Hai says, “Sometimes, success is something that happens over the course of generations, something that is built upon life after life.” Why is it important for her to make this observation? Within your own family or community, have you seen examples that reflect this sentiment?
Hai certainly found success. She wanted to be educated and studied to do well; she was so determined. I find one’s commitment to seeing one’s family struggle generationally might be the impetus to make a future generation try to improve their standard of living. This is not an easy task as finances play a HUGE roll.
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I think it was a very realistic statement. Yes, she was successful, but I think her hope is that her daughter will be even more so, and her granddaughter more successful than both of them.
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It is a very accurate statement. It’s important to state that and accept that success most likely will not happen overnight or even in our own lifetimes. Just as change for the better often takes an horrendously long time yet change for the worse often happens in days and weeks. Your previous question about the plight of women in the world reflects that exactly. We can see right now in the USA how quickly change for the worse of most of humanity has happened very quickly. It is similar to Nazi Germany. Regarding generational change and my family my paternal grandmother and grandfather emigrated from Sicily around the Great Migration. They came here with very little met in a mining town and were married . Giving birth to 10 children while moving from mining town to mining town until working their way to owning a small store. All the surviving children ( 9, 4 girls and 5 boys) became successful. Attending public high schools and the boys using the GI bill to attend colleges. My father became a successful businessman and a leader in our community and was able to afford to educate each of his 6 children and support us comfortably. He was able to pass on some financial legacy. Although the current admin. Is doing its best to destroy all that we have and what we have to give to our child. I don’t think any of my siblings will equal the financial success of my father nor do I think as a whole we will achieve anywhere near what he and my mother did. They came from poverty and worked their way up , so their achievements are most stunning. But it was certainly a generational movement. My Sicilian grandmother refused to allow her children to speak Italian in her home - even though she was not fluent in anyway in English. She saw learning English and being comfortable with it as a key to their success in school and life. She was looking forward toward a way to help make these small children more likely to succeed, and she certainly achieved her goal.
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Hai certainly saw success happen over generations starting with her goals and accomplishments. Today? I have to consider how generations define success as this seems to be changing. Buying and then owning a house was a mark of success, but this might not be attainable for the 20 -30 ages and younger. Certainly a long career with one employer is rare. Does our society favor acquiring assets as a show of success? “Things” And no hand-me-down furniture or dishes from grandparents or even parents is acceptable, well, this does depend on the perceived financial value of said items. e.g. Original paintings by masters, season tickets at Green Bay Packer games (ahem!). Who would have ever thought that some kids want to grow up to be “internet social influencers”? “The times they are a changing” from one decade to another.
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That’s a really good point, @NanK. I don’t have any young people in my life, so I’m not sure what people consider “successful” anymore.
Perhaps that’s only something we can judge later in life. Now in my 60s, I consider my life to have been successful, but if you’d told me what my life would look like now back when I was in my 20s or 30s, I’m not sure I’d have thought that.
I have two 30 something children, and I believe they define success as the ability to make a good living in order to be independent and to do the things that bring them joy such as travel. They both aspire to own homes and to marry, but neither of them have achieved that as of yet.
I am also the child of immigrants from Hungary and their struggles are unimaginable to me. They and I would agree that their lives were a success but that of their children were even more successful because they did not have to escape Communism in their homeland.
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I absolutely love your comments! They are so true, because what really is success now and in the future!!
This statement must have given Hai hope that positive change can happen. Within my lifetime, I have seen a broader acceptance of the roles women can play in the work force and home. In the 60s women were encouraged to train to be nurses and teachers. Now, women are encouraged to go into scientific fields - become space explorers, solve the riddle of global warming, research cures for diseases to name a few. I think the the view of women and what they can accomplish has increased.
Hai’s attitude reflects the novel’s central themes of survival, perseverance, and hope in the face of hardship. Hai’s life was full of trauma, dislocation, and sacrifice. However, the examples she demonstrated, primarily through education, strength, and protection of her children, began to come to fruition in her lifetime and could lead to better opportunities for future generations.
Her perspective was powerful in the context of war, relocation, and poverty, where immediate success was not always attainable. For Hai, recognizing generational progress allowed her to find meaning in her struggles and to redefine success as something larger than herself.
This generational view of success is significant in many families, especially among immigrants who have faced barriers. Parents and grandparents may work long hours, sacrifice dreams, or endure difficult conditions so their children can get an education or own homes. The achievements of the younger generation often stand on the shoulders of earlier ones who never had the same chances.
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My understanding was that traditional Chinese culture placed the individual firmly within the generational context—personal success meant honor for the whole family. Personal success also meant honoring the family.
Success in China meant financial, business, marriage and sons. Success in the U.S. has many forms— fame, money, accomplishments. But personal success is really defined by the individual. Whether it’s material possessions or spiritual development, success belongs to the individual.
It took generations for change within Hai’s family. She admired her mother for her resilience, intelligence and resourcefulness troughout their journey to reunite with their father’s family. However Mom continued Chinese traditional beliefs that Hai was determined to not pass on to her children. Mom believed in fate because she had to rely on the decisions of others.
Her mother stressed the importance of education, which Hai also stressed with her children. She was a teacher, but there was not money for her to attend university.When her future husband proposed, she gave him her terms. “I want to keep my job and decide what to do with my wages.” She had saved to pay for an 8-hour surgery to straighten Lan’s legs. He agreed and gave her the rest of the money needed. He was a good man and she was happy.
Hai progressed and passed her independent ideals on to her daughter, Yun-Mei. She graduated high school and university. Then she received a scholarship to a master’s program in the US. Page 376 Sometimes, success is something that happens over the course of generations, something that is built upon life after life, each one opening a path so that those coming after can walk easier,
farther, like the refugees who made the road at Rennie’s Mill. Through her mother’s strength, Hai became who she was, and she felt her daughter’s success was both hers and her mother’s.