The Importance of Whinnie’s and Pearl’s Side Comments

The side conversations by Whinnie and her daughter, Pearl, lighten the mood of the novel which encourages the reader to continue reading.  These comments not only brighten the mood, but show the positive improvement between the mother daughter relationship that Whinnie’s horrible life eventually ends up.  For example, on page 194 in the novel, Whinnie gets stuck in her own dress.  This leaves the reader with a feeling of hopelessness because the narrator of the story is stuck in such a horrible scenario that she can’t even put on her own dress that she made.  Then, the side comment is added which immediately lifts the mood.  Since Pearl is actually paying attention and listening to her mother (which is shown when Pearl laughs at what is going on in the story), their relationship is improving.  Overall, the side comments are important because even though the past was so horrible, the readers know that Whinnie ends up improving her relationship with her daughter and living a better life in the end.

Is Helen Really Bad?

                “She waved her hand at me. One of her fingers looked broken.  ‘You see how bad the world has become,’ she said.  ‘Now I’m that way too.’

-Amy Tan, The Kitchen God’s Wife, page 217

The quote above is Wei-Wei, Pearl’s mother, narrating when Hulan, otherwise known as Helen, taking Wei-Wei home in the pedicab.  In this quote, Hulan said that she is bad.  She said this because she committed a “selfish” act of stealing the pedicab and beating away the man who had it.  This act was probably done in part out of selfishness and greed of wanting to escape the mass chaos, but she did come back for Wei-Wei.  Wei-Wei was pregnant at the time and an innocent in need of help.  Helping an innocent, especially someone who is pregnant, is a good deed.   Another part of this scenario which is not given to the reader in the quote above is that the man Hulan stole the pedicab from was the man who originally stole it from her and Wei-Wei.  Even though two wrongs do not make a right, at least she did not steal from an innocent.  Hulan did something bad by stealing something, but it was for a good cause.  This is a tricky way to base an opinion of whether someone is bad or good, but judging on the severity of what Hulan did that is considered bad and what she did that is considered good, she is still a good person.

The Importance of Names

The name of the character Bao bao means baby.  At the very beginning of The Kitchen God's Wife, the reader learns how this name reflects the childish personality of this character.  Even though this character has a bizarre name, his personality is addressed quickly which does not encourage questioning and attention towards him.  This character is not a major character in the novel, so this fits him well.
Two other characters in the novel are Mary and Pearl.  Their names are both American names which reflects that they are both a second generation living in America.  Unlike their cousin Bao Bao, they do not have nicknames (Amy Tan does not inform the readers of their nicknames before chapter six) which separates them from their Chinese heritage.  This shows how much more Mary and Pearl are involved with American culture then their Chinese heritage.
According to a quick Google search, the name Whinnie, spelled the same way as the Whinnie in The Kitchen God's Wife, does not exist.  This adds to the confusion of who Whinnie is and what she's been through.  Since a large portion of the novel revolves around Whinnie's past and how she became who she is, I believe that a name that does not carry a significant meaning to the general audience fits her well.  Having an unknown name allows the author to develop the character with out other influences like an artist would paint a blank piece of paper.  Having an unusual name not only draws attention, but also encourages questions.  Whinnie is a main focus in the novel so her name needs to draw its own attention.

Thoughts and predictions on the rest of the novel based on the title of the novel and the story The Kitchen God

The story of the Kitchen God tells the story of a man named Zhang who had everything he would ever need including an amazing wife named Guo, the woman who gives Zhang his wealth.  Zhang decides to give up his wife because he became greedy and selfish.  Zhang loses everything after that, and then is saved by his wife.  When Zhang realizes his mistake, he kills himself.  This is understood as courageous because he admitted his wrong.
If the story of the Kitchen God is a parallel story to the novel "The Kitchen God's Wife," then the two stories must share similar plots and/ or characters (character in the stories share similar personality traits).  Since the novel is about The Kitchen God's wife, I predict that Guo, the wife of Zhang, shares similar personality traits with one of the characters in the novel.  In the story, Guo works hard and then receives some bad luck: Zhang leaving her.  After her bad luck, she still takes care of the people who have hurt her.  So far in the novel, Amy Tan wrote that Whinnie, Pearl's mother, started her life in her loving mothers arms with everything she needed.  Then, her mother died, Whinnie's bad luck.  In the present time, Whinnie tries to take care of Pearl  her daughter, even though Pearl doesn't always appreciate her mother.  Guo and Whinnie seem to be similar in how they act.  Could Whinnie be the "Kitchen God's Wife?"

My Research Paper so far

So far on my research assignment, I have come up with a thesis and five arguments to defend it.  I have also made five notecards and found a few sources to help me make my them.  Two of the sources I have found are Vantage Point: Teaching Online Vs. Face-to-Face by Mike Dubose and Teaching College courses online vs. face-to-face by Glen Ferguson.  I haven't found anything surprising or interesting so far because I had difficulties at the start of this project when picking a thesis and it's supporting arguments.  Since I had difficulties at the start of this project, I tried to alter the question slightly and make a thesis that I believed in hopes to write a paper that could theoretically be used.  Since the thesis and arguments took a lot of time  think through, I have not done as much research as I had hoped I would've done by now.  The original question for this research paper is whether online learning or face-to-face learning is better.  I see reasons for both being better than the other for different people, so I altered the question a little bit to create a thesis that is students whose education benefits more from a face-to-face interaction require a face-to-face education and vice versa; students can not benefit from both.  The arguments for the thesis are that people have different styles of learning, maturity levels, schedules and life priorities, needs for human interaction (introvert vs extrovert), and I'm debating whether to include neuroscience or the chemical make up of the brain.  In other words, some people need the extra part of their day and the structure of the face-to-face classroom and others need the flexibility of an online classroom.  Overall, I'm not where I want to be on this research paper but I have a solid idea of where to go and what to look for.