Josie Matson
English 9
K. Shimabukuro
2.25.10
Matson1
Weekly Essay: Short Story
In the short story, “The Jade Peony”, by Wayson Choy, an 8 year old boy named
Sek-Lung is very close with his Grandmama. They do a lot together, like collecting
interesting pieces to make wind chimes. They make one that symbolizes Grandmama’s
life and will help her pass on after she dies.
Every short story will have some kind of character in it. In, “The Jade Peony”, the
round characters are Sek-Lung, and Grandmama. Grandmama has always made wind
chimes and Sek-Lung loves to help her. They are always going far to get the right pieces
whenever they need them. Sek-Lung’s older brother and sister think it’s really
embarrassing having people see the two of them digging through garbage cans, but SekLung’s dad, who is Grandmama’s son, wont allow the mean words his kids have to say.
He loves both his mother and Sek-Lung and he won’t take it, even though part of him
believes it is a little crazy. The step-mother tries to help the kids, and Grandmama when
she gets sick, but isn’t in the story very much, like the Sek-Lung’s brothers, sister, and
father. That makes them the flat characters of the story.
In, “The Jade Peony”, Grandmama knows she is going to die soon. Months
before, she and Sek-Lung begin making her wind chime. They get stained glass off the
ground from when the church burnt down, and all kinds of broken ceramics, and glass.
“There’s a good one. There!”, Grandmama would say. They would work hard to get the
wind chime done before she passed away so her son could hang it in her bedroom
Josie Matson
English 9
K. Shimabukuro
2.25.10
Matson2
window. That way, her spirit would be able to see it, and know it was okay to move on.
Grandmama and Sek-Lung worked so hard. Sek-Lung knew he would miss her, but he
loved her so much, he just wanted to help. Some times, she’d begin to shake so bad while
making the wind chime. She would say, “That’s death coming for me”, and keep
working. When she gets sick, she promises she will have a happy death and won’t go to
the doctor to get help. She tries using her own ways to heal herself, but it doesn’t work.
In the end of, “The Jade Peony” by Wayson Choy, Grandmama passes away, and
the finished wind chime is hung in her bedroom window. She was 82 when she died, and
never forgotten. This is a good short story, and I would recommend it to anyone that has
the ten minutes to sit down and read it.