"And below the heimongmong, all along the ground, were weeds already spilling out over the edges, running wild in every direction." page 220
I was really confused by the ending section to Rose Hsu Jordan's story. In the chapter, Without Wood, it talks about how her marriage is failing and her mother trying to get her to talk to her. She always avoid telling her mother the truth and goes to a psychiatrist instead. Anyway, what I'm confused about is, what does weeds have to do with her story? I didn't quite get it.
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Hmmm I don’t' really get the weed part, but in this story "Without Wood" Rose mom An-Mei said that Rose had "no wood," (213) literally meaning that she has no backbone, she is always listening to other people without any thoughts for herself. That is one of the reasons that she and her husband are getting a divorce, according to her mother. I think the weed part comes in when Rose realizes that before her marriage fail, Ted had always organized the garden, making it all neat and perfect, everything is always in order, and nothing is out of place. However, after Ted left her, Rose saw that the garden with its misplaced and messy plants, she realizes that she likes it the way it is. So in the end Rose finally stood up for herself, she stood up to Ted. In the last passage, the weeds that’s growing everywhere, kind of symbolizes that Rose has discover her wood. She does not need to rely on Ted anymore, therefore she does not need his support to think for herself.
I agree with everything Katherine said about how the weeds are related to the garden that Ted tended to. But in the last passage, with the weeds growing everywhere, I think this symbolizes who Rose is after the divorce. The weeds grow in any and every direction. I think Rose is now like the weeds, going in her own direction. She stood up for herself and has "wood" in her now. She doesn't need to be supported by others, she can finally take charge of things and go in her own direction, like the weeds.
The weeds symbolize Rose's indecisiveness and her willingness to do what others say. It also symbolizes her as in who she is, so when you go to Ted pulling up the weeds that was him making all the decisions in the house. So when they got divorced the weeds started to grow wildly and she started to get a say in things and do as she pleases. Also, the weeds are used to help show Rose's relationship with her mother. There was a part in the book where An-mei had said that weeds would grow wild until someone pulled them out and threw them away. So pretty much she didn't accept her daughter the way she was. At the end of the chapter, Rose had a dream where An-mei was growing weeds in a garden. This symbolizes Rose's mom finally accepting her the way she is.
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