Joy Luck Club - Thread #2: "Half and Half"

Explain how the title "Half and Half" fits the story so well.

The story, “Half and Half” is told through Rose Hsu Jordan’s perspective. It is a story that surrounds the concepts of faith as well as fate. The story begins with Rose on the brink of her divorce, where she finds herself not being able to tell her mother that she is separating from Ted, her husband. Rose knows that her mom will only say that she “must save [the marriage]” (116). Rose does not want to save the marriage because she “could feel things changing between [her and Ted]” (120). Ted was changing; he was becoming a different man from the one Rose had married. As Ted and the relationship between Rose and him changes, so does Rose’s view on their marriage as a whole like why they initially got married. I believe that both Rose and Ted did love each other to an extent but realized a greater love for each other when they recognized that their parents disapproved of them. At times, children often do the exact opposite of what their parents tell them to do as a form of rebellion. The children think that they will drive their parents mad if they never do what they are told. I do not necessarily think they wanted to drive their parents mad; however, I do think that because both Rose's and Ted’s parents are trying to control them in every aspect of their lives, they got fed up and needed to stand up for themselves, which eventually led them into a ‘rushed’ marriage. Through the text we realize that the marriage was a complete disaster. This is shown in the conversation between Ted and Rose where Ted says, “How the hell did we ever get married? […] what would you have done with your life if I had never married you” (120)? Rose is shocked describing the incident saying that she “thought [they] were like two people standing apart on separate mountain peaks, recklessly leaning forward to throw stones at one another, unaware of the dangerous chasm that separated [them]” (120). This brings me to my point of how the title “Half and Half” is significant to the story. Firstly, “Half and Half” is generally describing two opposing forces that are linked as one. Just like it is impossible for you to get up without falling, or for you to learn without failing. These opposing forces are linked together in that one must happen in order for the other to occur. Similarly, to the Yin-Yang symbol, which is an ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The "yin" is a black color that symbolizes darkness, passiveness as well as weakness. The "yang" is the opposite in that it is a white color that symbolizes brightness, activeness and strong will. Because the "yin" and "yang" are exact opposites, this allows them to cancel each other out in a way and become one. Ted and Rose are two people who come from different backgrounds but together, like the Yin-Yang, they are linked as one. I believe that Yin-Yang is another form of displaying the concept of ‘karma’ because just like the Yin-Yang, karma has the similar concept of what goes around comes around. It is the knowledge that whenever something bad happens in your life, there will always be something greater that will sort of counter-balance everything back into tranquility. If one’s life was only full of happy moments, then it would logically be considered an unbalanced life because there are no gloomy events to offset the cheerful instances. Therefore, it is essential that there are two halves that are exact opposites, so that they can become one whole. Like we have been taught, opposites attract and when this occurs, the result is not a “Half and Half,” it is a whole.