Short Story - Hungry Ghost by Hwee Hwee Tan

We were both searching for the same thing, me through my books, and him…I guess he wanted me to relieve from the agony of hell by offering him food, hugging his grave…(pg 65).

1. What was the narrator searching for?

I think the narrator is searching for the truth about the life after death and the forgiveness for all the bad things or sins that was done by the narrator during her life after death, so that her fear is lost and she is not going into or relieved from the hell. It is because the narrator knows that he is going to the hell because he stole something in her life. Same things goes to her grandfather where he wants the narrator to relieve him from the agony of hell by offering him food, hugging his grave and burning money for him to spend. So, that’s what I think the narrator is searching for.

2. In your perception, why does the grandfather…..“wanted me to relieve him..” and relieve from what?

From my opinion, the grandfather says “wanted me to relieve him” is because the grandfather has told the narrator about the punishments on every sin that was done by the human after death. So that, the grandfather hopes the narrator already understand about what he is going to tell or explain by bring the narrator to all the places and will helped him relieved from the hell after he died to avoid him go through all the punishments in the hell.

3. What do “offering food”, “hugging grave” and “burning money” symbolize?

From the story, “offering foods” symbolize for prepare the death person favorite foods for them to eat after they died like what the narrator’s mother did to her grandfather where her mother prepared all her grandfather’s favorite foods like Bee Hoon: hard-boiled eggs soaked in soy sauce, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Guiness Stout by place the foods on the altar for her grandfather to eat. Next, “hugging grave” here symbolize for a pray for the dead person like what the narrator’s grandfather wants her to do to him after he died which is to relieved him from the agony of the hell. Then, “burning money” is symbolized as pocket money for the dead person to spend on during their vacation on earth. For example, the narrator’s mother will light on each of ghost money one by one from the temple, then drop the burning paper into an empty Graham Crackers tin for her grandfather to buy new clothes, a car and a condominium. All those things are usually done during the Hungry Ghost Festival which was celebrated every August by the Chinese people because there is a believed that the dead person was released from the hell to enjoy themselves on earth for a month.