In Margery Wolf’s novel “The House of Lim,” the author recounts her own life experiences of living abroad in rural Taiwan. In 1959, Margery and her anthropologist husband, Arthur P. Wolf, lived with the Lim family in the countryside for several years. During this time, she analyzed their time with the family, who followed traditional Confucian beliefs. For its time, Wolf’s novel was one of the first outside perspectives written about life in this region. A small village, Peihotien, was a perfect example of authentic country life. While Margaery Wolf does not have an anthropological background, her time with the Lim family reads like an ethnography. During the Wolf’s residency in Taiwan, Confucian ideals were at the forefront of family structure.
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Much like the rural village, married American women were full time homemakers, who raised the children and took care of the house. Western men were the family breadwinners, who worked a full-time job to provide for the family. There is a strong comparison between the patriarch, Lim Han-ci, and the typical American husband. In Wolf’s account, it is mentioned that Lim Han-ci controls all the family’s money and chooses how it is spent for everyone. His family would be considered a reflection of himself, meaning that possessing an ideal family would only increase his respectable repuation in the village. Typically, American women are thought to be freer than those of traditional societies, but there are strong parallels between 1950s women across …show more content…
However, it seems that regular family quarrels do not matter if the ancient standards are followed. In Wolf’s novel, she observes that “the various members of the family perform their particular duties efficiently and effectively. To see the less fortunate effects, one has to look beneath the surface of the family’s daily routines” (Wolf 35). To avoid embarrassing or dishonoring the family, internal issues would never be made public. Love did not establish familial bonds, but by allegiance to ancient customs of hierarchy, tradition, obligations, and
Much like the rural village, married American women were full time homemakers, who raised the children and took care of the house. Western men were the family breadwinners, who worked a full-time job to provide for the family. There is a strong comparison between the patriarch, Lim Han-ci, and the typical American husband. In Wolf’s account, it is mentioned that Lim Han-ci controls all the family’s money and chooses how it is spent for everyone. His family would be considered a reflection of himself, meaning that possessing an ideal family would only increase his respectable repuation in the village. Typically, American women are thought to be freer than those of traditional societies, but there are strong parallels between 1950s women across …show more content…
However, it seems that regular family quarrels do not matter if the ancient standards are followed. In Wolf’s novel, she observes that “the various members of the family perform their particular duties efficiently and effectively. To see the less fortunate effects, one has to look beneath the surface of the family’s daily routines” (Wolf 35). To avoid embarrassing or dishonoring the family, internal issues would never be made public. Love did not establish familial bonds, but by allegiance to ancient customs of hierarchy, tradition, obligations, and