Essay Questions

How do family politics influence Shelley’s current status in life?

Shelley faces hatred from her family due to ancestral connections. He is punished because of her ancestor's reputation; he pays due to what his ancestor did ages ago. Shelley confesses, "The relatives hated me for ancestor reasons, which you might think unfair but I well understood because I was born into the despised branch of the family. My great-grandfather was a handsome devil…a gambler and an opium addict." The current generation of family members knows the history of Shelley's great-grandfather. They use the ugly history to punish Shelley, who is not involved in gambling and opium addiction. Shelley's situation demonstrates that toxic family politics can adversely impact posterity.

Why is Miss Chipping-Highworth integral in Shelley’s vision of being a poet?

Miss Chipping motivates Shelley and Yu to love and master English. Given that she is from Sussex, he is better than Shelley’s other teachers due to her inspirational eloquence. Moreover, she introduces her students to Shakespeare. Shelley recounts, “When she left, she gave YU a leather-bound diary and me her very own copy of a book of English poems, for Shelley, she wrote, poet pupa." Miss Chipping recognizes that Shelley has a bright future in poetry. Shelley takes up his name due to the teacher. Her magnetic influence persists after Shelley completes school and moves to America to be a poet.

How do Shelley’s aunties confirm that even non-white people can espouse racist ideologies?

The aunties despise one of Shelley’s American aunts because she is not of Chinese descent. They do not support marriage at all. They believe that Men in the family should wed Chinese wives. Shelley recounts their assertions regarding the marriage: "After his education was complete, his father should've sent him home to us. We would've found him an excellent wife." For the aunties, the American wife is not excellent because of her race. The aunties’ discrimination is not different from the discrimination that white supremacists subject the non-whites to. Such racist mentalities create cracks in families and are detrimental to interracial love.