The Voice From The Wall By: Amy Tan

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The Voice From The WallBy Amy Tan

• Presented by Alen Alic

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Summary

• This story is about a little girl who describes a
  portion of her
• childhood by depicting certain events that occur
  regarding
• her mother, the next door neighbors, and the way
  she
• always anticipates the worst of things due to her
  mother.
• The girl is faced with many crazy stories that
  her mother
• tells her which lead to her developing a big
  imagination.
• The narrator struggles with her moms weird ways,
  
• especially after the new born baby dies right
  after birth. Her
• mother goes into a deep depression where she
  remains in
• bed leaving the girl to listen to the neighbors
  on the other
• side of the wall and compare who has it worst.

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Characters

• The narrator - a half Chinese, half English-Irish
  decent girl who lives with her parents and
  recalls the struggles she faced and how she
  developed through childhood.
• Betty St. Clair - the Chinese born mother of the
  narrator that seems to be very complex. She has a
  very big impact on what the narrator feels and
  how she develops.
• Teresa - a girl that stays on the other side of
  the wall in a different apartment that fights
  with her mother all the time and helps the
  narrator realize the worst thing.
• Mr. Clair - narrators father who is very loving
  and understanding.

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Title

• The title is very significant because it
  represents
• three meanings of the story. The first meaning
  the
• title implies is the voices the narrator hears
  from
• Teresa and her mom from the other side of the
• wall. The second meaning may be found when the
• characters realize the worst and get pulled
• through the wall for the truth as the narrators
• great-grandfather did and the mother at the end
  of
• the story. The third interpretation may be that
  the narrators
• mother is putting forth a wall that keeps her
  family from
• being able to help her with her grief.

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Narration

• This story is told in a observer narration
• although it closely resembles an
• autobiography. It is told by a young girl in a
• first-person point of view with a very
• descriptive tone. The narrator is not reliable
• since her imagination is very big and drifts
• off from reality very often.

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Focus

• The narrator opens and ends the story on
• the same subject. At the beginning the
• narrator is analyzing the worst possible
• thing through the story of her great-
• grandfather and the beggar which lead her
• to come up with a new way of looking at
• things and not concentrating on the worst.

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Character Transformation

• The narrator transforms through the story in
• the manner that she overcomes fearing the
• worst out of situations. For example, hearing
• the neighbors fight, the narrator assumes
• that Teresa is being killed, but at the end of
• the story she learns and accepts the fact
• that that is just the way she communicates
• with her mother and expresses her love.

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Theme

• The theme of the story is that one should never
• focus on the worst possible outcomes of things,
• but they should try and take care of the things
  they
• have. For example, the narrators mother was so
• focused on something bad happening that she did
• not concentrate on taking care of herself while
• being pregnant, but instead she went around
• bumping into things, which most likely led to the
  
• death of the newborn baby.

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Symbols

• Sword used to show the thing that triggers
• emotional outbreak and helps a person
• release the pain they feel. Realization.
• Wall represents the barrier between
• communicational and cultural differences.

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Purpose

• The purpose of this story was to show the reader
  the kind
• of life the narrator lived through and the type
  of mother she
• had. She wants the reader to never expect the
  worst of
• things and always keep a reasonable sense as she
  later
• learns to do with the arguments she hears coming
  from
• the neighbors. Also, the pain a person goes
  through at a
• certain point is going to go away and that many
  other
• people may be much worse of than you.

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My Reaction

• I think that the narrators mother has gone
• through a very tuff past that has altered her
• mind and way of thinking that lead her to
• influence her daughter in a very negative
• way. She basically makes her daughter
• paranoid and frightened of the world. She
• puts crazy images in her daughters mind
• that haunt and disturb her.