Decisions

When we are first introduced to Shen te, Wong, the water seller of Setzuan, is looking for a place stay for the Gods. According to the Gods and Wong only a good person would accept them and give them a place to stay. When Wong asks Shen Te she first refuses and claims she was expecting a man. But, then after Wong begs she agrees to hide from the gentleman until he leaves and then gives the Gods a place to stay.
Once she takes in the Gods, the Gods began to thank her and this when figure out that she is a prostitute. After the God begin to thank her and recognize her as a good human being, she disagrees and explains that she sells herself to pay the rent. Around Setzuan she is not know for being rich or a good woman. Her cousin Shui Ta says, “My cousin has the worst possible reputation: that of being poor” (28). When the Gods are leaving they give her more than a thousand silver dollars to her for the room; therefore, she has a chance not to be know as a poor prostitute. After she buys her tobacco shop, she begins giving out free tobacco, rice, and money to the needy. After she becomes broke and doesn’t have enough money to pay for her shop’s rent. After placing an ad for marriage to receive enough money to pay her rent, an elderly couple, the Old Woman and Old Man, give her the money to pay the rent.
After she receives the money for six months of rent, she turns around and gives it to Yang Sun’s mother, so that Yang Sun can become a pilot. She completely forgets that the money was for her rent. Why is she just handing out money? When she is singing, The Song of The Defenseless, the first stanza says:
In our country
A useful man needs luck
Only if he finds strong backer
Can he prove himself useful.
The good can’t defend themselves and
Even the gods are defenseless.
To me there is line to be drawn when it comes to helping people. You have to make sure you are situated financially before you begin helping others. She is just coming up from being a prostitute to being an owner of a tobacco shop, why doesn’t she care about herself. To me she is being dumb by not situating herself first. Yes, it is good that she is being a good person of Setzuan, but if she keeps acting the way she is, she is going to end up on the streets again. Then whom is she going to be able to help from there? If she continues to help useful man, without money she will become defenseless also.