Wen Fu Essay, Research Paper

In he novel The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan, Pearl Louie, learns about her mother’s past and

about her biological father. Throughout the story the reader gets to know the kind of person Wen

Fu was her father was. He had no heart or love for other people around him, he was evil, careless

and a dirty pig. When Winnie was pregnant they were going to go for a ride but there was a

problem with the car door. The door was broken and therefore Wen Fu was suppose to help his

wife get in the car but his words were; “Climb in over the broken door… you lazy girl.” (pg.264).

This showed us what kind of husband he was. What kind of husband would act this way with his

pregnant wife? One day Wen Fu’s wife came to tell him that their daughter was dying of

dehydration caused by vomiting and diarrhea. Since he was playing cards he didn’t pay much

attention to Winnie and his response was; “If she dies, I wouldn’t care!” (pg.336). A couple of

minutes passed and the situation was getting worse. Therefore, Winnie brought Yiku, the baby, to

show Wen Fu that she was really sick. She thought that maybe this way his husband was going to

react to the problem and help for the baby to live. When he saw his daughter he said; ” Why

didn’t you tell me she was this way?” (pg.337). One day Wen Fu went to a restaurant with some

friends. There, he became friends with the waitress and the relation between them became much

stronger than only a simple friendship. Later on, they had intimate relations and she got pregnant.

When Wen Fu found out that she was going to have a baby, his intentions were to push her down

the stairs so she could have a miscarriage, but he was wrong. She not only had a miscarriage but

she died immediately. He obviously didn’t care that the woman had died, he said; “The servant

girl is dead… Who are you to accuse me…?” (pg.330-331). With this summary, the reader knows

that Wen Fu is one of those people that needs to be treated by a professional.