I found this story to be very interesting and heartwarming despite the cold nature of Auntie Mei. From the Egret, to “Grandpa Paul,” to even Auntie Mei being raised by mythic women, I found this story to have many elements that made it to be interesting. The working facets of this story help to strengthen Auntie Mei’s complexities as a character and her relationships to her clients. The audience becomes the witness who really sees and understands the depths and complexities of Auntie Mei’s character.
The notion of caretaking is a very prevalent theme in the short story, A Sheltered Woman by Yiyun Li. Auntie Mei has been the primary caretaker for many families before she began taking care of Chanel and Baby. Auntie Mei had kept an exact number of families that she had cared for throughout her time as a “gold medal nanny.” The audience quickly learns about how strict, rigid, and emotionally unavailable Auntie Mei was. There is also a notion of generational difference present between Chanel and Auntie Mei as well. Although Auntie Mei was a “gold medal nanny,” she was very much emotionally unavailable to her clients. It wasn’t until Auntie Mei learned about Chanel not wanting to care for her newborn son, that the audience began to see a shift in emotional availability for this family.
Before Auntie Mei had come to work with this family, she had strict rules for herself to be able to perform her work. Her work consisted of staying a month at a time with different clients, and then she would move on to the next family. Although Auntie Mei is a caretaker, she somehow is able to perform her job without emotional attachment to the families themselves. There is also the example of her never putting the cribs in her room with past clients, because she didn’t find it necessary for the babies to get attached to someone who would only be living there a month. Auntie Mei finds comfort and safety in her rules because she is afraid of expressing her emotions herself. This fear of expressing emotions also derives from the generational gap that she has with most of her clients and their families. The generational gap is very present with Chanel as well. All of the rules that she had laid out for the families becomes the way that she maintains her survival and is able to perform duties.
Auntie Mei began to be more emotionally available after Chanel decided she did not want to breastfeed anymore. Auntie Mei’s job as a caretaker is to also help the mother produce milk. Producing milk is a way for the mother and child to bond. Because Chanel is unable to produce milk, she is unable to perform her motherly duties such as providing sustenance and love for her child. It can be argued that Auntie Mei sees that Chanel cannot love her baby because she is unwilling to breastfeed Baby. This is such a profound moment for Auntie Mei because this is when the audience begins to see the shift in Auntie Mei’s emotional availability. Auntie Mei’s fears about Baby not feeling loved or cared about rise to the surface, and although she is not a mother herself, the caretaker decides to make a choice about whether to step up emotionally for Baby.
Once Auntie Mei decides to step up emotionally, all of the rules that she once had fall to the sideline because she wants to love and care for Baby and Chanel. As mentioned earlier, one of her biggest rules which was to not put the crib in her own room. However, after Chanel decides that she does not want to breastfeed, Auntie Mei decides that it was best for the crib to go in her room. She also had a strict rule which appeared to be to not “love” the babies she had cared for previously. Once Chanel decided that she was not going to breastfeed, Auntie Mei conceded to herself that she was going to have to provide Baby with “love” as well. Auntie Mei breaks her own rules as a way for her to try to receive some type of love for herself. By picking up the slack with Chanel and Baby, Auntie Mei is able to fulfill her own emotional needs even though she may not be aware of them. Auntie Mei’s complexities arise and although she is doubtful about Chanel she begins to develop an emotional relationship with Chanel as well.
Coming to Age 