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MonkeyNotes-The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan
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Notes
The war time crisis as faced by Weili portrays her as a strong but
sympathetic person. She too, along with the other pilot wives
was anxious about the safety and security of their husbands.
Weili is genuinely empathetic with the other ladies who had been
widowed. But she is misunderstood by Hulan who misinterprets
empathy for inviting bad luck and death for their husbands too.
HulanÂ’s sharp words hurt Weili. To make them understand her
point, she pleads, "Practical is not the same as bad luck
thinking."
"Stuck in my dress, stuck in my marriage, stuck with Hulan as
my friend." These feelings expressed by Weili reveal her true
predicament. She stitches a beautiful green dress for herself but
when she tries to wear it, she gets stuck in it due to her advanced
stage of pregnancy. This is what triggers this outburst, "Stuck in
my dress, stuck..." Weili is just not able to comprehend, as to
why is it that she gets stuck with everything, that is, why is it that
there is no escape for her from various things. Why are the
relationships that she forms, be it of a friend or a wife, so
incomplete and imperfect.
As the war progresses, the spirits of the pilotÂ’s decline, that is,
constant fear of death replaces their hopes for victory. To ease
such tense, troubled minds, Weili organizes elaborate feasts each
time the pilots return from their flights. The first time she gives
the dinner, the number of pilots is fourteen. But the number
dwindles rapidly as the war progresses. The pilots have never
tasted such delicacies in their lifetimes. Therefore the evenings
that they spend at Wen FuÂ’s house, are memorable events for
them. They are grateful to Weili and consider Wen Fu to be
lucky for having such a gracious lady for his wife.
At this point Winnie confesses to her daughter about a very
special relationship that she had shared with a young pilot, Gan.
Gan is one of the pilots who come to her house for the feasts.
Weili is emotionally drawn to Gan. But in those days, even such
thoughts were seen as signs of infidelity. Though young, Gan is a
mature person. Though he is attracted towards the kind and
loving Weili, he always maintains a distance from her, as he
knows his limits. In fact, Gan gives a special meaning to WeiliÂ’s
incomplete life. For the first time Weili across a man who is
capable of caring for her and is a well-mannered gentleman.
Weili cannot help comparing her cruel, animal-like husband Wen
Fu with the caring, kind-hearted and sincere pilot, Gan. Wen Fu
can only bully people, assert his power and dominate the pilots.
When the time comes to really display his strength and abilities,
he turns out to be a coward. While most of his co-pilots are
killed, Wen Fu is smart enough to shield himself from the
dangers. Winnie clearly remembers the day when Gan had last
come to their house; a few days after that he too died a painful
death. That day, he sees how Wen Fu mistreats Weili. Later, Gan
had says to Weili, "You see yourself only in a mirror. But I see
you the way you can never see yourself, all the pure things,
neither good nor bad.Â’ Though the relationship between Gan and
Weili does not last long because of his death, it leaves a
tremendous impact on her life. Although their relationship was
devoid of any commitment, somewhere deep in their psyche they
were one. Their similar compassionate attitude had drawn them
closer to each other. WeiliÂ’s encounter with Gan gives her a
better understanding of herself and also of the fact that, all men
are not like her husband. Gan embodies the other dimension of
the male, devoid of only sexual impulses and full of love,
kindness, and compassion. GanÂ’s death creates a deep void in her
life. The deep sorrow and emptiness that she experiences can be
compared to the desperateness, which she had felt on the
disappearance of her mother. For Winnie, Gan became like a
‘ghost lover.’ When she thinks about him after his death, she
deeply regrets the fact that she was not able to respond to her
innermost feelings of love for him.
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