Two days before the New Year, An-mei's mother poisons herself. Empowered by her action, An-mei crushes the pearl necklace that Second Wife gave her. Now, An-mei wants her daughter to stand up for herself and stop suffering in silence.
The story of An-mei's mother is based on truth. Tan's maternal grandmother, Jing-mei, had been widowed after her husband, a scholar, died. A wealthy womanizer forced her into concubinage by raping her. Society and her family cast her aside in horror. In an article that Tan wrote for Life magazine in April 1991, she explained that Jing-mei "killed herself by swallowing raw opium buried in the New Year's rice cake." After her mother's death, Daisy (Amy's mother) married her abusive first husband in China and had three daughters. Amy and her two brothers are children from Daisy's second marriage.
This story focuses on power — its use and abuse. Wu Tsing and the system that he represents have abused women for centuries. As a widow, An-mei's mother had no value at all, despite such traditional female assets as beauty and refinement. Notice that she does not even have a name, for she has no identity of her own. But she refuses to be defeated by the system. By killing herself, she effects a change in her daughter, giving her the power to rebel. She makes this stand clear to An-mei: "When the poison broke in her body, she whispered to me that she would rather kill her own weak spirit so she could give me a stronger one." An-mei seized power from her mother's sacrifice. By crushing the false pearls, she is announcing her independence. This action is echoed in the actions of the Chinese peasants at the end of the chapter. For thousands of years, they have been tormented by birds. Finally, they rise up and beat the birds back. "Enough of this suffering and silence!" they shout — and beat the birds to death.
