Minnie 1201

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers​ by Yiyun Li

Summary

Mr. Shi, a retired Chinese self-proclaimed “rocket scientist” travels to the US to check
on his recently divorced daughter, with a promise not to return until she is emotionally
recovered. He comes across an Iranian woman of his age whom he calls “Madam” to talk to
during his stay. Though both are not expert English speakers, they understood and
empathized each other well. Mr. Shi later finds out that the reason his daughter abandoned
her lover was because she did not talk as much as her husband wanted her to, which reminded
Mr. Shi about his past, when he did not talk a lot to his daughter as well. Through this, Mr.
Shi has a chance to reflect on his past mistakes which have shaped him into an appreciative
man he is now.

Literary Device

In the sentimental short story ​A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, ​Yiyun Li’s clever
use of aphorism captures each character’s personal wisdom about love and communication.
Since the beginning of the story, Mr. Shi converses with his daughter in a loving, caring and
affectionate manner as he knows she is emotionally damaged from the divorce. He
occasionally sprinkles inspirational quotes while consoling her, for example “life provides
more happiness than we ever know. We have to train ourselves to look for it.” This line
serves as Mr. Shi’s method of motivating her into finding a new husband. In addition, the
author herself also provides comments on the characters, putting herself in readers’
perspective by making expectations of who each character should be. For instance, the
sentence “It is certainly not healthy for a woman … to spend too much time alone” is Mr.
Shi’s expectation of his daughter to socialize more. Another usage of this technique would be
when Mr. Shi expects that Madam would not understand him because he assumes most
optimistic women are “shielded from life’s unpleasantness.” The last and perhaps most
impactful example of aphorism would be in the last paragraph, when Mr. Shi concludes that
“It is what we sacrifice that makes life meaningful,” a sentence he lived by, but proves to be
wrong in the end. All of these philosophical observations can be taken out of context and still
make perfect sense, thus is the characteristic of aphorism. In other words, aphorism used in
this story reveals as much about the characters as they do about life, and that contributes to
the meaning of the story as a whole.

Creative Response

f. Rewrite the story from a point of view different from the point of view presented in the
short story.

Baba used to be a silent person, a secretive scientist who was always building
something behind our backs. I always thought of him as a father who cares about work more
than his child. He was so busy with his job. It probably has never occurred to him that it’s his
job, too, to bond with his daughter. I’ve never heard him talk much about me, or anyone. So,
I assumed he didn’t care much about me, and I didn’t care much about him. We lived like
 Minnie 1201

that for decades, until he came all the way from China to the US, to visit me. I wonder why
dad has just come seven years after I’ve been divorced. It’s probably about time we
reconnect.
Baba used to say he’s happy being like that: quiet, peaceful and all. Until this evening,
I ate quietly like usual, but he thought I was sad… because I was quiet. If that is not the most
hypocritical thing I’ve ever faced, then I don’t know what is. Though I knew he was
desperately suppressing his sadness back then, he was the one who taught me to believe
silence doesn’t mean unhappy, no matter if he knew it or not. So, why does he forget it now?
Did he forget himself after all these radical changes? He speaks more, smiles more, starts to
cook and becomes a completely different person. Has the words he’s been holding back all
these years bursted out?
I have just noticed today that baba has a friend, a kind-looking old Iranian woman.
Relief cracked a smile on my face for a while. But then, a cynical side of me starts to wonder
if he is really my dad. Talking was never really his thing, even after all these changes, I still
can’t believe he made a friend this quickly. Maybe it’s because he has just discovered this
new habit of talking more that has convinced him that silence was wrong. Maybe it’s just a
new thing that sparks happiness in someone, a make-believe that themselves have the courage
to change. That’s good for him, but I don’t feel the need to change.
I want to blame him so bad for giving me the trait of quietness and staying silent.
Still, he has a reason for not talking. My marriage ended because I was talking with a wrong
person, at a wrong time. Couldn’t that be my reason to not talk? “A love in which their minds
touched-- wasn’t it love, too?” Ofcourse, it was, until talking broke us apart, and brings us
back together.

Reference
Li, Y. (n.d.). ​A Thousand Years of Good Prayers​.