KJ JLC Essay
Waverly and Lindo Jong from Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club seem to
be at war and do not seem to have any connection with each other. However, that is
not the case. Waverly and Lindo are separated by difference in ideas due to generation
gap and different backgrounds; however, the mother and the daughter are very similar
because both Lindo and Waverly possess competitive natures, strive for
independence, play psychological games.
Firstly, through the competitive attitudes that both the mother and the daughter
possesses, we understand that Waverly is the "American Translation" of Lindo. We
can see the mothers competitive mind set through boasting about her daughter's
ability to play chess. At first, Lindo did not want her daughter to play chess; however,
as soon she found out her daughter was a champion, Lindo showed off her daughter.
She wanted to feel superior among the Chinese people in her town. Especially, she
wanted to look better than Suyuan. Lindo uses her daughter's ability to chess.
Similarly, Waverly shows her competitive attitude in playing chess. "'Little sister,
been a long time since I play with dolls,' he said, smiling benevolently. I quickly put
the box down next to him on the bench and displayed my retort" (Tan, 97). This
shows how competitive Waverly is. Waverly does not want to lose. The statement the
man on the bench makes Waverly feel teased and more eager to beat the man.
Therefore, she quickly sits down to compete with him. She loses many games;
however, she does not give up. In fact, she even takes lessons from the man to
improve on chess. Waverly's perseverance is what makes her the best chess player.
She starts chess because she hates losing, and preservers because of she loses. It takes
extreme character to continue after many failures as Waverly did after losing
numerous times to the man on the bench. Waverly's hate-to-lose instincts comes out
when she is arguing with Jing-mei in the chapter "Best Quality." At first Waverly
teases Jing-mei about her barber, and receives a response saying that Waverly hasn't
paid her so Jing-mei can't afford a good barber. Waverly, who feels insulted,
responses to Jing-mei by saying Jing-mei's work is not good enough to be paid.
Waverly who starts the argument ends the quarrel by winning. Waverly's action
shows how she does not want to lose the rivalry between Jing-mei and her.
Not only is Waverly and Lindo similiar because they both have competitive attitudes,
they both share a common trait of striving for independence.
Lindo is forced to marry the man she doesn't like and she is forced to sleep with a her
fiance. She wants independence from this unfavorable marriage. However, Lindo is
trapped in under her mother-in-law's strict "regime" and simultaneously trapped under
her responsibility to protect her maiden family's honor because a divorce would bring
disgrace to her family. Likewise, Waverly is trapped under Lindo's strict motherhood.
Lindo uses Waverly to boast to her friends. Waverly hates the fact that she is being
used and wants independence.
Last but not least, both Waverly and Lindo show deftness in playing psychological
games and manipulating people. Through the chapter "The Red candle," Lindo shows
her crafty "power." She manipulates her mother in law using a dream and candle
persuade to persuade her to let Lindo break from the marriage. Likewise, Waverly
shows her intuitive ability to play psychological game through chess. Waverly
dislikes her mother showing off. Therefore, she plans on protesting to her mother by
boycotting chess. By doing so, she annoyed her mother but Waverly let her realize
how she felt. Most importantly, both of the mother and the daughter's manipulative
adeptness was shown in the chapter "Four Directions." Waverly purposely brings her
mother to lunch to show Rich, Waverly's fiance. Her mother does not mention
anything about her daughter's man. Waverly takes a step further by showing Lindo
that she is living with Rich and that she is serious about her relationship. At this point,
Lindo is forced to comment about her daughter's possible marriage. Waverly tried to
control her mother by making her comment on her possible marriage with Rich. We
know how sly both characters are and therefore, proving that the daughter is an
American translation of the mother.
Genetics cannot be hidden. Although Lindo and Waverly are from totally different
backgrounds, Waverly raised in America and Lindo in China, they both are very
similar in their competitive attitudes, strive for independence, and their psychological
games.
Good job  First thing I can say is probably even out your paragraphs. Also You are
taking about the mother and then the daughter, I think you should “relate” them more
for a better argument because you are either comparing and contrasting the two. You
should have at least 1-2 supporting quotes for each paragraphs about their
characteristics.
I think your transitions should be more fluid too, just by putting in Firstly or Last but
not least, it seems like you are in a hurry to get over the previous and go to the next.
Proof read for spelling errors in names and maybe others 