In The Short Stories, “Saving Sourdi,” By May-Lee Chai

This results in her creating scenarios in her head where she can bring her sister back. When Nea gets a call from a crying Sourdi, Nea automatically assumes that her “old husband” is abusing her. She doesn’t even think to consider that it might have been something else that happened. She calls Duke and drives all the way to her sister’s place, not even telling Duke the whole story because, somewhere in the back of her head, she knows that she’s overreacting. She knows that if she tells Duke the real reason she’s going he won’t allow her to go. This shows how much she wants Sourdi to come back. She will make up any crazy scenario and try to make sense of it if it meant in the end she got her sister back. Duke and Nea reached Sourdi’s house in six hours. When she went inside Sourdi’s house and saw bruises on her face, she didn’t even think to ask her sister what happened and went straight to the conclusion that her husband his her. This led to Duke also believing that Sourdi’s husband beat her and he punched him in the face. When everything calmed down, Sourdi explained how her husband did not beat her. “An economy-size box of baby-wipes had fallen off the closet shelf and struck her full in the eye,” (142). Sourdi explained that she was crying over the phone because she was having another baby. It was a difficult decision for her and she didn’t know what to do so she just needed her

she just decided to go to bed. Over the next few days Nea tried calling Sourdi, but could not get ahold of her to find out what was the matter. Nea senses that Sourdi is in trouble and tries talking to her mother about it, but she just gets offended by Nea. Nea then decides she is going to go to Sourdi’s home in Des Moines to find out what the problem is. She calls Duke, late in the night, explaining to him that Sourdi is in trouble.

In the short story “Saving Sourdi” by May-Lee Chai, the author use Nea’s point of view to show how a bond between sisters can grow farther apart through time and maturity. Nea is the younger sister in short story and Sourdi is the older one “escaping” Nea. By placing the point of view on Nea the reader is given the perspective of the sister that is naïve and sampling does know about life. This way, the author is able to make her readers emotionally connect with Nea because the reader directly knows Nea thoughts and fears, ultimately sympathizing with her through the point of view of Nea. Once the readers connects with Nea, the theme of the story is able to be recognized by the readers.

This story started out with a bang. I thought this right here was going to be the climax of the story. I was wrong. Even after the main character Nae, stabbed a man as she was trying to protect her sister, the situation ended shortly after. I thought Nae was just like any other little sister, always wanted to be with the older, but then throughout the story, I came to realize that Nae, even with being the young of the sisters, is very protective of her older sister Sourdi. Often times when Nae thinks she is helping Sourdi, she ends up making things worse. Sourdi and Nae live with their mother who is spoken of as Ma throughout the story, and also, live with their younger sisters. Things seem to change towards the end of the story for Sourdi, and Nae, of course, tries to save Sourdi from nothing. During the story, Nae speaks of how she has dreams of Sourdi and herself running away and Sourdi would end up being her guardian. She had I hopes of this

“Saving Sourdi” by May-Lee Chai, discusses a classic plot of the metamorphosis from childhood to adulthood. In her story, the two main characters Sourdi and Nea develop in stark contrast to one another. Nea, the younger sister, has difficulty growing up and maturing as her own life, as well as her sister’s life, progresses. Her naivety, aggression, and anxiety influence her decisions throughout the story in a negative way. Chai’s character is easily believable and relatable, everyone has had a point in their lives where they didn’t want to grow up, handled a situation poorly, or realized that their relationship with someone has changed

The other reading of the story might be based on the maturing of a young woman. As it is probably the most important period in every adolescent's life, when they keep searching for their own identity, it should by strongly influenced by their parents. If it is not, a teenager starts looking for directions outside their home, and sometimes has difficulties with distinguishing what is good and evil. They are very often affected by

