Figurative Language In Four Directions By Amy Tan

V. SYMBOLISM
The title of the short story, “Four Directions” is symbolic for Waverly’s inner misconceptions. As she goes about her life, she is pulled in different ways by her past and her present. She is torn between her Chinese heritage and her American life. She never thought that instead of being pulled in four directions, she could take all of her differences and combine them. In the end she realizes this with the help of her mother. “The three of us, leaving our differences behind...moving West to reach East” (184), thought Waverly. Her whole life she misconceived her mother’s intentions. Lindo never wanted Waverly to solely focus on her Chinese heritage, but rather combine it with her new American ways. The idea of being pulled in four

directions was only a misconception.
Tan uses the mink coat as a symbol for imperfect love in “Four Directions”. Rich and Waverly are a newly engaged couple and they are deeply in love. He has gifted her with a mink coat, which Waverly describes as, “A silly present...It’s hardly ever cold enough in San Francisco to wear mink. But it seems to be a fad, what people are buying their wives and girlfriends these days” (169). Just because the coat is not ideal in all situations, its overall purpose and meaning is special. In a similar way, Waverly and Rich do not always see eye to eye. Rich often does not understand Waverly’s heritage, and in turn she resents him for that. Nevertheless, just like the mink coat, love is not always perfect but still worth it.
Waverly Jong’s daughter Shoshana is symbolic for Waverly’s Chinese-American future. When Waverly found out she was pregnant, she was angry and unsure if she wanted to go through with the birth. Having a child would be the start of a new life for her, no longer would she be just a daughter, but now a mother herself. Nevertheless she chooses to give birth and says about her daughter, “She was perfect. I found every detail about her to be remarkable...I knew my feelings for her were inviolable” (175). Her commitment and love towards her child is symbolic for her commitment to starting a new life. She can no longer live in her mother’s Chinese shadow because she now has a Chinese-American daughter to care for.
VI. SPEAKER
The story “Four Directions” is told in first person point of view. Waverly Jong is telling a story from her life, therefore she is named and involved in the plot.
VII. STRUCTURE
The short story is told mainly in chronological order. It begins with Waverly Jong taking her mother out to dinner with the intention of revealing her engagement. After the failed attempt, the plot follows the natural progression of time, ending a few nights later when Waverly finally tells her mother. Although the majority of the story is chronological, Tan does insert one flashback. Waverly Jong tells a story from when she was ten years old, this helps build up characterization to provide background of her relationship with her mother. Tan also includes a motif involving the Chinese culture. The idea of following and recognizing one’s culture seems to come up in every situation, whether it be having a very neat home, putting great emphasis on meals, or respectfulness in everyday conversation. At the end of the story, Lindo tells Waverly about the two sides of her family, both from China. This concludes the motif, showing that cultural observance is a sign of appreciation to those who came before you, and their ways of life should never be forgotten.
“Four Directions” can be found in Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club.

The novel is 288 pages and separated into four sections, four short stories in each. “Four Directions” is the second story in the third section, American Translation. It is eighteen pages long, 166-184 specifically.
VIII. IMAGERY
In this short, but charming story, Amy Tan uses imagery to bring the story to life. With figurative language, the reader is immersed into the Chinese culture and can better relate to the characters. Tan main use of imagery is to better explain each character. Often instead of a simple explanation, Tan uses metaphors, similes, or hyperboles to describe the person, this way they are more relatable and their feelings better understood.
An example of a metaphor in “Four Directions” is when Waverly relates her relationship with her mother to that of a horse and rabbit. “And that’s what she is. A Horse, born in 1918, destined to be obstinate and frank to the point of tactlessness. She and I make a bad combination, because I’m a Rabbit, born in 1951” (167).
Tan places two opposite statements together to create antithesis, “Her ability to make me see black where there was once white, white where there was once black” (169).
Many similes are incorporated throughout the plot, one of those being, “It was as though I had lost my magic armor”

(172).
Hyperboles are present in the story, mainly to build onto Lindo’s bitter personality. When describing Lindo’s effect on her ex-husband, Waverly says, “But by the time my mother had had her say about him, I saw his brain had shrunk from laziness, so that now it was good only for thinking up excuses” (174). Waverly over exaggerates that his brain had shrunk to show that her mother can make her believe anything.
An example of synecdoche is, “She told the waiter to make sure the soup was very hot, and of course, it was by her tongue’s expert estimate, ‘not even lukewarm” (166). Instead of saying Lindo’s expert estimate, it is her tongue’s estimate.
When Waverly shows up at her mother’s house distraught and scared to tell her mother, she originally says to her, “Nothing’s happened. Nothing’s the matter. I don’t know why I’m here” (181). This is verbal irony because there is something wrong, and the reader, her mother, and Waverly herself know it. Still, Waverly says the opposite of what she really means.