How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
The next week I bit back my tongue as we entered the store with the forbidden candies. When my mother finished her shopping, she quietly plucked a small bag of plums from the rack and put it on the counter with the rest of the items. (2)
Mom fires the opening salvo by teaching her daughter to not cry to get what she wants. Waverly later applies this principle to her chess games, helping her to win. Mom's manipulations start before Waverly's interest in chess does, but Waverly learns how to make good use of her mom's lessons.
Quote #2
My mother imparted her daily truths so she could help my older brothers and me rise above our circumstances. (3)
Here we're reminded that Mom's not acting the way she does because she's evil—she wants a better life for his kids and is trying to give them the tools to get it. Is she succeeding? Does she need to be so harsh? Over to you, Shmoopers.
Quote #3
One day, as she struggled to weave a hard-toothed comb through my disobedient hair, I had a sly thought. (9)
Her sly thought is to ask about Chinese torture, probably as a way of getting under her mother's skin in revenge for all that painful hair-combing. It's also a sign that Waverly can play the manipulation game in her own right. She knows what she's doing and she knows what her goal is.
Quote #4
"Chinese people do many things," she said simply. "Chinese people do business, do medicine, do painting. Not lazy like American people. We do torture. Best torture." (12)
This is a very funny line, but it might have ulterior motives. Waverly's mom is addressing a perceived insult about the Chinese—that they're torturers—and she responds by turning the insult into a selling point, which demonstrates her ability to rethink what she's been presented and reframe it.
Quote #5
Having watched the older children opening their gifts, I already knew that the big gifts were not necessarily the nicest ones. (14)
Waverly is only a kid, but she already knows that what she sees on the surface may not be what's really going on. We know she can be strategic while playing chess, but here we see her being strategic in life.
Quote #6
She sat proudly on the bench, telling my admirers with proper Chinese humility, "Is luck." (34)
This sounds like a put-down, right? Waverly's mom is saying she isn't good; she's just lucky. But this might also be an attempt to get people to underestimate Waverly. Even if it isn't, though, Mom probably doesn't think her daughter is just lucky—she probably just wants her daughter to prove her wrong.
Quote #7
As we walked home I said in a small voice that I didn't want to play in the local tournament. They would have American rules. If I lost, I would bring shame on my family. (35)
Check out this reverse psychology in action. Looks like the student is becoming the master…
Quote #8
My mother unwrapped something in her lap. It was her chang, a small tablet of red jade which held the sun's fire. "Is luck," she whispered, and tucked it into my dress pocket. (37)
Now we see just how deep Mom's head games go. After the perceived put-down of chalking Waverly's success up to luck, she gives her daughter a form of "luck" to boost her confidence. Say what? No wonder Waverly feels a little overwhelmed by the woman.
Quote #9
One day after we left a shop I said under my breath, "I wish you wouldn't do that, telling everybody I'm your daughter." My mother stopped walking. (55)
Waverly expresses an honest desire here, stripped of any secondary meanings or head games. What does it say about their relationship that her honest comments end up causing a fundamental break?