Estranged

Abstract

Mother has been a restless but demanding presence in Yang’s life. When Yang longed for emotional intimacy, her mother was absent in the home, choosing to commute across the continent for work. Later Yang’s mother became obsessed with marrying her daughter to someone rich. After Yang converted to Christianity and later began a committed romantic relationship with a Christian young man from a less resourceful family background, and with Hepatitis B, she and her mother stood on two opposing ends of the value system. Years of parental pressure against her choice of marriage partner were a grueling trial. Later Yang’s own commitment to motherhood at the expense of her career became another triggering event to new conflict in the already estranged mother-daughter relationship.