Analysis Of Jade Pendant By Catherine Aflue

In the “ Jade Pendant” by Catherine Lim, it shows two different types of parenting style but in the end, it shows how both parents express love for their children. Mrs. Khoo eventually had to sell her jade pendant in order to cover the expenses of her daughter’s extravagant wedding. Ah Soh spent all her life savings on the pendant to be able to make her daughter feel proud. During the wedding, Mrs. Khoo realizes Ah Soh’s daughter is wearing the pendant that she sold and tries to ensure that Lian Kim does not know that it had been sold.

Mrs. Khoo took a lot of pride of her jade pendant as it was passed down from one generation to another. She loved talking about the pendant and had turned away buyers such as the wife of sultan who had seen …show more content…
Khoo, is a lady that works very hard cleaning the house and making cakes, puddings and cigarettes and sells them on the street for over forty years. Ah Soh is a loving mother who is protective of her daughter but does not show that in front of Mrs. Khoo, who takes them for granted. With the money that she saved, Ah Soh anonymously bought Mrs.Khoo’s jade pendant for her daughter to wear at Lian Kim’s wedding. Although Ah Soh had savings from over the years, she did not want to spend unnecessary money and that is why her daughter “wore only the cast-off clothes of Lian Kim and other relatives”(Lim, 127). She did this because she felt herself and her daughter were looked down upon and were never expected to show above anyone, especially Mrs. Khoo. In the end, it made her feel rewarded and proud that she and her daughter could let go of the shadows their “rich” relatives proven in the quote, “Her mother who sat very near to her, holding her hand affectionately, was nodding to the faces crowding in upon the, the frightened look gone forever in her eyes” (Lim, 197). It also seems that Ah Soh was taking revenge on Mrs. Khoo since she was always bragging about the jewel and her pride took it too far and could not stand it anymore, which could be another reason why she bought the …show more content…
Khoo noticed that her jade pendant worn by Ah Soh’s daughter, she felt betrayed, mortified and embarrassed as she had told her friends that Lian Kim decided not to wear the jewel on the wedding day. “I will kill her for having done this to me! How could she do such a thing to me!” (Lim, 203) Mrs. Khoo searched for husband in hopes to help distract their daughter as she did not want her daughter’s special day to be ruined and absolutely did not want her to know that simple minded daughter of Ah Soh is wearing the prized pendant, that was to be given Lian Kim for her wedding, around her neck. “Oh what shall we do? How shall we bear it? Lian Kim, she mustn’t know, it will kill her to know!” (Lim,