End of “My Year of Meats”
In the end of “My Year of Meats”, things seemed to go downhill quickly. I enjoyed this book, it kept my interest and I found myself wanting to read more to find out what would happen next with Akiko and Jane. The last chapters were critical in this book, Jane and Akiko went through some very difficult times and the Dunne’s slaughterhouse was a pivotal point proving the effects of DES on humans. Jane and Akiko met up in the end and their lives were finally at a happy place; Akiko left her abusive husband, and Jane was fired from the job she knew was wrong.
The Dunne’s slaughter house was absolutely disgusting. While Jane was interviewing Gale, she came to the startling conclusion that Rose was deformed, with breasts and her period all at the age of five. This was the final straw, DES was harming people. When Rose came into the office and Gale gave her a Popsicle out of the fridge with her hormone dust covered hands, I could just imagine her licking the Popsicle along with all the chemicals she was covered with. This was what threw Jane over the edge. She could no longer be a part of BEEF Ex, lying to the world that meat is healthy and should be apart of everyone’s diet.
Jane’s miscarriage was expected but the manner in which it happened was very sad. Jane would most likey never be able to have a child again to her deformities, and the fact that she tried so hard with her job only to lose her child was very sad. Right after Jane had her miscarriage, Akiko became pregnant. This shows in interesting tie between Akiko and Jane; One loss, and one gain. I was very proud of Akiko that she gained the strength to leave her husband and travel to America. She had nothing and had no idea where she would stay and what she would do, but she had faith that her life would be so much better without being oppressed by her ruling husband. I hated John for all of the things he did to her. The rape scene was quite startling, and the fact that Akiko picked up the pieces and moved on with her life shows her inner strength, that after all she is not the timid girl we all thought she was.
This book is a portrayal of the abilities for women in today’s world. Women like Jane can have great jobs and women such as Akiko can move to America and survive without a man. Jane was a strong women, living on her own she did no need a man. Akiko was also a strong woman; she did not crumble when the world around her seemed to be caving in. I really enjoyed this book and though it was a great depiction of Asian American woman today.
