Standing Up = Falling

From my observation of the introduction of the The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates, it the beginning of the daughter’s independence. They stood up to their parents, especially to their mothers. On the introduction the little girl demanded her mother to tell her about they The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates book, but her mother ignored her. She rebelled against her mother, by riding her bike - even though her mother restricted her not too - and before she got to the corner, she fell. This part of the introduction connects to Rules of the Game. After all the time her mom has forced her to focus on playing chess, to give her own room, and did less chores, she told her mother that she was embarrassing. “ One day. after we left a shop i said underneath my breath, ‘ I wish you wouldn’t do that, telling everybody I’m your daughter,’”(Tan 99). With her mother being a show off because her daughter is a International Chess Player, and she got tired of it. She was annoyed by her mother always showing her off to people, even though they were just shopping. Her mother puts her on the spotlight to much, and she is sick of it. This was the first time a child has spoken up to a parent.

In the other hand, towards the end of the introduction explains about the girl falling because she did not listen to her mother. It is similar to Waverly Jong’s story of Rules of the Game. After she stood up to her mother about her being embarrassing and a show off ,she felt guilty and ran away from her mother’s arms.

“I raced down the street, dashing between people, not looking back as my mother screamed shrilly, “Memimei! Meimei! [...] The alleys contained no escape routes. [...] I imagined my mother mother, first walking briskly down one street to another looking for me, then giving up and returning home to await my arrival. [...] i stood up on cracking legs and slowly walked home,” (Tan 99-100)

. After having a terrible fight with her mother and running away from her, she had a guilt trip. She felt bad the she ran away and starting to think about her mother looking for her. Even though she stood up to her mother, it gave her a sense that she was wrong. That she should of left the the conversation after she said “I knew it was a mistake to say anything more [...], “ (Tan 99). She realized the she was wrong after running away. Like the little girl from the introduction, after standing up to her mother, she ended falling off her bike. I think the moral lesson of the introduction is that even though we start being independent or standing up on own, we would fall and someone has to catch us.