Question

Which statement most clearly illustrates Yuchin's vanity in "The Bane of the Internet"?

Click here to read the text.
"She wrote: 'I want to let that man see how well I'm doing.' She was referring to her ex-husband."
"Sister, I must have a car. Yesterday Minmin, our little niece, came to town driving a brand-new Volkswagen.'
"You don't get it, sister. I cannot drive a Chinese model. If I did, people would think I am cheap and laugh at me."
"Elder sister, since you refused to help me, I decided to act on my own. At any rate, I must have a car. Please don't be mad at me."

Answer 1

"You don't get it, sister. I cannot drive a Chinese model. If I did, people would think I am cheap and laugh at me."

Step-by-step explanation:

In the short story, "The Bane of the Internet" by Ha Jin, this statement is written by Yuchin in an e-mail to her sister (who is also the narrator), demanding her to lend Yuchin a sum of $10,000 so that she could buy a foreign car, even if it was doubly rated (as the narrator mentions), because she didn't want to appear "cheap" by getting a Chinese car which was priced less. This sentence shows her excessive concern with her image and status, and hence clearly illustrates her vanity. Her sister realises that Yuchin had also caught the auto mania.

The other options are incorrect because:

• The first one shows her need to be above or impress her ex-husband, which was not the real reason she was buying an expensive car, as the narrator later realises.
• The second one shows her envy towards her niece for owning a car.
• The last one illustrates her adamant and headstrong nature, bordering to manipulation, but not vanity.