The story A Woman Like Me was written by a Chinese writer named Xi Xi. Since it is written in 1982, A Woman Like Me belongs to the modern poetry. The main character of the story is a woman who is a mortician. Through the story the writer talks about the main character's relationship with a guy named Xia. The main character is afraid that once she confesses what her real job is to her friend he will leave her like all of her friends did when they found out. The main character's work and the ethical issues are themes that stand between her and any other relationship that she ever had. .
The story is set in Hong Kong in second half on the 20th century. In the story that is just about one half an hour long, the writer introduces us to one main and two minor characters. The main character is the writer herself. The minor characters are Aunt Yifen and Xia. Xia was the person with whom the main character was trying to build a relationship with.
In the story the main character's profession is a mortician. Her job is to beautify the deceased and try to make them look as natural and as peaceful as possible. She hides her career because a lot of people find it really unattractive, and they are for some reason afraid of her and her job. What is right to her is not to other people. For the main character it is just a job that she learned from her aunt and that she finds interest in. I feel that the main character actually enjoys her work. Since she didn't have a high level of education and knowledge she is really happy with the money she makes. It makes her to be independent. The main character is afraid that once she tells the truth about her work to Xia he will act as other people did and stop seeing her. Because she doesn't want to lose him, she is really afraid to confess. I don't think, even though she hides her profession from Xia, that she is ashamed of what she does. She didn't want to lie, she just withheld the truth from him as long as possible.