Half and Half

Amy Tan’s “Half and Half’ is an emotional story in the heart of racism, family issues, and regret. All of which are reoccurring in the stories I have been reading in this English class. The story has several forms of conflict. The four most featured in the story is racism, religious issues, regret, and of course a failing marriage. The story, unlike many that I have studied, shows the effects racism has on people other than African Americas. The narrator, Rose, is a Chinese American while her husband is white. This caused many people, including their very families, to disagree with such a match. Religiously speaking the mother in the story lost her faith after a very terrible and unfortunate event happened while the family was on vacation years before. The mother fought so hard to bring her son back and had the uttermost faith he would until it did not happen. He drowned and disappeared into the vast ocean. After such a tragedy, faith was no longer a part of the family. After the accident, everyone in the family was struck by guilt. In the present of the story, the main issue is the divorce taking place between Rose and her husband. Rose feels that trying to fix things is a waste of time. She also realizes that there were many signs that pointed out that their marriage would not work out in the slightest bit. Rose loved being depended on her husband and he loved being the decision maker. When the tables were turned, arguments became a normal thing and their relationship was tested. As the story shows, their marriage was not strong enough at the time to make it through tough times and find a spot to connect in the middle. Now, Rose must come face to face with her mother to deliver the shocking news.