a pair of tickets by amy tan

             Analysis of "A Pair of Tickets"
             In Amy Tan's, "A Pair of Tickets", the narrator, Jing- Mei Woo explores the relation of place, heritage, and ethnic identity. At a young age, Jing- Mei was in denial of her ethnic identity. "I was fifteen and had vigorously denied that I had any Chinese whatsoever below my skin. I was a sophomore at Galileo High in San Francisco, and all my Caucasian friends agreed: I was about as Chinese as they were" (159). At the age of 36, "I've never really known what it means to be Chinese." Jing- Mei takes a journey to China to fulfill her mother's wishes of finding her long abandoned twins. "My mother is dead and I am on a train, carrying with me her dreams of coming home. I am going to China." (159)
             The setting of Guangzhou, China, helps Jing- Mei realize the extreme changes of place and culture. Before arriving to China, Jing- Mei has different perspectives of China. Since China is run by communist. Jing- Mei thought of China as a dirty, poor, and slummy country. Arriving to Guangzhou China, she realized China was not what she had anticipated. The construction of downtown Guangzhou and the shoving and pushing of crowds make Jing- Mei feel at home. "And then we are caught in a stream of people rushing, and shoving, pushing us along, until we find ourselves in one of a dozen lines waiting to go through customs. I feel as if I were getting on a number 30 Stockton bus in San Francisco" (162). As Jing- Mei passes through Guangzhou, she thinks of downtown Guangzhou as a major American city with high rises and construction going on everywhere. Though men and women are working without safety belts or helmets on a scaffold made of bamboo held together with plastic strips, the hotel she is taking to looks beautiful "like a grander version of the Hyatt Regency." (165) Once they arrived at the Garden Hotel, Jing- ...

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