Justin+N

Justin Nattrass English 10 Mrs.Felder, p.2 12 March 13, 2008 Mother Daughter Relationships  Lindo Jong was promised to be a wife at a young age. Once she was promised to marry, her family began to treat her as if she was the daughter of another family. She remembers looking back into her childhood and recalling the time when she was at the old village. There was the village matchmaker and Huang Taitai, the mother of the boy Lindo was supposed to marry. Once she was with her husband Huang Taitai wanted her to make her grand children. Huang Taitai did not believe that Lindo was being a worthy wife to her son and therefore began to abuse Lindo. Lindo realized she had to get out of the situation she was in. One night she claimed that she had a dream and saw the three wise men and they said that Lindo was not the right women for Huang Taitais son and that the matchmaker was wrong. Now Lindo is older, she has a daughter Waverly and has a new husband that she has a strong bond that could not be broken as she shows when she says “’That candle was a marriage bond that was worth more than a catholic promise not to divorce’”. This is completely different from Lindos husband that she had at her young age. At age 6 Waverly Jong was taught by her mother Lindo the art of invisible strength.(Tan 89) Waverly is a chess prodigy which is a lot more appealing to Lindo then Waverly. As Waverly continues to win and win her mother continues to brag and brag. When they would walk the streets outside Lindo carries a picture of Waverly showing off her daughter. Waverly does not realize that showing off your daughter is a form of a Chinese tradition. The bragging that Lindo constantly does causes Waverly to snap at her mother. She has such a hard time dealing with the gloating she says “Why do you have to use me to show of” (Tan 99), to finally confront her mother about how she is embarrassed about the way her mother gloats about her. After confronting her about the embarrassment Waverly takes off from her mother. When Waverly returns home later her mother looks at her and says “’We not concerning this girl. This girl not concern for us’” (Tan 100), explaining how she doesn’t believe that she has to show any care, concern, or respect if Waverly doesn’t plan on giving it back it return. “The frustration Lindo feels is shared by all mothers. This frustration is best summarized in her poignant confession during the course of which she accuses herself of being responsible for the way Waverly has turned out” (Shen 2). Lindo feels that it is her fault for the way Waverly has behaved, the worse Waverly acted the more Lindo blamed herself.  Lindo and Waverly have over time become closer to one another. Waverly is planning on going to China for her second honeymoon. She is extremely afraid that she will blend in with the Chinese culture again and thinks that they might not let her go back to the United States. “’When you go to China, you don’t even need to open your mouth. They already know you are an outsider’”. (Tan 253) Even though Waverly’s biggest fear is blending in with the Chinese culture, Lindo is explaining that the people of the Chinese culture would be able to realize that she is an outsider even if she doesn’t speak. Having brought Waverly up Chinese American, Lindo feels that it is her fault. She wanted to bring up her children with what she believed was the best combination, American circumstances and Chinese character. As they grow together Lindo continues to find out more and more about the American culture. When her and Waverly go to get their hair cut, Waverly is criticizing Lindo about her hair. This is a whole new culture to Lindo.