A flawless silence yiyun li

Monroe 2

ENG 1102

09 SEP 2020

In early China, marriages were commonly arranged by parents and based purely on social status. There were no grounds for a woman to divorce her husband during these times, implicitly confining women into a marriage based on status, not love. Men expect to be the providers, while women were homemakers with no real voice. Though arranged marriages became outlawed by The Marriage Law of 1950, many customs still are followed, and Chinese parents still play an active role in spousal selection. Yiyun Li's "A Flawless Silence," reveals the loveless marriage between Min and Rich, explicating how the continuation of past customs and social expectations create silent marriages, marriages where women do not have a real voice. "A Flawless Silence," shows the effects of old social expectations on modern women and the negative impact that they can have on relationships. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: Needs a title and spacing from the margin to being the paragraph. Also, not sure if the file got messed up when sending but for some reason all the text is centered. Should be aligned left. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: I would probably remove this as it implies to the reader that you might be making an argument about the role parents play in all of this; which is not supported by the rest of the essay or thesis. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: I’m a little unsure of which sentence is your actual thesis, or if they are both. I think you mean to argue that for women, silence, is their role in marriage, and that this is brought on by social traditions. The structure of this needs work.

"A Flawless Silence," opens with Min receiving an email from a professor who, with Min's mother's assistance, attempted to arrange a marriage between Min and his son, but instead took an interest in Min himself. After unsuccessfully courting Min, the professor appeared to have given up, until revisiting her home a decade later and deciding to reach out via email. Plagued by the professor's emails, which she had received for approximately fifteen years without replying, Min is determined not to respond, believing that the professor would eventually cease communication and that "she would win a battle through silence." however, unlikely. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: This is a little confusing to the reader as far as timelines go. It almost reads as if Min’s mother is arranging this marriage at the beginning of the story. I would probably clarify that the professor is from Min’s past. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: If this is a quote from the text then MLA referencing must be used. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: If you are continuing a sentence from a quote, then just use a comma before the last quotation mark. Also, the addition of the “however, unlikely,” is a little jarring at the end of this sentence. I would maybe separate this into another sentence like “This would prove ineffective,” or something similar. I think this would help you transition into your next paragraph.

Though this exchange occurs early on, this is a crucial point as Min attempts to resolve an issue with socially expected silence and fails. Min and the professor's actions align with Chinese tradition, which typically portrays men and women as opposing forces, yin, and yang. Yin symbolizes women being soft, submissive, and tranquil, and men yang, meaning dominant and assertive. "The natural relationship between yin and yang is the reason that men lead and women follow.". Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: I would consider getting rid of this and just start with “This is a crucial point…” Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: This analogy does a great job of summarizing the relationship that men and women have within Chinese culture. It seems a little out of place here, but may fit better in the introduction or conclusion. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: Needs MLA referencing. Also, the period following “follow.” Is not needed.

Shortly after failing to arrange a marriage with the professor, Min's mother meets Rich, who is visiting home from the United States. Rich begins communication with Min, and the two keep contact through letters until they agree to marry eight months later. With social expectations and old Chinese customs in mind, they married with no illusions of marriage being anything more than a duty. "They were realistic people, and marriage was weather. They lived in it without any desire to control it or change it. ". Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: I understand what you are saying here, but I’m not sure it is clear as to what implications this has as far as your argument goes. Does this contribute to Min’s need to be silent in the next paragraph? Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: Needs MLA referencing. Also, the period is not needed after “…change it.” In addition,

Min and Rich's marriage symbolizes the flawless silence as Min's voice is stripped away following her arranged marriage. Rich assumes a dominant role and holds tightly to traditional beliefs that men reign supreme and that women's opinions are invalid. Rich's beliefs become evident when he begins to speak politics with their daughters at the dinner table even though Min and Rich had agreed not to discuss politics, to which Rich replies, "Except when I need to instruct my children,." This double-standard serves to emphasize men's rights in a traditional Chinese household versus a woman's. Min remained in this loveless marriage because of a sense of duty even though she was not Rich's equal. With no way of establishing a sense of self-identity due to Rich's dominant nature and the social expectation to submit to Rich, Min begins to employ silence as a defense mechanism. This story concludes with Min replying to the professor's email in a blunt manner, untypical of a traditional Chinese woman. This email represents Min realizing that battles are not won with silence and that Min must speak up to get the results she desires. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: I would consider separating this from the rest of the sentence. I would end the sentence after “politics,” and continue this thought in a new sentence such as: “Except when I need to instruct my children,” Rich asserts to Min, effectively muting her protests. Something like that, I think, would flow better here.Also, MLA referencing is needed here. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: This might require a little more argument. What indicates Min’s sense of duty? Is it because of their children, or expect social norms? There might be an opportunity here to help your argument. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: I would change this to “him” Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: This is an interesting idea that I think needs more exploration. If silence is used as a “defense mechanism” then you could possibly explain how this ties into your thesis. Is silence both a curse on women and simultaneously their only hope? Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: This is a hard transition from the rest of the paragraph. It also seems like this needs to stand on its own and be fleshed out a little more. Going from Min using “silence as her defense mechanism,” to her realizing that silence is not going to work needs to be argued a little bit more. It seems like the essay is trying to wrap up too quickly here.

In conclusion, Yiyun Li's "A Flawless Silence," serves as a reminder of the inequality present within arranged marriages. "A Flawless Silence," also highlights how social expectations may make a person feel obligated to try to become someone they dont want to do. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: Concluding thoughts needs a little more meat on the bones. Again, it seems like the essay is trying to end too quickly. You could possibly argue the implications of this inequality and why Li may have wanted to convey this message. This would leave the reader in contemplation and help round out the ending of the essay. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: The essay prompt requires at least three full pages of content. I think if you flesh out some of the ideas that I mentioned earlier, you will probably hit that mark rather easily. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: Also, regarding the quotes, make sure you use MLA formatting to reference them properly in the text as well as provide a “Works Cited” page at the end. Comment by Corey Pinaula Crisostomo: I think you mean “be” here.