14 November 2006

Any happy returns?

In the short stories "A Visit to Grandmother" and "Rules of Game," we meet children and parents who just don't seem to effectively connect with one another. In "A Visit to Grandmother," Charles, after spending nearly 20 years away from his family, finally returns to confront his mother about her parenting style. While Meimei in "Rules of the Game" faces off with her mother over her chess-playing abilities. At one point, Meimei runs away, but she comes back to "ponder [her] next move." What do you think of the way Charles and Meimei handled their conflicts with their mothers? How would you have handled it?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

kelsey said...
I believe that they both just needed that time were there mother’s weren’t breathing down there backs and constantly applying that parental pressure on them. They both just needed to get away, whither it be 20 years of a few hours, it was vital to the child’s coping of the situation. I think that I would have handled the both situations differently. With Meimei I would have just told my mother to back off and just try and come to terms with my mother. But in Charles’s case, I would have felt the same way if I felt my mother loved another sibling more. I would have felt unwanted and the only way to deal with the pain of that, is by running away.