Is there an antagonist in Daughters of Shandong? If so, who or what do you think it is, and why?
Di is the person i would chose as an antagonist. Di was selfish, could not see another’s view, and never seemed to reflect on her pugnacious attitude. Even at the end of the book
when she left with her new husband, she never looked back. She truly severed all ties to the Ang family. “Di was true to the words of her young self; she became like a bucket of water that had been thrown out the door.”
I think the antagonist is the sexist traditions that de-value women, and to the women such as Nai Nai who uphold the patriarchal system at the expense of other women.
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Nai Nai is the antagonist to Chiang-Yue.
The antagonist is Mao. His evil actions terrorize the family and the entire country and set the whole story moving. He is why they all must flee, in order to save their lives. Until they get to Taiwan, they are never safe from him and his soldiers.
Yes, Mao and his followers were evil; however, even if the communists had not risen to power, Nai Nai still would have been full of hate toward her son’s wife and all his daughters.
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Agree Carol_B with your thoughts on this, as well as, Nai Nai. She represents all that is cruel and most oppressive about traditional Chinese culture before the Communist takeover.
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I think it is difficult to label any character as an antagonist. In order to understand decisions that were made, it is important to contemplate the history of the Chinese people, particularly during the Mao years when millions were starved to death, sent to labor or re-education camps, executed or cast out of their homes just by virtue of having intellect, affluence, political connections to the old guard or someone just wanting to punish anyone they didn’t li,e.
While Nai Nai is a cruel force in the story, she is typical of a patriarchal
society and part of the culture in China at the time of this story. Mao and his violent followers were outside forces at work in creating the dysfunction in China and in this family. All were complicit in perpetuating misery in the story. Di was a victim herself of factors mentioned above.
Hands-down the grandmother, Nai Nai, was the villain in this story. She treated Hai and Di’s mom very badly. It was evident Nai Nai hated the woman her son married. She made the mom get on her knees often for any reason. She wouldn’t even give permission to save the Three’s Life. She didn’t show respect or compassion to the women in her household.
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I see why Mao could be viewed as antagonist. But his goal, however brutal, was to overthrow the centuries of the rigidity and continuation of a generational culture (the individual counted only in the context of families through their generations). And he was responsible for a lot of reprehensible actions throughout his reign.
This is why I see Ang Ang as the antagonist due to her hate, her self-centeredness, and her general mean spirit. She enjoyed cruelty to others for its own sake, just wrapped it up as her right. She was also directly the cause of Three’s death.
Just as a side note, the one-child policy intended to limit the population resulted in deaths of many female babies ending in a shortage of women. The traditional reverence for boys and disposability of girls had continued. The one child policy lasted 35 years.
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The antagonist isn’t a single person but a combination of forces and individuals.
- The cultural preference for boys is an antagonist throughout the novel. It leads to Hai and Di’s abandonment by their own family. The devaluation of girls’ lives, harsh judgments, and limited opportunities for females create the conflict that the girls must navigate for survival and dignity.
- The Chinese Civil War and Communist Revolution disrupted the family, forcing them into exile, displacement, and danger. This destroys their home and status. This causes separation and poverty and leads to dangerous choices (like fleeing to Hong Kong and Taiwan). War magnifies the risks and reinforces the fragility of girls’ safety.
- Nai Nai is a central antagonist in the story, embodying the oppressive gender norms of mid-20th-century rural China. She subjects her daughter-in-law, Chiang-Yue, to relentless abuse for failing to produce a male heir, including forcing her to kneel for hours as punishment. She adds to the girls’ struggles, reflecting how survival often depends on their strength and not on traditional caregivers. When the Communist army approaches, Nai Nai prioritizes the family’s survival by fleeing with the male members, leaving Chiang-Yue and her daughters behind, judging them expendable.
- The husband is a minor but symbolic antagonist. He abandons his wife and daughters physically and emotionally. He fails to protect his wife, Chiang-Yue, especially from the abuse inflicted by his own mother. He prioritizes his mother’s authority and the value of male heirs, making him complicit in the emotional neglect of his daughters. He goes along with a system that devalues women and girls, reinforcing their oppression within the family. His passivity and silence are acts of harm. In a society where men hold power, his failure to act is a form of betrayal.
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In my mind Nai-Nai was the antagonist. I found it very hard to think that someone would treat another person, especially a daughter with such disdain.
I think the antagonist is the culture/society in which the family lived. I think it would have been interesting to know Nai Nai’s story. It baffles me to this day that people, especially women, find it easier to be cruel to one another than lend assistance. It reminds me of the saying, **Real queens fix each other’s crowns And they don’t tell the world it was crooked.”
When I think of an antagonist, I think it is referring to a specific person. For me that was Nai Nai. However, when I read the responses of others I can totally see how the antagonist is the patriarchal society. It was pervasive throughout and was the cause of so much suffering for Hai, her mother, and her sisters. I had never thought of an antagonist as being a societal value or specific way of life.
I’ve been thinking about this question a little more and looking for insight into the behavior of Nai Nai among others. Perhaps, especially for women-smart women, in this society, the resentment and anger of being denied opportunities/being exploited, etc builds and has to be expressed. It isn’t safe to be angry at the men or system, so it explodes onto the only ones who have less power than Nai Nai and women like her.