he story American Translation is about how having a mirror in the bedroom can be bad luck in marriage. “You cannot put mirrors at the foot of your bed. All your marriage happiness will bounce back and turn the opposite way” (Tan 147).
This applies to the St. Clair’s because Lena and Harold live in a “lopsided house”, Which represents their “lopsided marriage”. When Lena was a little girl she didn’t finish her dinner and her mom told her, “your future husband will have one pick mark for every rice you not finish” (Tan 151). Lena went on to marry a rice husband. Her mom knew that he was a bad man just by looking at her house. Next, is the Hsu’s because of Ted and Rose’s divorce. During their entire marriage Ted was the one to make all the decisions…