Life Challenges Through The Protagonist's Perspective: a Pair of Tickets

The story “A Pair of Tickets” written by Amy Tan was written in the first person, through the perspective of Jing-Mei (June May). This story is about how Jing-Mei develops a connection to her Chinese roots and her deceased mother. Because the story is told from her point of view helps readers to better understand what caused her changes in perspective, when she realized what made her Chinese, and how she connected with her mother through stories and experiences.

While living in San Francisco Jing-Mei struggled to connect with her Chinese roots. She also struggled to grieve the death of her mother whom she was not very connected to. Jing-Mei felt as though she was just as American as the people she went to school with. She did not think that she would be able to pass for Chinese because even in her passport photo she did not look Chinese at all, she looked American. Jing-Mei admitted to asking herself questions that could not be answered forcing herself to grieve the death of her mother. 

Jing-Mei and her father took a trip to China, with two stops, one meeting her father’s family and the other meeting her half-sisters. When visiting her father’s family Jing-Mei realized that she was more like her mother than she realized. During this part of her visit, she was also able to hear the whole story about her half-sisters, furthering her connection and understanding of her mother. She became a lot more like her mother when the looks of the hotel were deceiving, she much like her mother always wanted to get her money’s worth in their purchases. Her father told her the story about why her mom left her half-sisters behind, hearing the story developed a stronger connection to her mother and her Chinese roots.

Meeting her sisters in the airport had impacted Jing-Mei in a way that connected her to both her mother and her inner Chinese. When Jing-Mei saw her sister's, she thought they looked just like her mother. When she realizes that they do not look like her mother she realizes that their connection is deeper than the physical appearance. They have the same mother, they are family. When meeting her sisters, everything that she had learned on the trip had all come together. Jing-Mei realized that her family is what makes her Chinese. 

In conclusion, throughout the story we read from Jing-Mei's perspective, because of this we can see firsthand how she and her feelings changed throughout. Before traveling to China Jing-Mei was not connected to her mother or her Chinese roots. She felt as though she were as American as the people she went to school with and that she and her mother were not close, because they had nothing in common. Traveling to China changed her perspective on many things, Jing-Mei was able to connect with her Chinese roots through family, as well as better connect to and understand her deceased mother through her behaviors and mother’s long-lost daughters, her half-sisters.