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Effect of literature on culture
How does literature reflect culture
Importance of symbolism in literature
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The conflict between Waverly and her mother was very realistic due to the nature that many mothers and daughters have different views which causes disagreements. The people of Chinese descent have their Chinese heritage, but struggled to keep true to their traditions while living around American culture. The major conflict in the story, the clash of different cultures, led to the weakening of the relationship between the two characters. For example, when Waverly reentered the apartment after running away, she saw the "remains of a large fish, its fleshy head still connected to bones swimming upstream in vain escape" (Tan 508). Waverly saw herself as the fish, stripped clean by her mother 's power, unable to break free. Through the major conflict, …show more content…
Tan explained the feelings of Waverly through an important symbolic imaginary chess game as she wrote, “My white pieces screamed as they scurried and fell off the board one by one. As her men drew closer to my edge, I felt myself growing light” (508). This showed how Waverly felt about the relationship with her mother and how she was losing the battle. The conflicts were important especially to the theme, for the conflicts shown where the lack of understanding came from and how it can be resolved.
Amy Tan used symbolism to reveal the cultures and how it interacted with the conflict of the story. One example was she used the game of chess as more than just a game. She illustrated it as a game of life and a way of her adaptation into her new American culture. This was demonstrated when Waverly’s mother read the rules of chess but did not understand them. Mrs. Lindo said, “Every time people come out from foreign country, must know rules… They say, don’t know why, you find out yourself” (502). This quote demonstrated the culture gap in the family, because the mother grew up with Chinese beliefs. Symbolically, when they received the American game of chess for Christmas they were excited and
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The major themes related directly to the entire context of the story. The formidable mother-daughter conflict going on throughout the story exposed the clash of their cultural roots. The conflict showed the theme where the mother does not understand the game of chess and does not accept Waverly playing it. Also, it showed it when Waverly felt embarrassed by her mother using her as a trophy metaphorically. Another theme is the symbolic games of chess that Waverly played. Without the use of symbolism the story would have lost a major impact on the plotline. Also, Amy Tan used setting to her advantage to fully show the tone of the story and created a scene of emotion. Its major theme of mother-daughter relationship made it possible for young children to relate the short story to their own
...ave begged for her son and grandchildren life instead of trying save her life. The type of literary element shown here is conflict. The type of conflict that is shown is man versus man because the grandmother is constantly trying to convince someone in doing something else. It also shows conflict because the grandmother was begging for her life, but at the end that did not work because she ended up getting killed either way.
Firstly let us consider conflict. In each act of the play, we see the overpowering desire to belong leading to a climax of conflict amongst the characters, which has the consequence of exclusion. Conflict is a successful literary technique, as it engages the audience and focuses our attention on the issue of conflict and exclusion, brought about by the characters’ desires to be accepted by their community.
The Mother walks through the city streets boisterously proclaiming that her daughter is a chess champion. She says, “This is my daughter Waverly-ly Jong.” Waverly quickly informs her mother that she is uncomfortable with her bragging to everyone. Despite the fact that Waverly is embarrassed, her mother does not care about how Waverly feels. Waverly finally snaps, when she says, “I knew it was a mistake to say anything more, but I heard my voice speaking, ‘Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess?’” Waverly understands that she is being used by her mother. She feels as if she is an animal in a zoo, who is behind a glass window, and out in display for all to see. For the first time Waverly is able to express how she feels about her mother’s control and mental abuse. Furthermore, Waverly insists that her mother is going to have to learn to play chess herself, if she wants all the attention. This climatic scene should be followed with a happy-ending; a moment of mother and daughter bonding, although the contrary occurs. The Mother is certainly not going to allow Waverly to insult her by expressing her opinion. Regardless of how upset Waverly is, the Mother will not stop publically proclaiming Waverly’s greatness. The Mother needs the attention of other people, “Most studies will show that mothers and fathers hell-bent on this image of perfection desperately need the world to take note of their kids’ awesomeness. It’s a way of saying, see, my kids are great. Therefore, I am great. Look at me. See? I’m a great parent. Really, I am” (Gault). Waverly’s mother desperately desires to be seen as successful and perfect. Announcing to everyone in the city that Waverly is a chess champion is her way of calling attention to herself. The only time Waverly gets the slightest
In their articles, Chang Rae-Lee and Amy Tan establish a profound ethos by utilizing examples of the effects their mother-daughter/mother-son relationships have had on their language and writing. Lee’s "Mute in an English-Only World" illustrates his maturity as a writer due to his mother’s influence on growth in respect. Tan, in "Mother Tongue," explains how her mother changed her writing by first changing her conception of language. In any situation, the ethos a writer brings to an argument is crucial to the success in connecting with the audience; naturally a writer wants to present himself/herself as reliable and credible (Lunsford 308). Lee and Tan, both of stereotypical immigrant background, use their memories of deceased mothers to build credibility in their respective articles.
In the story, "Fish Cheeks" it talks about how Amy Tan's Chinese family invites an American boy's family over for dinner. Amy Tan wants to impress him and thinks that he wont like the food her mother made even though it is her favorite food. She can tell that he doesn't like the food and she is embarased. So, Amy wants to fit in.
