Behind the Trees/Double Face

In these two stories, we learn of the hardship both Ying-Ying and Lindo went through before their children were born. In Ying-Ying’s story, she had an arranged marriage when she was young. She never liked the man but knew he was destined to be her husband. A few months after becoming pregnant with a boy, her husband left her after having cheated on her several times. Out of shame and remorse, she chose to abort her baby, never telling anyone. I think this is a very big deal and if her daughter had known even about the botched marriage, it would have changed the way she viewed her mother. In Lindo’s story, she is worried about her daughters upcoming marriage and doesn’t think its going to work out. Her daughter Waverly wants to spend her honeymoon in China, but thinks they will mistake her as a Chinese citizen and not let her back into America. Her mother promptly tells her that they will know she is American before she even opens her mouth. Waverly is disappointed by this notion and blows her mother off. To Lindo’s surprise, she also visited China wearing her “Chinese face” and thought she blended in, but they knew that she too was from America.