The Last Time I Was Filled With Joy

This might seem like an obvious answer but the last time I truly felt joy was the last day of school. It is just an unexplainable feeling of relief and happiness after you turn in the last exam and realize you have no worries the next few months. When I am in school I am never stress free. Even on the weekends I randomly have a feeling of dread or worry about what assignments are due next week or grades I got on previous tests. When school is over all this stress goes away and the idea of school almost leaves my head completely. Another reason I was so happy was because I would finally be able to catch up on sleep. While this sounds pretty stupid in the school year I feel that I am always about an hour behind on sleep. But, since it was the summer I was able to get as much sleep as possible. In conclusion while it is the obvious answer  the last day of school was the most recent time I could say I was truly filled with joy.

What does it mean to be defeated?

I think the quote by Maya Angelou is needed reminder in todays world of stress that is centered around sports and grades. Now when people get bad grades they think there life is over and that they will not get into the college they had always dreamed of. Maya is trying to say take these defeats and do something about them. Do not wallow in your own self pity, but instead be inspired to do better than last time and rise to the occasion the next assessment you have. You were defeated that time and it will happen a lot in your life but its what you do after your defeat. What it means to be truly defeated is after something bad happens to you, you lose your drive and inspiration in what you are doing. Instead of doing something about your defeat you accept thats how it is going to be the rest of your life. I have fallen victim to this many times and I need to be able to learn from my defeats and instead being crushed by the defeat I have to be able to learn from my defeat.

Why would Amy Tan have Jiang fall from such Glory?

When I first heard that Winnie was going back to her father I though that Winnie's troubles could be over and that her father would protect her from Wen Fu. Then when the reader is again introduced to her father the reader sees that he is a shell of his former self and can do nothing to help Winnie. I think Amy Tan made Jiang unable to help Winnie to signify Winnie's helplessness in her marriage and how nothing can really go Winnie's way. Winnie's father is now unable to speak and is hated by all around him, but when we first met him he was so kind to Winnie.  Jiang actually appeared to want what was best for her. He was one of Winnie's few supporters in the tragic life she had. Since she has married Wen Fu nothing has gone her way and every time she tries to improve her situation she only makes it worse. I think that another reason Amy Tan made Jiang unable to help Winnie was that Winnie has to be the one to end the relationship and she can not have others do it for her. Throughout the novel we have seen Winnie always need to lean on someone like Peanut or Hulan. Winnie is never the one who makes the final decision. So If Winnie is to escape Wen Fu she has to be able to do it without any outside help.

Why Does Wen Fu Have So Much Power Over Everyone?

In the tragic events that led to Yiku's death the reader see's a desperate Winnie beg for Wen Fu to bring her to the hospital but he refuses in front of all of his drinking and gambling buddies. Winnie remarks how his buddies seemed to want to help her but Wen Fu dismissed them in anger. Why would his buddies not stand up to Wen Fu if they thought a child was going to die? I think the center of this lies in the fact that some how Wen Fu has wormed his way to leader of his group. When we first see Wen Fu interact with other pilots he is the life of the party yelling loudly and everyone looked up to him in awe. I think the reader can discover why he came to this position through his relationship with Winnie. Even if it part of chinese culture Wen Fu is commanding and wants to have absolute control over Winnie. Through mind games like the cabbage incident and openly cheating on her he has asserted his dominance over Winnie and has almost broken her. Now if you take this philosophy to his buddies you can see why he came to be in power. He needs to be in control and he does not just do this through kindness to his buddies but also fear. When playing cards earlier in the book he openly rips into a young pilot and then just acts like nothing happen. While all the men might laugh it off the men will remember that instance when they talk to Wen Fu. Also, the men might actually believe he was a war hero while the reader knows that Wen Fu got his scar from a car crash. People might actually think he was actually fighting the Japanese and was injured for the sake of China.