Turtle Soup by Marilyn Chin

You go home one evening tired from work,
and your mother boils you turtle soup.
Twelve hours hunched over the hearth
(who knows what else is in that cauldron).

You say, "Ma, you've poached the symbol of long life;
that turtle lived four thousand years, swam
the Wet, up the Yellow, over the Yangtze.
Witnessed the Bronze Age, the High Tang,
grazed on splendid sericulture."
(So, she boils the life out of him.)

"All our ancestors have been fools.
Remember Uncle Wu who rode ten thousand miles
to kill a famous Manchu and ended up
with his head on a pole? Eat, child,
its liver will make you strong."

"Sometimes you're the life, sometimes the sacrifice."
Her sobbing is inconsolable.
So, you spread that gentle napkin
over your lap in decorous Pasadena.

Baby, some high priestess has got it wrong.
The golden decal on the green underbelly
says "Made in Hong Kong."

Is there nothing left but the shell
and humanity's strange inscriptions,
the songs, the rites, the oracles?

1. Notice the author's choice of the word "cauldron" in line 4. What image or connections does this word evoke? Why might the author have chosen "cauldron" rather than "pot"?
The word "cauldron" suggests that the speaker does not like what her mother cooked for her. "Cauldron" is a large metal pot that is usually associated with witchcraft. The speaker thinks that it is unethical to eat turtles, "the symbol of long life".

2. Chin refers to "the Wei," "the Yellow." and "the Yangtze." Why does she reference these rivers in China? Why not include the Nile, the Amazon, or the Mississippi?
It is understood that the speaker is a Chinese American. This suggests that the speaker still considers herself as a Chinese and has not yet forgotten about her origin, who she is and where she came from.

3. What is the tone of this poem?
I would think the tone of this poem is argumentative.


Ideas for Writing

1. "'Sometimes you're the life, sometimes the sacrifice.'"

When a family migrates to a new land, they tend to leave everything behind. The language that they speak, the environment that they're used to, their culture and most importantly, their home in order to adapt to the new surroundings. Their whole identity, almost. For example, when a Chinese family moves to America, the children will most likely speak American English on a daily basis which in turn, leads to the lost of their mother language which is understood as one of the major parts in a culture. Preserving a culture in another land with its own culture is possible but extra effort must be put in.

On a brighter note though, they become exposed to opportunities. Lets look at it this way, you win some, you lose some. You get to learn about other cultures, you get to explore instead of confining yourself within your comfort zone and as a result, you become more resilient and pliable. It is inevitable that culture is of importance but sometimes you need to make a sacrifice to ensure good for all, which brings us back to the above quote "sometimes you're the life, sometimes the sacrifice." However, this does not, in any possible way, mean that sacrificing one's culture altogether is acceptable. There is nothing wrong with bringing your culture along with you to a new land but at the same time, do not restrict yourself. Get to know about other cultures too.