A Pair Of Tickets Essay

Words: 813
Pages: 4

The short story, “A Pair of Tickets” by Amy Tan follows the significant internal change a woman experiences when she visits relatives in China following her mother’s death. The protagonist, Jing-Mei is introduced as an individual with no ties to Chinese culture but as the story progresses; she feels her family tradition come alive within her. The setting of the story, China, contributes to the theme of self-discovery because it is a pivotal aspect of Jing-Mei’s feeling of belonging. Foreshadowing allows Jing-Mei to discover unknowns regarding her deceased mother, Suyuan. Through the use of characterization, setting, and flashback, Amy Tan intelligently supports the theme of self-discovery in the short story “A Pair of Tickets”.

The characterization of Jing-Mei along with her family members contributes to the theme of self-discovery. Jing Mei is the protagonist of the story; she has lived her entire life without feeling emotionally connected to her homeland, China. Jing-Mei is a round character; the author reveals many hidden traits throughout the story. Jing-Mei struggles with the reality of her Chinese ancestry and the western ideals she has grown up with; her thoughts are often expressed in the story; “I was a sophomore at Galileo High School in San Francisco, and all my Caucasian friends agreed: I was about
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Amy Tan uses characterization to provide insight into the emotional responses of the protagonist Jing-Mei. The setting, based in China supports the theme of self-discovery because it shows Jing-Mei what her ethnicity means. The use of flashback provides the reader and main character with understanding of Suyuan’s background. By the end of the story, Jing-Mei realizes her Chinese ties are not associated with the country but rather with the individuals who share her