Lily Wu, Madame Lu

Lily Wu is the main character in this novel and also serves as narrator of the story. As a sweet little girl she wants only some positive attention from her mother. Her family is not wealthy, and she learns how to do all the practical women's work that comes with having no servants. She is obedient and careful to follow the rules that her mother and her culture have structured for her and quick to believe that one-half of mother-love consists of pain. She accepts her mother's detached coldness and her beatings in Lily's efforts to be a good daughter. As a yielding child, she eventually grows into a yielding young woman, obedient to her in-laws and her husband. She shows the proper respect to her eldest son and continues to try to follow all the rules set before her.

Locked rigidly into her belief...