With our time on this earth, people are bound to change. Whether it is age, the environment we are in, the people around us, or certain responsibilities, change is just evident and there are minimal ways of getting around it. In “ Woman From New York” by Ha Jin, it portrays how a woman has changed from spending time in New York, but also being treated unfairly because of it. Chen Jinli left for the US four years ago and now has returned, primarily to see her daughter. She looks different: her clothes, her eyes, and just her overall appearance. People speculate that she found a rich asian while in New York and that he paid for everything and was disloyal to her husband, Chigan. Jinli described New York as a good place for rich people and that people there work hard.
The biggest theme to touch on deals with Jinli almost comparing the town to New York and just the people in it too. Jinli seems to be a bit uptight after returning home and tells Chigan he needs to get his life together and not be so messy. Jinli came back with no assigned job and had a hard time finding a job. When rumors were going around about her finding a new man and just going to the US, it seemed like employers would turn her down because of that. She was treated unfairly because of her experiences and it seems like people are mad at her for straying away from her “roots”. Change is evident, especially when we visit new places for a prolonged period of time, and can be a good or bad thing.