Post by 2cangrayyan03 on Aug 16, 2008 8:40:07 GMT -5
Firstly, she is a/an:
- Abandoned Child
- Caring Mother
- Matriarch
- Wife
As what ryuto said, just imagine if you were an abandoned child. Surely you would want to climb up the ranks and control everyone around you, so that history does not repeat. What this means is:
- No one leaves you
- You get what you want, which you previously do not
- You get a high social status, thus rich and leading a luxurious lifestyle, unlike last time….
Thus, the background of her gives you an insight to her actions throughout the rest of the story. Note that she curries favour from her mother-in-law, and not anyone else, just to gain every opportunity to obtain more power.
This leads me to my next point --> Caring wife and mother. Think, from the very beginning to the end she has always cared for Kheong and Richard. Now, this was the time when there was rivalry with Susie too, definitely for power. The evidence comes from how Richard and Freddy did for their exams, showing how much Emily emphasized on Richard’s superiority over Freddy, in an attempt to gain favour for her son, which she cares too. Unfortunately, trying to make Richard superior led to undesirable consequences. Just look at what happens when Richard gives up studying at the university. Has Richard in this play ever got a chance of “free speech”? No. Thus, the only way of escape would probably be death, which is what happens.
What about Kheong? By every right, Kheong should be the one dominating Emily. However, the inverse is true. How do you think Kheong would feel, and how would others think of him? Just imagine as if you are the CEO of a company, yet it is your workers telling you how to run your company. You would be thought of as an incapable person in a precarious position, and everyone would be doing their best to replace you. Here, the same applies to Kheong, thus he has decided to find Diana or go gambling, just refusing to see Emily, in case bad memories suddenly clutter his thoughts.
The above 2 characters show that Emily, despite caring, exerts too much control over her loved ones, so much so that everyone leaves her in the end, the inverse of what an abandoned child would want after gaining power. This is evident in how she prefers the noise of the construction of buildings, like the “noise in the house” she would want. Thus, to me, she can be considered as a “victim of her own quest of power”.
Well, other than her loved ones, I am sure she has tried to maintain a good impression in her social community, namely friends like Bee Choo or people like Mr. Chan or Mr. GP Chee. As you can see, she willingly kicks out her tenant in order to accommodate Bee Choo, and treats Mr. Chan and Mr. GP Chee very nicely; people who had benefitted her or could benefit Richard in the future. In front of them, she would look humble and grateful to them, unlike how she treats others in the play, for example, her servants.
However, servants were not so bad. Just imagine how she would put her rivals down in front of others to gain power and superiority over them. A perfect example is like how Jared mentioned that she asks Susie about Freddy’s results in front of her father-in-law. Another example: in order to achieve what she would like Richard to, just look at how she puts down Salisbury Riding School, Mr. Green and his job. She goes to extreme measures to obtain what she wants.
Generally, my thoughts with regards to the family “hating Emily like Poison”:
- Can be seen from elsewhere (i.e. Kheong refusing to see her at his deathbed) , but not with regards to moving out , since it could be due to the place being old, keeping up with modern technology, etc. Thus, this can only be assumed.
- There are some doubts of this statement with regards to her children moving out too. Look at Richards’ funeral. What did her children say? Do you think they do not mean what they said?
- In any case, she did help them near the end, right? This is supported by how she helps Doris in her marriage at the US and the later she wrote back to Emily. By this time, note that she is NOT oblivious to her being over-controlling at this time (at least to what I think according to how she talks).
- Imagine if the family hated her like Poison. Why should Bin-Bin even take care of Emily in the first place? Wouldn’t her family already tell him not to because how had she was?
- Thus, I only agree to the fact that “SOME of the family members COULD have possibly hated Emily like poison”.
Finally, I believe that the story is trying to convey the message that as an authority:
- It is not good to be greedy.
