Gloria

Feelings

Feel sorry for Gloria

The way people around her treat her is cruel

Alex, her husband & the Father Paolo

'she didn't want' any more children, but because alex still wanted more, and the priest said 'the wife should submit to the husband', she had to listen to them

this shows that they did not care about her feelings/opinions, she had such little control over her own life: dehumanising her into something that can be controlled and ordered around

gloria had to bear the consequences of alex's decisions and actions all by herself, and there wasn't anything else she could do

'glared at her', 'as if what alex did was all her fault'

later on, when alex got arrested and was in jail,she had to 'work and make money' by herself to raise all her children

Strangers: receptionist

'Oi!': sharp tone, thinks of Gloria as inferior

majority of her interaction with gloria seems like she was talking down on gloria as if she does not deserve any respect/dignity

e.g. 'in a loud voice as if that will help her to understand better'

not only is it drawing unnecessary attention to gloria, it is also like scolding her even though she had not done anything wrong, gloria is wronged

Mrs Ling

'You've got to spell out every single step before they do it right'

insulting gloria, calling them clueless, like they lack basic common sense

making it seem like gloria only have the limited knowledge that very young children have, as spelling out ‘every single step’ was similar to the way that adults teach children things.

Thoughts

gloria is a loving, caring mother

gloria is a scheming person

denied her a right to make decisions for herself

mrs ling 'made' her deposit her money into a bank account

mrs ling meant well, but still overlooked gloria's right to choose

gloria would be more sensitive towards this, especially since it is how she is treated back home: husband and pastor, with the gender discrimination

'take home to migoy and amy, her two youngest'

always thinking about her children even though she was so far away

even though being in sg was sort of a break for her as she did not have to constantly think about how to get food for her children, she did not think of it as being relieved of that burden, instead treated it as a way to earn more money to get nice things for her children to enjoy; showing how selfless she is

'fifty dollars.', all the things she wanted to buy

even with so much money, gloria was only thinking about her children. she was thinking of her children's fav food, clothes and shoes for them

the fact that her children came to mind instantly shows that she not only knew what they liked, but also she was always doing her best in everything for them, so they could lead a better life

'let migoy and amy choose what they want', 'two years, may be three years'

gloria had always not been allowed to make decisions for herself, so she didnt want her children to grow up in the same way; wanted them to know that their opinions and feelings were important

gloria did not think twice about being determined to work under mrs ling for so long if it meant she could have enough money to treat her children well, to make them as happy as how mrs ling made her children happy

'has not changed this past one year', 'vary things a little'

gloria took advantage of mrs ling's trust that she had gained during the past one year to her advantage

'timmy likes chicken soup', 'timmy wants'

knew mrs ling loved her children very much and would not question if it was for them, and she used that to her advantage to buy more food even though it was not for them

'enough meat and veg to feed eight adults for a week', 'ramos and roddy', 'pay her'

gloria wanted to earn a lot of money, so she sold the extra food mrs ling had bought for her own selfish benefits