Disappearing Moon Cafe

1
Disappearing Moon Cafe

• ? The Chinese community
• ? Sense of self
• ? connections between individuals and group
  (influence on each other)
• ? struggle / gap within self and people
• ? gives rise to the mess around

2

• Self
• ?
• Family
• ?
• Community

3
Diasporic situation

• ? diaspora a scattering of seeds
• cause trade and labour
• ex. Fong Mei and Foon Sing
• ? shared dilemma as an excluded race in Canada
• ? searching for roots (12), (140)

4
Inner conflicts

• ? Gwei Chang as the patriarch (the core of the
  community)
• You dont want the help of the associations?
  Then youre alone! (79), (75)
• ? distrust and suspect between people
• Theyre jealous of those who are more
  successful than they are. (36)
• What can Tang Peoples Street do for me?
  (79)

5

• ? This dead town was full of vicious ghosts.
  ----- the gambling (107)
• You, no money! You dead boy, whos going to
  be taken in by that? (109)
• ? image of the Wong family
• for others everyone was full of
  compliments, (45), (48)
• for the family members Why did I have to
  come to this place full of risks and dangers?
  (45), (230)

6
Isolation

• ? homeland (China)
• old customs carry on the Wongs name
• Mui Lan In the village, the customs were
  clear. (36), (59)
• the dead ghosts (49)
• What was it, the same old going-home-to-China
  one? (201)
• ? attitude ambivalent (59), (79), (116), (123)

7
Family (relationship and thinking)

• ? husband / wife (Choy Fuk and Fong Mei)
• Choy Fuk threw on his jacket, grabbed his
  hat and stumbled out without a single glance in
  her direction (91)
• ? the elder / the younger (Mui Lan and Mei)
• how good and kind and decent youve become
  suddenly. (203). (202). (35)

8
Canada

• ? unable to merge into the whites society (180)
• ? difficulties in working and living
• That dead white devil! Cheating us all these
  years! (34), (71), (202)
• ? Janet Smith case

9
Sex

• ? Gwei Chang / Mui Lan
• Our sons wife has already chosen. (30)
• ? Choy Fuk / Song Ang
• whos that going to hurt? (110)
• ? the oppressed women as minority

10
Sense of self

• ? recognition of self
• ? value of existence
• ? interactions between people
• ? defense mechanism
• ? parts of self (Johari Window)

11
Value of existence

• ? recognition exploitation
• He had watched her played the role of the
  perfect daughter-in-law all along, (53)
• until Fong Mei was able to take care of
  another child, (135)
• A child ... a little family to (183)
• what do you really have but two people
  busily trying to enslave each other? (186), (130)

12

• ? making use of opposite sex
• Choy Fuk Song Ang
• But this one with her hard face and cool
  indifferent stare made him want to squash (97)
• Fong Mei Ting An
• She backed him up the wall (119)
• Morgan Kae
• And I would have nothing to do with his
  stories. (174)

13
Interactions between people

• ? rely on others to construct ones identity
• Ting An worker of Gwei Chang (113)
• Fong Mei Choy Fuks wife (53)
• Song Ang being rescued by Mui Lan
• ? women ? childbirth power
• ? responsibility, role-playing
• All my life I saw double. (128)

14
Defense mechanism

• ? Gwei Chang transference (220)
• ? Mui Lan and Choy Fuk rationalization (110)
• ? Fong Mei displacement (156) and compensation
• ? reaction formation
• ? unconscious, distortion, disguise

15
Johari Window

• ? open / blind / hidden / unknown
• Of course, the darker side of the story
  stayed in the dark, privy to family members
  only. (148)
• she had no way knowing about the familys
  twisted past, (155)
• Why didnt you tell me! (191)
• I was kept in the dark about a lot of
  things. (199)

16
Self-disclosure as a way out
Open self Blind self (the young)
Hidden self (the elder) Unknown self
17
Suzie

• ? rebellious, overburdened with the dark past
• dumb Chinese rules! (176)
• I want out! Out! (177)
• Untie them! Untie me! (189)
• Let me go! Please let me go! (194)
• ? nervous breakdown a symbol
• false consciousness disorder of the family
• ? the incest as a force to revolt

18
Another example

• ? The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (1989)
• ? Chinese American immigrants
• ? traces back to
  the family
• history for
  solutions
• ? conciliates
  the conflicts