Main Characters In Saving Sourdi By May-Lee Chai

I chose to talk about the story, Saving Sourdi by May-Lee Chai for the sole reason that there are many aspects of character shown in the story. Along with character we see many different forms of the girls’ culture throughout the story. The three main characters in the story that I am going to focus on are Sourdi, who is the older sister, Nea, who is the younger sister, and then their mother. Overall, culture is one of the main aspects that defines character. Early on we find out that the three girls are from Cambodia. Within Cambodia culture women are usually left to tend to the household things. Like, cooking, cleaning, etc.While the men of the house are supposed to work outside to bring home the money. In the case of, Saving Sourdi there …show more content…
She showed many different characteristics; bravery, love, strength, stubbornness, etc. Nea had a huge heart, she would do anything and everything for her sister. For example, ““What on earth? Nea!” Sourdi’s husband was dressed for work, but he hadn’t shaved yet,” the quote used here is from a scene where Nea rushed to her sister 's house in the middle of the night because she thought she was in trouble. This just proves how dedicated Nea was to her family, especially Sourdi. But it also shows readers that she is not very mature. She does not yet understand her culture in a way to know why her sister had to be married in order to survive. Sourdi often tries to explain to Nea that she needed a roof over her head, as well as an income and the only way to get that was to be married.
In conclusion, Saving Sourdi was a great example of character and the different aspects of character writers can use in their work. Chai used her writing skills to incorporate culture very subtly, so as though readers might not even notice it unless they had been looking for it or had experienced it before. Culture in so many ways influences character and we see both ends of that spectrum in Sourdi, and