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The Butcher / Snow Flower's Husband
Daughter of Mama and Baba, and Lily's older sister. She is quiet and compassionate, which leads her to discover Third Sister's septic shock after allowing her to lie down and rest during foot binding. She marries into a family where she's not treated well, but not so badly that it's not considered normal or to be expected.
Elder Sister Quotes in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
The Snow Flower and the Secret Fan quotes below are all either spoken by Elder Sister or refer to Elder Sister. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Daughter Days: Learning
Quotes
"You married out," Mama said, in a way that seemed oddly detached. "You go to another village. Your mother-in-law is cruel. Your husband doesn't care for you. We wish you would never leave, but every daughter marries away. Everyone agrees. Everyone goes along with it. You can cry and beg to come home, we can grieve that you have gone, but you—and we—have no choice. The old saying makes this very clear: 'if a daughter doesn't marry out, she's not valuable; if fire doesn't raze the mountain, the land will not be fertile.'"
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Snow Flower LitChart as a printable PDF.
Elder Sister Quotes in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
The Snow Flower and the Secret Fan quotes below are all either spoken by Elder Sister or refer to Elder Sister. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Daughter Days: Learning
Quotes
"You married out," Mama said, in a way that seemed oddly detached. "You go to another village. Your mother-in-law is cruel. Your husband doesn't care for you. We wish you would never leave, but every daughter marries away. Everyone agrees. Everyone goes along with it. You can cry and beg to come home, we can grieve that you have gone, but you—and we—have no choice. The old saying makes this very clear: 'if a daughter doesn't marry out, she's not valuable; if fire doesn't raze the mountain, the land will not be fertile.'"
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
