosphere lightens up with ‘songs, joy, excitement and story telling.’
This conveys the way the family and the boy are moving past the death.
The idea of ‘moving past’ is buttressed with ‘scrubbing her hands furiously,’ as she tries to clean her past of everything.
With each paragraph the movements slow down, decreasing the urgency and with each paragraph the mood alleviates. In the last paragraph the mother, or the incident isn’t mentioned; completely switching the topic therefore portraying the way the boy is letting go, and forgetting with time.

Therefore in conclusion, the author efficaciously conveys feelings of detachment, shock, and then healing. Wayson Choy uses tone, imagery and the narrative first person to convey the message of the passage.