Chapter 3- The Joy Luck Club

Literary term- vernacular: "I remember them because one lady made watery 'shrrhh shrrhh' sounds. When I was older, I came to recognize this as a Peking accent, which sounds quite strange to Taiyuan people's ears." (50)

Quote- "I remember the day when I finally knew a genuine thought and could follow where it went. That was the day I was a young girl with my face under a red marriage scarf. I promised not to forget myself." (66)

In chapter three, Lindo Jong has an arranged marriage. Her parents had the matchmaker arrange who her husband was at just the age of two. Lindo Jong was sent to live with her future husband, Tyan-yu when she was twelve and married him at the age of sixteen. Tyan-yu's mother, Huang Taitai, was very controlling of her and was also very demanding. Lindo Jong was very unhappy in her current situation and contrived a plan to get out of her marriage. Once she is free form her marriage, she recalls that she can finally think for herself and make her own decisions. She acquired a sense of self after escaping her marriage. This quote is effective in portraying how Lindo Jong feels relieved that she can be free to think and act for herself. This theme of a sense of self and freedom is common to the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand. In this novel, the main character, Equality 7-2521 lives in a society where the government tries to control everyone and make it so every person was equal. In doing so, however, one had no sense of self, could not think his own thoughts, or even use the word "I".  At the end of  the novel, Equality develops an ego, or a sense of self, and realizes the importance of individuality, similar to Lindo Jong.