The Voice From The Wall Amy Tann

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The Voice From The Wall Amy Tann

• By
• Rachel Kalins
• Kati Morgan
• Vinson Goldwire

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Summary Of The Story

• Great-Grandfather killed a begger.
• Basement and Mother tells horrible story.
• Lena starts seeing horrible things.
• Chinatown
• The family moved to San Francisco to an Italian
  neighbor hood.
• Mother begins to move around everything.
• Lena begins to hear another girl being beat up
  through the wall.
• Mother (Betty) in the hospital.
• Teresa came to Lenas room.
• Lena understands.

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Characters

• Lena- the narrator seems to be the middle person b
  ecause she has to be the interpreter for her dad 
  and her mom. she also seems to be nosey because s
  he listens every night once her bed is moved to th
  e wall. curious- she wants to find out more about
   Teresa.
• The mother- scared of life, since she arrived in O
  akland she thought that everything was bad and th
  ings were out to get her. she is Very Protective 
  of her daughter wherever they go. For example when
   they are shopping she lets go of Lena's hand to 
  get her wallet but then snatches it back really q
  uickly afraid of what could happen. She seems to b
  e suffering from OCD. With all the rearranging in
   the house which she seems to do everyday.
• The father- uninformed and also out of the loop. H
  e cant really communicate with his wife and looks
   towards Lena to interpret. He also tries to baby
   his wife claiming that she is tired and that's wh
  y she is acting the way she does after the baby d
  ies. He is also worrisome, he comes home asking h
  ow Lena is but looks passed her and then at his wi
  fe to see how she is.
• Teresa- she is the person who makes Lena understan
  d that there are people whose lives are worse tha
  n hers. She also is mischievous because she knows
   that her mother will be worried about her. She pl
  ays the trick on her and climbs down the fire esc
  ape outside Lena's window.

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What is the significance of the title?

• It directly relates to the story. 
• The protagonist, Lena, hears her neighbors thro
  ugh her bedroom wall at night.

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• How is the story told? First Person
• Who is the narrator?  Lena
• What perspective is used? Observer Narration
• What is the tone of the language? Scared but
  curious. 
• Is the narrator reliable? Yes and No

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Look closely at the opening and ending. On what
does the author and narrator focus?

• In the beginning-the author focuses on Lenas
  mother and her life coming to America, the author
  shows how weak and fragile her mom is by using
  the man in the basement to inform Lena of the
  horrible things in life. Lenas mom is very
  afraid of the world.
• Towards the end-the author focuses on Lena
  finally understanding that there are those that
  are worse off then they are.

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• What is the major theme of the story? 
  Explicate. 
• That no matter what you think is bad, someone has
  it worst then you do.
• Are there any minor themes?

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How does the character transform in the story? 

• Her transformation from finding content with her 
• family only b/c she thought the family next
  door was worse off than her own, to realizing
  that the family next-door was not as horrid as he
  r imagination led her to believe, maybe even bette
  r off than her family. 
• transformation of imagining the worst possible 
• things, to now hoping for her family, mainly
  her mother, to become well.
• Mother's transformation into a ghost. 

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Are there any allusions in the story that could
add meaning to your interpretation?

• the man in the basement represents life 
• and the horrible things in it.
• the baby crib represents.
• The wall-by going through the wall, it opens your
  eyes to those around you.

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What are the symbols or other figurative elements
in the story?

• 2nd paragraph, 1st page "this same man looking l
  ike a smashed vase hastily put back
  together.-symbolizes how situations can make
  people shatter.
• Ghosts she describes her mother as becoming a gh
  ost- symbolizes death without dying possibly the
   worst possible thing.
• Mothers sense of imbalance symbolizes the imbala
  nce of the 
• family's structure mother and father
  communicating through 
• their 10yr old daughter.
• The crib symbolizes hope of new begging's that 
  will now never come.
• Mother's death of baby symbolizes her mothers f
  urther transformation into a ghost.
• The Wall symbolized a barrier of knowledge, allo
  wing imagination to take over and produce thought
  s of the worst possible things that could happen.
   

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What seems to be the author's primary
goal/purpose in writing this short story?

• That bad stuff can happen.
• Maybe what you think is so bad is really not.

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What is your reaction to this story?  How does
your reaction influence your reading?

• My reaction to this story was that it was very con
  fusing and somewhat hard to follow. I felt bad for
   Lena for having a mother who convinced her that
  life was like big bad wolf who was out to get her.
  
• I think the author was trying to say that no matte
  r how hard you think life is, its not as bad as y
  ou think and when you think it cant get any worse
  , it really cant and things will start to look up 
  even when you think that they wont. I really feel
   that the author really gets the point across
   

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The End