“The Jade Peony” by Wayson Choy
Notes
1. The author says he wanted to create a “ghostly mystery.” What kind of mystery do you think
this story will be? P. 201
a. The word ghostly suggests that the mystery will be something supernatural
2. What had Grandmama promised her family? P. 201
a. She promised the family a sign that her life ended well
3. Why is Grandmama’s refusal to go to the hospital a conflict? P. 202
a. She wants to die or at least sees this as her time to die. Her family, on the other hand,
does not want to lose her. The refusal may also represent the conflict between Eastern
medical remedies and modern Western medicine, or the past and present.
4. Are the conflicts in this passage (8) internal or external? P. 202
a. The conflict between Grandmama and the rest of the family is external – Man vs. Man.
Her conflict with death is external conflict with fate or natural forces – Man vs. Nature.
Her conflict over using Western or Eastern conflict is internal – Man vs. Self.
5. Look at the image at the bottom of p. 202. How does this image of Chinatown reflect the
blending of cultures that can happen when people immigrate to a new country?
a. Immigrants bring some of their own culture to a new place even as they adopt the
customs and language of their host country.
6. What do the wind chimes represent for the family? P. 203
a. On one level, the wind chimes are a precious gift that represent the family’s past and
Grandmama’s love. However, they also represent how difficult it is to maintain cultural
traditions in a new setting. The wind chimes depend on the collection of found materials,
and that process makes Grandmama and Sek-Lung an embarrassment to the family.
7. Why is Grandmama’s behavior seen as a disgrace to the family? P. 203
a. The family members are afraid that friend and neighbors will see Grandmama and SekLung going through the trash and believe that they are poor, deranged, or mistreated.
The family wants to appear prosperous and to fit in with their neighbors.
8. From whom did Grandmama learn juggling? P. 203
a. Grandmama learned juggling from an actor who had stayed for a time on her father’s
farm.
9. Describe the relationship between Grandmama and Sek-Lung. Support your characterization
with evidence from the text. P. 204
a. They are co-conspirators, using a code name for their collection trips, sneaking the
materials home and hiding them under the bed, and bringing them out only when no on else
is home.
10. What does the relationship between grandmother and grandson reveal about their characters?
P. 204
a. Both are adventurous, appreciative of small things, and detail-oriented. They share
pleasure in pursuing the past in the present.
11. What does the narrator mean when he calls his grandmother his “spiritual playmate”? p. 204
a. He sees her as the companion of his soul. They derive pleasure from the same things.
12. Summarize what is happening in passage 13. p. 205
a. The three older children and going to a separate school to learn Mandarin Chinese. Some
of the children already speak Cantonese Chinese. The children complain about learning a
language that will not serve them well in a scientific, logical world.
13. How does this incident contribute to the conflict set up earlier? P. 205
a. This incident continues the conflict between past and present, and between Eastern and
Western ways of life. The children do not complain about learning Western languages
like French, Latin or German, which may serve them well in the present and the future.
14. What “treasures” do the old woman and her grandson find among the ruins of the church? P.
205
a. They gather broken pieces of the burned church’s stained glass windows.
15. Look at the picture of the windchime on pg. 206. How does this image compare to the ones
Grandmama likes to make?
16. List some realistic details from passage 16. (p. 206-207)
a. The unknotting of the braided silk, the corks being wrapped in pink silk, the description
of the jade peony.
17. How do these details appeal to the readers’ senses? (p. 206-207)
a. The details appeal to the senses of touch – “graceful ritual movements” - and sight –
“light-red”, “semi-translucent.”
18. What is suggested by the description of the jade peony as “a pool of pink light, its veins swirling
out into the petals of flower”? (p. 206-207)
a. The quality of light through the petals and the mention of veins make the carved flower
seem alive.
19. Based on the author’s comments, what will happen in the scene with the albino cat? (p. 206-207)
a. The albino cat will be an imaginary animal rather than a real one.
20. How are the windchimes associated with Grandmama’s spirit? P. 207
a. Her memory of the man who gave her the jade peony is vivid and spirited. Her hand
“races with a life of its own.”
21. Explain how the windchime related to Grandmama’s death? P. 207
a. Her ghost can return to the windchime so that it does not have to wander.
22. How does the author connect the windchime to his discussion of signs at the beginning of the
story? P. 207
a. At the beginning of the story, the family is waiting for a sign that Grandmama’s life has
ended well. It turns out that Grandmama’s windchime will be the sign.
23. What does Grandmama say is the color of her spirit? P. 207
a. Pink
24. Based on previous detail from the story, what might the albino cat symbolize? P. 208
a. It could be interpreted as a “visitor” from the spirit world coming to take Grandmama
“home.” It could also represent Grandmama’s actor friend. He promised to come back
for her and now he has.
25. Compare and contrast how Grandmama and Sek-Lung’s father see the white cat? P. 208
a. Grandmama is a person of the past, while her son plays a more active role in the present.
However, the father does have a foot in the past, and he wants his children to speak both
Mandarin and Cantonese. Like his mother, he recognizes and believes in signs.
26. Connecting to the Big Question: What are the conflicts in this story? In what way might
these conflicts be viewed as necessary? P. 208
a. Grandmama and Sek-Lung conflict with the rest of the family, and traditional Chinese
culture conflicts with Canadian culture. These conflicts are necessary because they are
the inevitable result of immigration. If cultures are to blend, conflict and
misunderstanding are unavoidable.
Critical Thinking p. 209 – Respond in your Reader’s Journal
Complete a Plot Schematic for “The Jade Peony”