“Scar” An -mei Hsu
“That is the way it is with a wound. The wound begins to close in on itself, to protect what is hurting so much. And once it is closed, you no longer see what is underneath, what started the pain” (Tan 40).

An-mei’s mother comes to visit the family after hearing that Popo is unwell. While she is there, An-mei’s mother spends some time with her daughter. She brushes An-mei’s hair, and subtly runs a finger across a scar under An-mei’s chin. This triggers her to recall a memory of her mother. She remembers her mother coming to visit. The room erupts into chaos when the family spots An-mei’s mother. In all the pandemonium, a large pot of soup falls over An-mei and scorches her neck. This leaves a wound which then turns into …show more content…
Rose has never been the one to make decisions. She always lets other people make them for her, so being forced into uncharted territory was scary and disorienting. Soon after, Ted gets fed up with Rose’s inability to make decisions, so he calls for a divorce. Rose is explaining how she feels about Ted calling for a divorce.

When something so unexpected and jarring happens, especially when a person you are close with makes a hurtful decision, you can’t help but feel overwhelmingly surprised. You are so affected by this incident that you feel almost “knocked down” or “thrown off your feet.” After this incident, you begin to distrust the people around you, even the people who have always been by your side. This is because when a person you trust betrays you, you can’t help but feel like the other people you trust will also betray you. And so to protect yourself, you just don’t trust anyone but yourself.

Everything about the divorce really takes a toll on Rose. She starts to distrust the people who are close to her, even her mom. What is especially interesting is that she mentions not trusting "God." I think what she means by saying this is that she is starting to lose faith in her marriage. She believes that because Ted called for a divorce, it is meant to be that way. That is why she doesn't try to save her