Duty

Every story within “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” explores the ideas of familial and communal duty, with specific emphasis on the differing perceptions on what one person’s duty is to another. These varying perceptions generally create tension, leading some to feel they are not being given what is owed to them, while others feel they are being asked to do too much. This can also create tension within an individual consciousness and widely within communities. Conflict can arise within an individual when what they believe are their duties, what others believe are the individual’s duties, and what the individual’s personal needs are clash, just as a close-knit community may become stressed when members within the group disagree about the community’s duties regarding members and non-members.

Duties within families comprise the most frequent discussions of duty within this story collection. Filial duty...