Joy Luck Club: Malignant Gate
Part II: The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates
1. What lesson or moral is taught by the parable at the beginning of Part II? The lesson taught in the parable is that one should listen to their parents’ words as they are usually correct and wise.
2. In what way does this parable help to illustrate the following theme from this level? The generation gap, including age and heritage, between mothers and daughters makes communication between them difficult? A child, who grew up only knowing America, will definitely struggle in communicating with a mother who was fully immersed in Chinese culture back when she lived in China. Although age does make it difficult, these cultural differences will hinder their communication even more than age as they have different perspectives, ideologies and thoughts because of their different upbringing.
3. What might the book, The Twenty-six Malignant Gates represent in this story? The Twenty-six Malignant Gates might represent the experience, the culture and the wisdom of a mother. The mother says the child will not understand as it is written in Chinese, but beyond that, it definitely is related to Chinese tradition and culture, and the wisdom of China; a child who only knows America will definitely not understand it.
Rules of the Game: Waverly Jong (Daughter) Lindo Jong (Mother)
1. What is the “art of invisible strength” Waverly learns from her mother? The art of invisible strength is the ability/strategy for winning arguments and respect from others.
2. Find two incidents in this chapter where Lindo demonstrates her fierce Chinese pride. In page 91, she says that Chinese people are more motivated compared to lazy Americans. In page 99, Lindo would announce to anyone who sees her that Waverly is her daughter in a very prideful and happy attitude. She’s extremely proud that Waverly’s skill was developed thanks to Lindo’s teaching, which makes her more proud. 3. State a generalization about life Lindo is
1. What lesson or moral is taught by the parable at the beginning of Part II? The lesson taught in the parable is that one should listen to their parents’ words as they are usually correct and wise.
2. In what way does this parable help to illustrate the following theme from this level? The generation gap, including age and heritage, between mothers and daughters makes communication between them difficult? A child, who grew up only knowing America, will definitely struggle in communicating with a mother who was fully immersed in Chinese culture back when she lived in China. Although age does make it difficult, these cultural differences will hinder their communication even more than age as they have different perspectives, ideologies and thoughts because of their different upbringing.
3. What might the book, The Twenty-six Malignant Gates represent in this story? The Twenty-six Malignant Gates might represent the experience, the culture and the wisdom of a mother. The mother says the child will not understand as it is written in Chinese, but beyond that, it definitely is related to Chinese tradition and culture, and the wisdom of China; a child who only knows America will definitely not understand it.
Rules of the Game: Waverly Jong (Daughter) Lindo Jong (Mother)
1. What is the “art of invisible strength” Waverly learns from her mother? The art of invisible strength is the ability/strategy for winning arguments and respect from others.
2. Find two incidents in this chapter where Lindo demonstrates her fierce Chinese pride. In page 91, she says that Chinese people are more motivated compared to lazy Americans. In page 99, Lindo would announce to anyone who sees her that Waverly is her daughter in a very prideful and happy attitude. She’s extremely proud that Waverly’s skill was developed thanks to Lindo’s teaching, which makes her more proud. 3. State a generalization about life Lindo is