Quote 19
I once sacrificed my life to keep my parents’ promise. This means nothing to you, because to you promises mean nothing. A daughter can promise to come to dinner, but if she has a headache, if she has a traffic jam, if she wants to watch a favorite movie on TV, then she no longer has a promise. (I.3.1)
Lindo believes that she has a much, much stronger sense of obligation and filial duty than her daughter Waverly.
Quote 20
My mother did not treat me this way because she didn’t love me. She would say this biting back her tongue, so she wouldn’t wish for something that was no longer hers. (I.3.14)
The strong mother-daughter connection is not broken, even when Lindo belongs to another family and her mother can no longer express her love in the same way.
Quote 21
The dowry was enough, more than enough, said my father. But he could not stop my mother from giving me her chang, a necklace made out of a tablet of red jade. When she put it around my neck, she acted very stern, so I know she was very sad. "Obey your family. Do not disgrace us," she said. "Act happy when you arrive. Really, you’re very lucky." (I.3.24)
When Lindo’s mother leaves, she acts stern and gives her daughter a necklace, believing that Lindo will be better off with the Huang family.