Introduction to The twenty six Malignant Gates

In "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tam, the introduction of the second section explains a girl who wanted to ride her bike around the corner of the street but her mother doesn't want her to because of the book the mother read called "The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates." The girl protested and left the room to ride her bike. She fell before she had even reached the corner of the street. I think that the stories in this section follow the introduction's theme; the conflict between parents and children.

In the first chapter of the second section, Waverly Jong talks about her story about how she had become a famous chess player when she was young. Her mother constantly bragged about her when she takes her shopping and Waverly got sick of it so she argued with her mother about this matter and ran away. When she came back home, no one really cared about Waverly anymore (Tan 100). Here, Waverly did not appreciate her mother's voice. As a result, she had received bad fortune and lost her family's respect. This shows the conflict between a mother and a daughter. The mother doesn't allow the daughter to have her free will while the daughter is disobedient and runs away.

In the second chapter of the second section, Lena shares her story about when she was younger. She was a translator in her family because her mother was a non-English Speaker and her father could only speak a few words in Mandarin. In a part of her story, Lena talks about her neighbors in San Francisco. Her neighbors consisted of Teresa and Mrs. Sorci, her mother. They frequently had arguments but it tended to end with love. In the book, it states:

"I [Lena] lay down on my bed waiting to hear the screams and shouts. And late at night I was still awake when I heard the loud voices next door. Mrs. Sorci was shouting and crying... and Teresa was yelling back, ... And then I head them laughing and crying, crying and laughing, shouting with love." (Tan 115)

In this quote, it discusses how Teresa and her mother are arguing and the arguments seem serious at first but it soon turns into laughter. I believe that this is the reason because the two females understand each other. They understand how the other feels. It shows that the conflict between a parent and a child could be end in a good result as long as they are able to understand each other.

I think that the purpose of the introduction of the second section of the book is that it gives a clue to what the stories proceeding the introduction would talk about. It shows the theme for the section.