Study Questions for Disguises by Jean Fong Kwok Essay

Q: List some of the religious practices and customs mentioned in this story. What do these practices and customs tell you about Mrs. Chen and her world? A: Some religious practices and customs that are mentioned are: ceremonies held for the seven goddesses who protected virginal maidens, which, in Mrs. Chen’s (back then, Lai Fong) case, was the last time she prayed with her mother; wearing a golden amulet that was â€Å"opened †¦ to the light† by monks of the Shaolin Temple to ward off evil; and bowing in respect to the student who helped her. She also blamed her past life for her misfortune and gave to the beggar because she believed that the gods viewed compassion kindly. Her actions and perspective of things shows us the way she was brought†¦show more content†¦Chen taking off her disguise. Q: A conflict is a struggle between opposing forces and can be external (against an outside force) or internal (within a character’s mind.) What conflict(s) does Mrs. Chen experience? What is the outcome of these conflicts? A: Mrs. Chen experiences both types of conflicts. The external conflict is the event in which Mrs. Chen loses count of her stops and becomes lost on her way home. Unable to communicate well in English while being stuck in an unfamiliar place, Mrs. Chen is placed at big disadvantage at that moment. The internal conflict within her mind, however, is stretched throughout the story. It is her fear of being lost or powerless, which is expressed in her flashbacks. Her fear of being lost comes from being in a foreign place without the aid of proficiency in the foreign language or someone to go through it with her. She feels alone and lost, which adds to the next fear: powerlessness. Mrs. Chen reveals that she felt powerless at the time her skirt, which she had wor ked hard on, was torn up by the supervisor because of her inability to sew straight lines. However, in that moment, it might’ve been better for her mindset if she had remembered what her mother said about not yielding to people who assert their power. Instead, Mrs. Chen felt powerless to help herself when she was lost. Lastly, we can infer that she also has fear of being