Symbolism in “A Pair of Tickets”

The same way scratches on paper create language and just one look from an admirer creates a feeling of love in ones heart; symbolism can evoke emotion and meaning that generates magic in a story. I believe symbolism is a prevalent and unwavering theme weaved throughout Amy Tan’s short story “A Pair of Tickets.” Many things, such as the names of the characters, and the photographs they take in the story embody symbolism and turn this story into a remarkable account of family and how it is one of life’s unbreakable bonds. The importance of symbolism in this short story makes it come alive to the reader.
To summarize of Amy Tans “A Pair of Tickets” we look at the main character, Jing-mei. She is on a train, with her father, heading to China to visit her family. She speaks of not feeling like she is really Chinese. Although all of her family is Chinese, she grew up in America because that is where her parents moved during the Japanese invasion of China. They first visit the town of Guangzhou, where her father’s great aunt is waiting to see them. This is the first time the reader gets a glimpse of Jing-mei being interested in her Chinese heritage. “The minute our train leaves the Hong Kong border and enters Shenzhen, China, I feel different. I can feel the skin on my forehead tingling, my blood rushing through a new course, my bones aching with a familiar old pain. And I think, my mother was right. I am becoming Chinese.” (Norton, 189.) They go to a grand hotel with some family members and decide to eat dinner together, which Jing-mei is excited about because it would be her first real Chinese dinner. Instead, the family wants to eat American food. They eat dinner together and Jing-mei’s father talks of her mother and her connection to China. Jing-mei’s mother, Suyuan, had three children. During the invasion of Japan into China, she knew she had to take her children and run. She ran for three days, hoping to escape the invasion before she could not go on any further. She stopped on the side of a road and begged for someone to take her daughters to safety, but no one would take them. With no other choice, she laid her babies down, put all her money and jewelry inside the babies’ clothes, along with a family picture, and headed off to find food. She soon pasted out and woke up in a truck filled with other sick people. American missionaries had picked her up. While she was recovering in the hospital she met Jing-Mei’s father. They got married soon after and moved to America, although trying several times to go back and find her abandoned children. The babies were picked up and taken good care of from then on. After many years, and Suyuans death, someone spotted the children in a department store and tried to get in touch with Jing-mei’s family. Jing-mei’s father told her auntie Lindo to write to the children of their mother’s death, but instead she wrote them a letter and pretended to be Suyuan. The whole point of the trip for Jing-mei was to tell her two sisters of their mother’s death and to reconnect with them for the first time since their mother had left them. At the very end of the story, all three sisters meet for the first time, and this is when Jing-mei truly feels Chinese. Throughout this short story, symbolism shows up numerous times, which ties all of the characters and events together. Symbolism means to use symbols to represent ideas or qualities in a story. Without symbolism, this story would not have had the impact it did.
One huge representation of symbolism in this story was the use the character names. Amy tan did a great job of using almost every characters name as a meaning for something in the story. For instance, the Jing in Jing-mei’s name meant not just good, its something pure, essential, the best quality. The Mei means younger sister. To Jing-mei this means a lot, because she takes it as her mother wanting her to be the essence of her older sisters. Hearing this meaning affects her greatly. Her mother’s name, Suyuan, means two different things. It means ‘Forever Never Forgotten’ or it can mean ‘Long-Held Grudge.’ This puts a whole new outlook on her mother and her characteristics. One meaning is beautiful and because she has passed away, ‘Forever Never Forgotten’ means a lot to the family who will truly never forget her or what she had to go through. But it also shows that she had other sides as well. Her father joked that her mother also had a temper. “Your mother get angry with me, I tell her her name should be Grudge.” The symbolism of names is also reflected in the two abandoned sisters names. Their names are Chwun Yu and Chwun Hwa. Chwun Yu means ‘Spring Rain’ and Chwun Hwa means ‘Spring Flower.’ The symbolism here is clever because spring flowers follow spring rain and the two children were twins. They had been through so much together and their names imply that they will forever be connected. It was a thoughtful way to weave symbolism into the characters and make them all bond in that way. If these several paragraphs speaking about the meanings of the names had not been in the story, there would be a whole perspective of the story that would never had been known. We may have never quite understood, as readers, how deep of a connection these children had to their mother and to each other. We would have never gotten the emotion that Jing-mei felt when she found out what her mother, her sisters, and even her own name meant. The symbolism also gives the characters a place to fit within the story. It gives them a role to take on. Jing-mei is supposed to be the essence of her older sisters. She is the sister that got to meet her mother and experience life in America. Her sisters on the other hand had to go through many hard times, and even so, they stuck together and became amazing women. These names show their place within their family and show how important they all were to there mother. Without this, we may have never truly realized how hard it was for Suyuan to leave her two children on the side of the road, which could have tremendously changed the reader’s opinions and views of her.
Another big example of symbolism in Amy Tans “A Pair of Tickets” is the photographs they take throughout the story. The photograph that Suyuan left with her children the day she left them on the side of the road is perfect symbolism for family and the bond she shared with them. The photograph was a picture of her family and on the back she wrote, “Please care for these babies with the money and valuables provided. When it is safe to come, if you bring them to Shanghai, 9 Weichang Lu, the Li family will be glad to give you a generous reward. Li Suyuan and Wang Fuchi.” (Norton, 200.) This photograph stayed with these babies through the roughest part of their lives. It symbolized that even though their mother had to be apart from them, she still cared for them and would have done anything to be with them. She was, in her heart, and on that photograph, always with them. Another instance where the photograph showed symbolism was at the end when all three sisters took a picture together. When they first saw each other, Jing-mei’s dad grabbed the Polaroid camera and took a picture. Jing-mei states, “And now I see her again, two of her, waving, and in one hand there is a photo, the Polaroid I sent them.” At this first glimpse of them, Jing-mei sees her mother in the sisters. But she looks at them again and does not see her mother at all. After her father takes a picture with all three of them, she sees a little of her mother in all three. This symbolizes that all three of them together is not only what Suyuan wanted, but she was actually a part of all three of the sisters. Her memory would always be remembered through that photograph. Not only were certain photos symbolism within this story, but also using a Polaroid camera was in itself a symbol. Using a Polaroid camera is much different than the cameras we have today. With one touch of a button, and not even looking through a lens, you can take a quick picture. You can even just take out your phone and snap it. A Polaroid camera is much different. It is big and bulky. Once you take the picture, it spits out a photo and everyone stands around it, waving it in the air until the picture develops. The main idea is that it takes time. It brings on an anxious feeling while you are waiting. This feeling symbolizes the feeling Jing-mei must have felt as she was traveling to see this part of her family that she had never seen before. She had waited so long to see this side of her family and traveled so far. Having the Polaroid was a sure symbol of that feeling of waiting and wanting.
In conclusion, there are many different types of symbols in all kinds of books, but the symbolism in Amy Tans story “A Pair of Tickets” stood out among other literary elements. Without symbolism, this story would have not had the impact on the reader, and would not have showed the emotions felt by the characters and their bond with family. Symbolism is a symbol that represents an idea or qualities. The names represented the personalities of each character and their relationship to not only each other, but to their mother. The photographs taken throughout the story, and even the type of camera the author portrays them using in the story is a symbol of the feelings and emotions felt throughout. Symbolism is an enormous part of the effect Amy Tans short story “A Pair of Tickets” had on the reader. Without it, there is just words on a page.