In “A Rose for Emily”, Charles Faulkner used a series of flashbacks and foreshadowing to tell Miss Emily’s story. Miss Emily is an interesting character, to say the least. In such a short story of her life, as told from the prospective of a townsperson, who had been nearly eighty as Miss Emily had been, in order to tell the story from their own perspective. Faulkner set up the story in Mississippi, in a world he knew of in his own lifetime. Inspired by a southern outlook that had been touched by the Civil War memory, the touch of what we would now look at as racism, gives the southern aroma of the period. It sets up Miss Emily’s southern belle status and social standing she had been born into, loner or not.
During the confrontation during the poker game, which immediately ends it, readers are exposed to the reality of Stella and Stanley’s
In "The Rules of the Game," a short story about a young Chinese-American girl, Waverly Jong, embarks journey to become a chess master. Waverly's mother believes she is a key component during this journey. Even though the mother actually has no true role in Waverly's adventure, she continues to believe it is her as the one who is succeeding. This belief is a necessity for Waverly's mother because she has nothing for herself. Waverly's mother has to live through her daughter because of her own lack of success.
For many of us growing up, our mothers have been a part of who we are. They have been there when our world was falling apart, when we fell ill to the flu, and most importantly, the one to love us when we needed it the most. In “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, it begins with a brief introduction to one mother’s interpretation of the American Dream. Losing her family in China, she now hopes to recapture part of her loss through her daughter. However, the young girl, Ni Kan, mimics her mother’s dreams and ultimately rebels against them.
Amy Tan, in ?Mother Tongue,? Does an excellent job at fully explaining her self through many different ways. It?s not hard to see the compassion and love she has for her mother and for her work. I do feel that her mother could have improved the situation of parents and children switching rolls, but she did the best she could, especially given the circumstances she was under. All in all, Amy just really wanted to be respected by her critics and given the chance to prove who she is. Her time came, and she successfully accomplished her goals. The only person who really means something to her is her mother, and her mother?s reaction to her first finished work will always stay with her, ?so easy to read? (39).
The first time I looked at the story I did so only because it was assigned to me as homework. I ultimately found myself reading quickly, and not actively reading in the slightest way. Eventually however, I began to wonder whether or not “good” was going to prevail over “evil”. My burning curiosity and natural need for information was not satisfied with my initial sub-par reading. Upon closer and much more active reading I discovered Flannery O’Conner uses wonderful foreshadowing throughout the story to predict the ultimate demise of the grandmother and her family.
Mother-Daughter Relationships in Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club In the Joy Luck Club, the author Amy Tan, focuses on mother-daughter relationships. She examines the lives of four women who emigrated from China, and the lives of four of their American-born daughters. The mothers: Suyuan Woo, An-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-Ying St. Clair had all experienced some life-changing horror before coming to America, and this has forever tainted their perspective on how they want their children raised.
Nonetheless, Waverly failed in completing her journey. Although, she does succeed in improving her relationship with her mother, she still does not complete a spiritual or physical deed and fails to achieve the “return” in her journey.
Throughout Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, the reader can see the difficulites in the mother-daughter relationships. The mothers came to America from China hoping to give their daughters better lives than what they had. In China, women were “to be obedient, to honor one’s parents, one’s husband, and to try to please him and his family,” (Chinese-American Women in American Culture). They were not expected to have their own will and to make their own way through life. These mothers did not want this for their children so they thought that in America “nobody [would] say her worth [was] measured by the loudness of her husband’s belch…nobody [would] look down on her…” (3). To represent everything that was hoped for in their daughters, the mothers wanted them to have a “swan- a creature that became more than what was hoped for,” (3). This swan was all of the mothers’ good intentions. However, when they got to America, the swan was taken away and all she had left was one feather.
A power, credible from juvenescence to adulthood, is denoted in Lindo and Waverly’s relationship. Lindo teaches Waverly the ‘art of invisible strength’ as a child, leading her to chess – which acts as the key metaphor of their relationship. Her succession at chess, allows Lindo to feed off Waverly’s pride and ‘show off’. The relationship is deliberation of a metaphorical chess match, her mother acting as the authoritative opponent. This authority is descended from Lindo’s childhood. Her mother signed ‘a contact’, selling her to the son of ‘Huang Taitai’. The contract and Taitai’s powerful authority, that expected perfection, was with no regard of Lindo’s desires. Waverly’s urgency for acceptance is instilled into adulthood, even wanting to fulfil expectations with her fiancé -Rich. Waverly’s first person narration, displays that her mother’s satisfaction, ‘feels worse than any kind of misery’. This leads to her own criticism in personal affairs, including the imitation of romance when Rich gives Waverly a gift. Throughout the book, Lindo’s power is repetitively illustrated but further on we can see the hierarchy shift from Lindo to Waverly. Waverly starts ‘translating’ for her mother, in a barber shop, despite her ability to speak English. The narration that Waverly is her ‘own person’ demises the power her mother holds. Yet when similarities are soon recognised between