"Lost Sister" Poem

A few days ago, in class we read this poem called "Lost Sister", which was about a girl, who ran away from her life of inequality in China for all the freedoms for a woman in America. The poet tells this story by first explaining the lives of girls in China, and how they were treated as property, followed by the type of life one could have in America, using references to things of China, then adding a few regrets of her rebellion. Later that day we started a discussion page on our class moodle, and today we were asked to look deeper in to the meanings of the poem, and give a personal response about it, and this was mine.

At the start of the second part of the poem, the poet starts describing a girl/ sister who escaped from her life in China, for (what she thinks is a) better one in America, then explains how, "In America,/ there are many roads/ and women can stride among men". I think that this is an extremely significant quote, because it gives the essential meaning of the poem to the readers, plainly telling the reason the girl ran away, in a subtle, yet obvious way. The poet describes the many freedoms American women enjoy, that the Chinese women could never even think about. In America, a woman can chose what they'll do with their life, what career they'll take up, the type of education they'll receive, where and how they'll live, where they'll go, who they'll marry, etc. instead of having all of this all chosen for them by their parents/ family. So the many different roads an American can take, is really all the different kinds of lives they can have. And the line about how women can walk next to a man, just reinforces the idea of the lack of freedoms Chinese women have, which we American women take for granted.

Another strong idea the poet has tried to voice, is that what makes a person who they are reallies heavily on their background, where they come from, their home/ where they live, a person's name, and why they got it and what they do with their life. I can see this, because in the first part of the poem, the poet gives this girl a name, jade, which is a very popular name in China, because of rarity and worth. Then goes on to describe the life of a daughter in China, how they may never go anywhere alone, or where they want to, be subjected to intolerable shoes, learn to run a household, and the family farm, always having to follow what they are told, without any questions. And in the second part (as I have already explained) the girl's escape to America, in an attempt for a better life, and the new identity, completely different from the on in China, the girl now has in America. The many freedoms she can now enjoy as an American, who is equal to a man in all aspects of her life, and the way the girl sees America, as this new "wilderness" filled with all kinds of new possibilities, adventures, and freedoms, she could only have dreamed of in China