Becoming Close Again

Becoming Close Again

  • Submitted By: jgayer09
  • Date Submitted: 10/22/2012 7:33 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1072
  • Page: 5
  • Views: 261

Gayer, 1
Jennifer Gayer
ENG 100
Dr. Theo Garneau

Title
Every mother and daughter has somewhat of a dysfunctional relationship at some point in their lives. In their journey, they go through an emotional roller coaster ride. Amy Tan makes this very clear in her writing about her own relationship with her mother. When she was young, she didn’t understand her mother and didn’t try to get to know her at all. It took a frightening phone call from her mother’s doctor to force her to realize she wanted a better relationship with her. She then took the time to get to know her more and really be a part of her life. Tan relates very well with her female audience by using her past experiences to teach us new ways to handle our mothers and vivid imagery to help us feel like we’re right there with her in her story; her tone in this piece is extremely conversational.
Throughout the story, Tan is constantly teaching us how to deal with dramatic mothers. She uses strategies I would’ve never even considered using. At first, you think to yourself, “That’s crazy; I would never say that to my mother.” But then, you see her mother’s reaction and you realize it’s pure genius. Tan shows us how she outsmarts her mother by agreeing with her and then manipulating her so she ends up changing her mind about the whole situation. People refer to this method as “The Jedi Mind Trick.” In page seven of her reading; her mother thinks Lou (Tan’s husband) is cheating on her. She constantly calls Tan’s house every twenty minutes telling Tan she needs to kick him out. Instead of replying angrily and telling her mother to butt out of her business, like most normal women would, Tan does the exact opposite. She tells her mother she is right and that Lou is out of the house. She then goes on to say this, “Only you are

Gayer, 2
this good to me that you would worry this much. You know me better than I know myself. You know what can hurt me. You are the best mother" (7). That is all her...

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