- Just nice is enough. Not too much, neither too little. (Inferred from how much control to be used)
- Be open-minded (otherwise Richard could have survived)
Feel free to comment
- Abandoned Child
- Caring Mother
- Matriarch
- Wife
As what ryuto said, just imagine if you were an abandoned child. Surely you would want to climb up the ranks and control everyone around you, so that history does not repeat. What this means is:
- No one leaves you
- You get what you want, which you previously do not
- You get a high social status, thus rich and leading a luxurious lifestyle, unlike last time….
Thus, the background of her gives you an insight to her actions throughout the rest of the story. Note that she curries favour from her mother-in-law, and not anyone else, just to gain every opportunity to obtain more power.
This leads me to my next point --> Caring wife and mother. Think, from the very beginning to the end she has always cared for Kheong and Richard. Now, this was the time when there was rivalry with Susie too, definitely for power. The evidence comes from how Richard and Freddy did for their exams, showing how much Emily emphasized on Richard’s superiority over Freddy, in an attempt to gain favour for her son, which she cares too. Unfortunately, trying to make Richard superior led to undesirable consequences. Just look at what happens when Richard gives up studying at the university. Has Richard in this play ever got a chance of “free speech”? No. Thus, the only way of escape would probably be death, which is what happens.
What about Kheong? By every right, Kheong should be the one dominating Emily. However, the inverse is true. How do you think Kheong would feel, and how would others think of him? Just imagine as if you are the CEO of a company, yet it is your workers telling you how to run your company. You would be thought of as an incapable person in a precarious position, and everyone would be doing their best to replace you. Here, the same applies to Kheong, thus he has decided to find Diana or go gambling, just refusing to see Emily, in case bad memories suddenly clutter his thoughts.
The above 2 characters show that Emily, despite caring, exerts too much control over her loved ones, so much so that everyone leaves her in the end, the inverse of what an abandoned child would want after gaining power. This is evident in how she prefers the noise of the construction of buildings, like the “noise in the house” she would want. Thus, to me, she can be considered as a “victim of her own quest of power”.
Well, other than her loved ones, I am sure she has tried to maintain a good impression in her social community, namely friends like Bee Choo or people like Mr. Chan or Mr. GP Chee. As you can see, she willingly kicks out her tenant in order to accommodate Bee Choo, and treats Mr. Chan and Mr. GP Chee very nicely; people who had benefitted her or could benefit Richard in the future. In front of them, she would look humble and grateful to them, unlike how she treats others in the play, for example, her servants.
However, servants were not so bad. Just imagine how she would put her rivals down in front of others to gain power and superiority over them. A perfect example is like how Jared mentioned that she asks Susie about Freddy’s results in front of her father-in-law. Another example: in order to achieve what she would like Richard to, just look at how she puts down Salisbury Riding School, Mr. Green and his job. She goes to extreme measures to obtain what she wants.
Generally, my thoughts with regards to the family “hating Emily like Poison”:
- Can be seen from elsewhere (i.e. Kheong refusing to see her at his deathbed) , but not with regards to moving out , since it could be due to the place being old, keeping up with modern technology, etc. Thus, this can only be assumed.
- There are some doubts of this statement with regards to her children moving out too. Look at Richards’ funeral. What did her children say? Do you think they do not mean what they said?
- In any case, she did help them near the end, right? This is supported by how she helps Doris in her marriage at the US and the later she wrote back to Emily. By this time, note that she is NOT oblivious to her being over-controlling at this time (at least to what I think according to how she talks).
- Imagine if the family hated her like Poison. Why should Bin-Bin even take care of Emily in the first place? Wouldn’t her family already tell him not to because how had she was?
- Thus, I only agree to the fact that “SOME of the family members COULD have possibly hated Emily like poison”.
Finally, I believe that the story is trying to convey the message that as an authority:
- It is not good to be greedy.
- Just nice is enough. Not too much, neither too little. (Inferred from how much control to be used)
- Be open-minded (otherwise Richard could have survived)
Feel free to comment
