Nonetheless, this change was brought upon not by an event, but rather, it was brought upon by Rose’s mother. An-Mei is responsible for transforming Rose from a timid and passive woman into one with an actual “voice”. Rose, an inherently timid and passive person, ends up letting her decisions be made by everybody else but her, making this character completely voiceless. In the beginning of “Without Wood”, Rose says that she “used to believe everything [her] mother said, even when [she] didn’t know what she meant” (Tan, pg. 185).
Rukmani’s neighbor Kali is constantly complaining about the troubles of living in the lower class and being considered as “untouchable.” The caste system also makes any communication between castes forbidden. As Kali’s husband says, “Their life is theirs and yours yours; neither change nor exchange is possible” (Markandaya 48). What he means by this is that the caste system will never change, so neither will the challenges they face in their lives. The caste system keeps Rukmani and the lower class in poverty and growing more poor because of India’s beliefs. Ever since growing up and watching her sisters have stunning weddings, Rukmani could not wait for one of her own.
Later however, Rose becomes so obsessed with “What would he want” that he forgets what it was like to be dating her and be enjoying time with her. Rose’s mother tells her that you must know the importance of knowing your worth unlike her mother had, and to not be so submissive and worship others more than you do yourself. Rose confronts her husband and they work towards a solution, and they later are back to
Rose and Moses will love each other till the end. Moses had just been bought and he was tall, broad shouldered, and strong, Rose automatically loved him as he did her. When they decided to get married they told Carrie and she bought a beautiful gown for her. Rose's father had been auctioned off when she was a baby and Carrie bought him back for Rose and her mama. Now on to Rose's Mama and Papa.
The book is about Ramona, an eight-year old who wants to show that she is old enough to take care of herself. She narrates her school life experience as a grade 3 student in a new school and her family concern. Since Ramona’s dad lost his job and wants to go to school to become an art teacher, her mom must go to work (2 jobs) to keep up with the family’s finances. This concerns her, since Ramona sees and feels the family stressing about money. Meanwhile, in school, she has a new teacher, Mrs. Whaley, whom she wants to please and to show she is a good student.
Rose’s parents get in the huge argument about what is happening to Rose but her father is in full denial “What is that your professional Opinion?...I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap on you…have you talked to her”(1). With Rose’s father being in denial it is causing him to treat her different. With him being a psychiatrist he probably see how people with mental illness are treated on a daily. He would know how
Don’t you think I had dreams and hopes? What about my life? What about me” (70). Rose, rightly so, is enraged when Troy defends his actions by saying he has been stuck his whole life with her, when she has gone through the same thing. The only difference, however, is that Rose stays loyal to her family even when things are not going great, while on the other hand Troy looks out for himself for his own benefit, at the expense of his family.
It informs of her lack of belonging, which is emphasized in the narrative by her movement, going on “routes” rather than growing “roots” – she left her home in Pennsylvania to work in New York and then moved with her family to seattle. The position of in-betweenness, living between two cultures, is uncomfortable and confusing for her. Ruma’s Hamlet like indecisiveness and afflicted psyche is better understood from a psychoanalytical perspective.Although a grown woman with a life that seems enviable outwardly, she remains very insecure inside.She feels alienated from the people closest to her, including her husband and child. She feels distanced from her own loving husband as she believes that he cannot understand her fears and quandaries with regard to her initial indecision over whether to ask her father to move in or not. Their marriage is not as smooth as one might believe.
Rupa and her husband, Prem Nath remain childless couple throughout the story. But she is lucky enough because she is not subjected to bear the taunts of in-laws for having no child. Like Sona, after passing two years, Sona is still not pregnant. Her mother-in-law comments her occasionally, “What can you know of a mother’s feelings? All you do is enjoying life, no sorrow, only a husband to dance around you”.
The Roma, also called Romani people or gypsies, are an ethnic group, which appears most dominantly in Europe and America. The Roma ethnicity is greatly divided into diverse subgroups. Amongst the most noted Roma subgroups are counted the Sinti, or Sindhi, and Kale, both situated in Central and Western Europe. Even though the dialects spoken by Central and Eastern Roma subgroups and individual clans differ greatly in terms of vocabulary, they all belong to Romani, the general Roma language. Romani developed out of Hindi but has been independent from Indian languages ever since.