Smart The Characteristics of Orchid

live in low financial, yet she is being grateful that her father did not sell her to pay off the debts. She said that, “We didn’t live in poverty, but I was aware that my neighbors had eaten earthworms for dinner and had sold their children to pay off the debts p.5 ”. Another example of her optimistic nature is in her childhood. In the afternoon on summer day which the heat was unbearable, she make her house keep cool otherwise she still got wet when she woke up. She has the optimist idea that inside the house will be cool which is logically it just make the atmosphere inside the house was cooked. As Holman and Harmon stated, the presentation of the character in action makes the writer conclude that she is optimist. She believed that the house will be cool whether the fact was not. She starts to live in poverty after her father dead, although she lived in poverty it does not make her give up in that situation. She keeps on living her life with any chance that she could get. When she is going to Peking with her mother and her siblings to deliver the coffin of her father, her mother ran out of money so she could not pay the footmen. Suddenly, a taotai presented a wrong package with three hundred taels of silver inside, he took the taels back but she still expected him to speak, hoped that he still give her some taels. It really happened, the taotai gave her some taels and she never forgot about him. The next optimistic thought that she had was when she heard about the decree on the city wall. Orchid got the most of the requirements, then she asked to Big Sister Fan whether she had a chance or not. Sister Fann was discouraged her that Orchid doesn’t have a chance rather than the concubines and court ladies she had seen but she did not depressed. “Don’t you think I have a chance?” I cried to Big Sister Fann, “I am a Manchu and s eventeen. My father was a Blue Bannerman.” Fann shook her head. “Orchid, you are an ugly mouse compared to the concubines and court ladies I have seen.” I drank from a bucket of water and sat down to think. Big Sister Fann’s words discouraged me, but my desire was not diminished. p.22 Eventually, Orchid passed the qualification. As the Emperor’s concubine, she might never spend a night with him. She knows the risks of being concubine but her optimistic attitude doesn’t stop there. She still believed that becomes a concubine is better than marrying Bottle. The matchmaking with Bottle can be avoided but the next step with the Emperor cannot. Once she enters the Forbidden City, then there is no way out from it. Whether the fact sounds not good, she still found her own positive reason because of her mother’s taught about the Ch’an concept of happiness, which was to find satisfaction in small things. “What if you never get to spend a night with His Majesty?” Rong asked. Her raised eyebrows formed a line on her forehead. “It is better than marrying Bottle isn’t it?” Rong nodded. p.26 The day when she had to leave her family, the whole family delivered her in front of the gate of Forbidden City. When her name was mentioned by one of the eunuchs, her mother was down. It was the hard time for Orchid to leave her family out of her range. She cannot visit her family anytime she wanted. Every family gets a box contains of five hundred silver coins from His Majesty. Deep down in her heart said at least the taels could live her family. Mother broke down when my name was called. “Time to part, Orchid. Watch your step.” “Consider yourself boarding a ship of mercy on the sea of suffering,” Mother cried, waving at me. “Your father’s spirit will be with you” I bit my lip and nodded. I told myself to be happy, because with the five hundred taels my family would be able to survive. “Take care of mother” I said to Rong and Kuei Hsiang. p.30 She knows that left her mother while she is sick is not a good idea, but she believed by being the concubine, the taels that will be sent to her family can be used to survive her family, buy the medicine for her mother’s health, and pay the rent house. Her optimistic attitude also seen in the physical examination after she is enters the Forbidden City for the selection. She was instructed to undress in front of the eunuch. As a woman who is a virgin and never undressed in front of the opposite, it must be embarrassing. Even the eunuch will touch many parts of her body to match the Emperor’s own chart. I closed my eyes and tried to convince myself that the eunuchs were not men. When I opened my eyes again I found this to be true. p.28 She sets her minds optimistically that all the eunuchs are women, so she can give the best perform of herself confidently. The eunuchs remind her to the countryside men that will be drooled at the sight of a girl even she was fully clothed, fortunately they are not.

4. Hard Working

Hard working is one of Orchid’s characteristics that she had since she was child. Orchid is a good girl who is dependent and helpful person. Even though her father is a governor, her family is living below the level of subsistence. Although she lives in a mansion, her father cannot afford coolies to fan her and her siblings. As the writer said that in previous characteristic, she is smart enough to cool the house by pouring the water on the tiles of the roof. It is also the proof that she is a hard worker too. While her parents did not think about cool the house she has her own way to find the solution even though in the morning her sheet still wet because of her sweat. She and her relatives try to cool the house by pouring it with water from the roof. This characteristic starts to appear apparently after her father died. According to Murphy’s theory of past life, in Orchid’s past life in Wuhu, she knows all the struggles and suffers of her parents. She learned that she has to work harder to support the family. Her mother got depressed and sick, in the other hand she had two siblings a sister named Rong and a brother named Kuei Hsiang which three of them need to eat. They are too young to support the family’s needs. She has to replace the position of her father as breadwinner. Her first time visits Peking, she is amazed by everything she has seen whether it is the decoration, the people, the food and the atmosphere in this city. To prove that she is a hard worker person, the writer see from the reaction of the main character like Murphy said. In the second day, she goes to neighbors and peddlers at the vegetable market to find a job. She works and gets paid daily in that market until the day when no one hired her. I went to neighbors and peddlers at the vegetables market hoping to find work. I carried loads of yams and cabbages, and cleaned the stalls after the market closed. I made a few copper pennies each day. Some days no one hired me and I would come empty-handed. p.13 She is not giving up looking for a job. Finally, she worked on a middle-aged woman called Big Sister Fann through her uncle. From that time, she works for her in a shop specializing in shoes for wealthy Manchu Ladies. She says that she