Magpies & Waiting Between the Trees: An-Mei Hsu & Ying-ying St.Clair

" What my uncle has said was true. After I saw my brother this way, I could not keep my head lifted"(219, An-Mei Hsu).

skip to 4:20 

This quote shows a new mood for the mothers in the book. The reader really starts to see the guilt behind the mothers. An-Mei talks about feeling guilty for leaving her little brother behind in the quote. Ying-ying shows her guilt by acknowledging that she has set a bad example for her daughter, and that is the reason that Lena is the way she is. They realize that they should have taught their daughters to be stronger and to be more assertive. I can relate this to the  movie and book Ella Enchanted. In the story, Ella is given the "gift" of obedience from her fairy godmother. The so called gift becomes a curse when she is told to murder the man she loves. Ella finally breaks her own curse by taking control of her life and being assertive. Like Ella, the daughters are becoming stronger, but the mothers feel like they have "cursed" their daughter by not setting a good example.