The main character in this pragmatic story, “The Jade Peony”, is the protagonist, Grandmama. She is a loving and tenacious Chinese elderly woman who moreover is laid-back, and doesn’t concern herself with what people think of her, and her doings. This story takes place in wet “Vancouver”, British Columbia, where this Chinese family has just immigrated. “Wandering the back alleys of Keefer and Pender Streets, peering into our neighbors’ garbage cans, chasing away hungry, nervous cats and shouting curses at them.” Furthermore, this story is set around numerous garbage cans of residents who live in the neighborhoods in close proximity, where Grandmama and her grandson, Sek-Lung search for pieces, which can be recycled for her sacrosanct “wind chime”.

“You know, Little Son, whatever happens I will never leave you.” Grandmama is such a loving woman, and compassionate grandmother that she vows to always be with her grandson, Sek-Lung, no matter what the circumstances. She is conscious of the fact that she is dying, but she is still so confident, and sure of herself. “She embraced me.” Grandmama loved her grandson, and showed this by hugging him. She wasn’t afraid or ashamed to show affection and let her grandson know he was loved very much by her. “I will always be with you.” She will never leave Sek-Lung, even when the time comes and she passes away, they will always be together in spirit. The singular connection and bond that they share is something that will last an eternity, and can withstand anything, even death itself.

“For days she resisted going into the hospital … a cold, just a cold…” Grandmama is a tenacious woman who is aware of the fact that she is dying and does not have a great deal longer to live, and that the only hope of her surviving is to go to a hospital, but she refuses, insisting that she has merely contracted a “cold”. “I am too stubborn.” She directly tells us that she is a stubborn woman, and her actions definitely demonstrate this. Her family tries persuading her to go to a hospital, but to no avail. “The only cure for old age is to die.” For days and days she refuses, believing that if her time has come than she must go, and not try to fight it. Only after days of persuasion from her family does she finally, reluctantly agree to go to a hospital.