“He wished for the noise of the pile driver, the clattering of the conveyor belt. He wished for something to prove that life had changed. But it was as if nothing had changed, nothing would ever change (Heng 432).” DesireChangeRegretSentimentalism Book:The Great Reclamation Source: The Great Reclamation
“You know. You cannot just–" Ah Boon stopped. *Walk in here and ask me to open myself up all over again*, he thought, but he did not say (Heng 253).” SadnessRegretLonging Book:The Great Reclamation Source: The Great Reclamation
“But as the old body of his father's boat thudded over the dull brown waves, the smell of fish pursuing him always, he saw the city, gleaming and spotless, rising as if dormant from the sea. Sparkling buildings of metal and glass, roads of flawless asphalt, bright electric streetlights;. . .it was a beautiful, impossible sight. A beautiful, improbable, ulikely nation" (Heng 447).” BeautyTransformationOvercome Book:The Great Reclamation Source: The Great Reclamation
“Now a silent rule had been broken. The possibility of a real conversation loomed—the unspoken envy and resentment that had simmered all these years, the fact that yes, every morning since she had fallen ill, Ma had asked for Natalie, and they were forced to lie, to say that she had gone out to the market and would be back in a few hours, just to calm Ma until she forgot again. The sisters looked at one another, examined their nails, then finally met Natalie's gaze. "No," they said. "She doesn't talk about you" (Heng 261).” GriefEnvyResentmentDisgust Book:The Great Reclamation Source: The Great Reclamation