Suwen, doing storytelling and painting at the same time is possible because she feels she can make it with the skill of painting that she has.
From the information derived from the quotations above, it can be conclude that Suwen has an artistic trait. She is born to be a great artist considering on the
qualities of an artist that she has in herself.
2. Conservative
Suwen is a talented person. She has a great potential to be a great artist. Her skills of painting are appreciated by many people. However, Suwen is a person who
has conservative thinking. She is a kind of person who puts cultural heritages and morality before anything else, even herself, her dreams and desires. The following
parts show the information about one of Suwen’s characteristics, which is conservative.
As a painter, Suwen never wants to paint anything else but historical things. When talking about the object of painting, Nica argues Suwen’s idea of bringing
the historical values of her ancestor for her object of painting. Nica feels that Suwen must go out of such ideas. But Suwen remains in her statement. The following
quotation shows the moment when Nica is arguing Suwen’s idea of bringing the ancestor’s story for her object of painting.
“I don’t know any other family, Nica.” “So? You can’t find out about others? C’mon Ferret things out from other
people. Other races. An artist shouldn’t be so myopic and subjective. Art must offer a wider perspective of things in Singapore.” Lim, 2003: 246.
The quotation above shows the moment when Nica is questioning and
lecturing about Suwen’s idea of painting. To be a great artist, Suwen must go out
of the conservative thinking. Thinking wider, not only about the national heritages or cultural values. Suwen, otherwise, feels that national heritage has a story that
must and can be expressed through painting. Another moment that obviously shows Suwen’s way of thinking is when
she and Nica are walking alongside the beach, enjoying their time together and talking about anything. On their way, Suwen finds something that she guesses as
mushrooms. She calls Nica to come and see the things she finds. Nica takes a look on these things and says that they are not mushrooms but fungi. Nica asks Suwen
to come closer and touch those things but Suwen thinks they are poisonous. “Come and look at these mushrooms” Suwen called from under the crab
apple tree, pointing to the orange and grey ears growing from its trunk. “These are fungi, not mushrooms, dumbo.” Nica bent down to take a closer
look. “Go on. Touch them. They’re smooth and spongy.” “Careful there. Might be poisonous.” Lim, 2003: 107.
From the quotation above, it can be inferred that Suwen has lack of
information or knowledge about outside world. She does not want to touch the fungi that are, actually, not poisonous as Nica says. From her fear of touching the fungi,
it can be concluded that the fear or doubt that Suwen has is the product of her conservative thinking. She never wants to know and feel the outside world. She
thinks that outside world may be having harmful effects for herself. Not only in the matter of art, but Suwen also has conservative thinking in
her own life, her sexual life with a man. She always thinks that racial order is the most necessary thing to be kept. Thus, Suwen does not have any courage to make a
relationship with someone, in this case is Mark, who is not Chinese. She could never go to bed with a white man, she told herself. She was too
much of a Chink. She put it down to her own innate Chinese snobbery, an
irrational memory of the race which inhabited Chungkuo, the Middle Kingdom. So, she would never dream of marrying outside her own race. She
simply could not see herself locked in copulation with white hairy body Lim, 2003: 125.
From the information based on the quotation above, it can be inferred that
Suwen has a strong dedication on her race. It is true that Suwen has special feeling about Mark. But she cannot irritate her own conservative thinking and family. She
sacrifices her own desire which is natural, actually, and lifts the rule of society to the top.
There is another moment in the story that shows the conservative thinking that Suwen has. The situation is when Suwen and Nica are in the middle of conflict,
conflict that happens because Nica uses Mark as a model of her painting and sketches him in naked poses. Nica taunts Suwen for her conservative thinking.
“Gosh, you teacher types, Nica was taunting. “Frigid in the body, frigid in the head Here’s a guy crazy about you. And you about him. If not, d’you
thing you’ll be so hopping mad just because I sketched him without his clothes on? But cripes What d’you do? Nothing Absolutely nothing The
guy’s been mooning about you for a year out here. All you did when you were with him was to moan and groan. Not over sex. Geez But of all things
Over art, language, history, all the cerebral blah-blah-blah So what d’you expect the guy to do? Rape you? Christ You’re stupid woman” Lim,
2003: 297. Suwen is deceiving herself. She does not admit that she actually have special
feeling on Mark. Nica knows that fact. She knows that Mark loves Suwen, too. She tries to explain to Suwen and says what she is supposed to do. Nica feels that Suwen
is too conservative in building a relationship with man. She thinks that Suwen must put off her conservative thinking and let the desire comes. However, it is Suwen
who cannot be like Nica and the others. She chooses to stand by her equanimity and her way of thinking.
From the quotations above, it can be concluded that Suwen’s way of thinking makes her be the person who has conservative thinking. Suwen always be
afraid of outside world. She thinks that the outside world has something harmful that can affect herself. She prefers to stand inside her world, in this case is the rule
of her race which is Chinese.
3. Quiet