On this Earth, there are nearly eight billion people. Eight billion people with individual personalities, each with their own opinions and beliefs. With so many people in this world, we are bound to find someone we either disagree with or someone who interprets things differently. In Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Hi Howya Doin”, readers are taken along on a morning jog with a husky young man as he greets those that he encounters on his way. Oates incorporates the literary element such as point of view in order to present the idea that everyone interprets and reacts to situations differently. The short story “Saving Sourdi” by May-lee Chai also includes the element of point of view to convey her idea that every person is different and it

Yunior’s attitude regarding women and relationships is an inadvertent consequence of observing his own father’s degradation of their family unit. The little interaction between Yunior and his father seldomly, if ever, give the impression of a loving and nurturing father figure. Yunior himself even goes so far as to mention: “he said little to us that wasn't disciplinary” (Diaz 129). As a result, Yunior’s developing sense of kinship or lack thereof is directly affected by the actions of his father,

The term “coming of age” does not always refer to the obvious state of adulthood. It does not always coincide with society’s definition of an adult and adduces more to the psychological and moral growth of an individual. In life, experiences and influences are said to be the factors that help in developing ones character. Things that on the surface may not seem to have lasting effects are usually the most impressionable of situations. Though personality traits derived from cultural experiences are often seen early on in life, they can continue to develop and evolve even into adulthood. And it is in adulthood where realizations are made subsequently due to these very situations. It is also apparent that age does not always commensurate with maturity, for with maturity comes understanding. Influences also play a major role in a person’s character development. Influences also can affect temperament, personality, disposition, motivation, and initial perspectives and reactions. This sagaciousness was thoroughly expressed in the novel Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. This novel delved extensively into the coming of age of main character Macon “Milkman” Dead.

In the short story “Saving Sourdi,” the characters make the story change from laid back to very intense. Throughout the story, one of the characters gets married off, after having a boyfriend. After she gets married off she seems as if she is sending a cry for help by showing signs of abuse. Her younger sister goes off to save her with her ex-boyfriend causing more havoc because she hadn’t been abused at all just very tired. As this story unravels the way Nae, Ma, Sourdi, Mr. Chhay, and Duke react make quite an interesting story.

Sibling bond is among the strongest bonds. In her story “Saving Sourdi”, May-Lee Chai describes this bond between sisters. The story begins with a scene where both Nea and Sourdi are working in a restaurant alone. Nea is portrayed as being protective when she tries to save her sister from harassment by the drunk men in the restaurant. This scene foreshadows the later event where Nea tries to save her sister from a forced marriage. In the event at the beginning, Ma forces Nea to apologize to the man she stabbed, which is an indication that her mother disapproved of her behavior. Similarly, Nea fails in her attempt to save Sourdi from the marriage with Mr. Chhay.

Nejat reported that she and her father do not always agree. She described her father as very conservative. She does not get along with him very well. They argues

Another dire and despised marriage is that of Ila Das, Nanda Kaul is directly related with their problems and these are psyche of her life. In the novel we find that there is another intruder at Carignano Ila Das, who is portrayed as a pathetic slightly comical creature, nevertheless she draws out our sympathy at the end of the novel her voice is such “no human being ought to have had, it was anti-social to possess, to emit such sounds as poor IlaDas made by way of communication” (FOM, P 111).

Young Ju emphasizes that receiving affection from her father is a rare and cherished occurrence. Throughout The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, we are given small glances at Rowdy’s aversion to anything that could be remotely perceived as feminine, such as when Arnold tells readers, “I wanted to tell [Rowdy] that he was my best friend and I loved him like crazy, but boys didn’t say such things to other boys, and nobody said such things to

Angelina Jolie once said, “I do believe in the old saying, 'What does not kill you makes you stronger.' Our experiences, good and bad, make us who we are. By overcoming difficulties, we gain strength and maturity.” Throughout the course of one's life, they will experience their coming of age story and mature from it, which can be see in most traditional Bildungsroman stories. Everyone has a different story, but we all have one. Through the use of of a comic utilizing expressionism and single page panels, Matthew’s coming of age story shows that people are subject to maturation through big life transitions and racist endeavors in any form of a novel, thereby suggesting harsh situations can help us to become a bigger person in the long run.