October, 2007 Host: Emily

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Summary

She is called by those in her village - “One who has not yet died”. This is the story of an eighty year old widow who reflects on her life in nineteenth-century China. The story begins with the tradition of foot binding at the age of five or six, the smaller the feet, the more marriageable and desirable a woman becomes. Lily (the narrator of the book) is paired with a laotong (where the girls sign a contract to be friends for life), Snow Flower. The girls begin their friendship at the age of seven. They begin writing in nu shu on a fan which they pass back and forth, nu shu being a unique phonetic language that Chinese women created so that they could communicate secretly, without the influence of men. Their friendship continues and strengthens through foot binding, marriages, death, a typhoid epidemic, and war. Ironically, a misinterpretation of a nu shu message sent by Snow Flower to Lily derails their relationship after over twenty years of friendship.
The author, who is part Chinese, has traveled to rural China and interviewed many of the elderly residents in order to research the practices of nu shu, foot binding, food preparation, etc.

Discussion

-Everyone who read this book thoroughly enjoyed it. The historic setting, the complexity of the characters, and the heart wrenching experiences of the women made this book compelling and a page turner.

-Most are aware of the Chinese practice of foot binding, but not of the horrific details. Mothers began the process of foot binding when their girls were five or six years old. A bandage two inches wide and ten feet long was wrapped around the foot in a figure eight pattern so that the arch was compressed and the four toes were bent under. The foot was then jammed into a shoe that was several sizes too small. Over the next few years, tighter bandages and smaller shoes were used until the desired affect (a foot that measured two to three inches long) was achieved. The four small toes broke and some eventually fell off. Sores developed, the flesh putrefied, and some girls died of gangrene. Since this affected their ability to walk for the rest of their lives, women spent most of their time inside their homes, thus subjugating them to the demands of their husbands or mothers-in-law.

-It was difficult to comprehend why the practice of foot binding by the girls’ mothers was described as a ’mother’s love’. The mother controlled every aspect of foot binding, from changing the bandages to forcing the young girls to walk back and forth in their bindings - which was anguish and drove most of the girls to tears. Of course our hearts would break if we had to do anything this painful to our own daughters, however, this was a custom carried on for thousands of years until it was outlawed in the early 1900s. A mother’s love could be construed as doing everything possible for her daughter to have a beneficial marriage. A good marriage was important as men dominated, with some regularly beating their wives. The mother-in-law ruled the house and often worked their daughters-in-law to exhaustion.

-”Three sworn sisters have promised to love me as I am.” These were the words that tore apart the relationship between Lily and Snow Flower. Lily interpreted those words as Snow Flower having joined a sworn sisterhood after she had sworn herself to her laotong forever. Their bond was supposed to be more important than even their marriages. Lily felt that Snow Flower was abandoning their laotong promises in favor of a new sworn sister relationship with others whereas Snow Flower was simply befriending a group of three sworn sisters that she was not sworn to. Snow Flower repeatedly attempted to contact Lily and Lily refused to have any contact with her whatsoever. This misunderstanding, based on a few words along with Lily’s unyielding stance, seemed implausible, especially after all they had been through together.