Chapter Fourteen: Waiting Between the Trees--> Ying-ying St. Clair Term--> Figurative Language

Queen Mother of the Western Skies

Ying-ying recalls her first marriage. She married into what was an arranged marriage, and she learned to love the man and lived to please him. She conceived a baby which she knew would be a boy. However, several months into the pregnancy the man left her and aborted the unborn son. She later explains that she was born in the year of the Tiger. Many children died during that year, but she survived. She says the Tiger has two way: gold side leaps with its fierce heart and the black stands still with cunning.

She also mentions two thoughts. "But thoughts are of two kinds. Some are seeds that are planted when you are born, placed there by your father and mother and their ancestors before them. And some thoughts are planted by others" (245). This is also said to be true for one's personality. They are born with a personality, but they are effected by the people they grow up around. Ying-ying felt her first marriage caused her to lack the spirit of the Tiger and she believes Lena lacks the spirit too, so she wishes to change.

" But when she was born, she sprang from me like a slippery fish, and has been swimming away ever since" (242). This quote provides figurative language. The simile and imagery within the sentence provide the reader with a picture and can ultimately  help the reader better understand what the author is trying to portray.