L'Ingratitude
In her novella "Ingratitude," Ying Chen wrote, "I was burning with the desire to see Mother suffer at the sight of my corpse." The protagonist of her novel, Yan-Zi, plans her death and carries out her own death sentence. I read the book in September of 1999, a time of hardship for me at the age of 42. Unlike the muddled mind of the very young Yan-Zi, I did not contemplate suicide, although I once did think about it when I was young. Former Harvard educator and psychologist William James said, "I take it that no man is educated who has never dallied with the thought of suicide." It is good that Ying Chen put it within her created character, rather than herself, or else we would lack one more good read.
The author originally hails from Shanghai, China and immigrated to Montreal, Canada in 1989, after receiving a degree in French language and literature from Shanghai University. She now resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. Although Mandarin is her first language, she writes primarily in French and Carol Volk translated her work to English.
This novella explores a toxic mother-daughter relationship the main character wishes to escape. As for filial piety and ancestry, Yan-Zi wants none of it. She thinks, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful not to have parents, then, to live far from the obligations imposed by the bonds of blood?”
Much of the main action takes place in Yan-Zi’s thoughts after she has become trapped as a disembodied ghost-like spirit, continuing beyond the grave and inhabiting an unseen world as she watches over the aftermath of her death in the real world.
As she narrates the story, her thoughts focus on a variety of characters. As I read about them, I wondered if Chen’s characters are purely imaginary. As writer Margaret Banning stated, “Fiction is not a dream. Nor is it guesswork. It is imagining based on facts, and the facts must be accurate or the work of imagining will not stand up.”
Chen follows what a childhood teacher taught her: “The most simple is the most beautiful.” Without showiness, she puts her pen to paper, using easy language to create an interesting read about Chinese beliefs and customs that are shared and accepted. Most immediately, one recognizes parallels to Korean culture. For example, Yan-Zi’s mother was the ultimate “Tiger Mom,” similar to Korea's overzealous “Helicopter Mom.” Both cultures follow the lunar calendar. In China, they celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with special foods, whereas in Korea it is “Chuseok.” Of course, in China there was predominant influence of Kung Ch’iu (also known as Kong Qiu or Kong-Zi), known as Confucius, and equally influential in Korea.
The overall theme of the story is the fateful, suffocating nature of family and traditional social expectations against the rebellion of youth who wish for a destiny of independent autonomy.
The author (wrjones@vsu.edu) published the novella “Beyond Harvard” and teaches English as a second language.