The comment by Nancy Willard relates to the Jong family. Even as a child Waverly and hr mother have had communication problems. First of all, one huge break in their relationship happened when Waverly became a national chess champion. Whenever they went shopping, Lindo would brag about her daughter being a child prodigy. She would take credit for Waverly's success and Waverly hated being shown off like that. Then one day Waverly finally burst and said, "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?"(99) After Waverly said this she ran aw

ay. Lindo became very angry with Waverly and wouldn't speak to her. Waverly tried to get back at her by refusing to play chess, which made matters worse. After Waverly wanted to play chess again, her mother finally let her after she became ill. However, Waverly's mother never again outwardly took pride in her daughters chess playing, and a huge gap had already developed in their relationship. Waverly said,"it was as though she had erected an invisible wall and I was secretly groping each day to see how high and how wide it was." (112) After this incident, Waverly tried to win back her mothers approval and saw her as an enemy who continually tried to ruin her life. For instance, Lindo criticized Waverly's first husband, Marvin, so much that Waverly could only see his faults. Similarly, Waverly was afraid that her mother would poison her relationship with her fiance, Rich Schields. For example, Rich bought Waverly a mink coat, and when Lindo saw it, she criticized it and said it wasn't best quality. Waverly thought her mother was trying to ruin her life once again, but Lindo only meant that her daughter deserved only the best. Likewise, Lindo was displeased with her daughter many times. First of all, Waverly only knew a few Chinese words and Lindo said, "It's my fault she is this way. I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix?"(289) Also, Lindo was very hurt, when Waverly married Marvin and asked her to stop dropping by unannounced. In addition, Lindo thought Waverly was ashamed of her, when she took her to a beauty parlor before her wedding. "But inside I am becoming ashamed. I am ashamed she is ashamed. Because she is my daughter and I am proud of her, and I am her mother but she is not proud of me."(291) Despite their confusion in the beginning of the book Waverly and Lindo restore their broken relationship. Their confusion turned into understanding, when Waverly angrily went to her mother's house to tell her to stop ruining her life and saw not an enemy, but "an old woman, a woke for her armor, a knitting needle for her sword, getting a little crabby as she waited patiently for her daughter to invite her in."(204). After this, Waverly finally understood that her mother loved her. Finally, Waverly considered her mother's joining her and Rich on their trip to china and Lindo wanted her daughters opinion about her Chinese face. " So now I think, what did I lose? What did I get back in return. I will ask my daughter what she thinks."(305) Finally, Lindo and Waverly reached understanding and bridged the huge gap between them.

The comment by Nancy Willard is not only true for the Jongs and the St. Clairs, but it also relates to the woo family. First of all, Jing-mei made an attempt to split from her mother in order to know where she begins and he

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Approximate Word count = 1947
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)