ENGL 1001: Comparison and Contrast Essay on Parent-Child Dynamics

This essay provides a comparative analysis of parent-child relationships as depicted in Amy Tan's "The Rules of the Game" and Willa Cather's "Paul's Case." The essay explores the contrasting dynamics, highlighting the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship in Tan's story, characterized by maternal interference, and the father-son relationship in Cather's work, marked by a lack of understanding and compassion. The essay examines how parental actions, expectations, and communication styles shape the children's experiences and contribute to the central conflicts within each narrative. It also considers the impact of cultural contexts, such as the experiences of Chinese immigrants in America, on family dynamics, and the consequences of these relationships on the characters' lives and choices. The essay further highlights the similarities and differences in the parental approaches and their impact on the children's development and well-being, concluding that ineffective communication and differing perspectives contribute to the breakdown of healthy family dynamics in both stories.

RUNNING HEAD: COMPARISON AND CONTRAST ESSAYS
Literature Essay
Name of Student
Name of University

1COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY
The dynamics of relationship between parent and child had been for long a recurrent theme in the
world of literature. Though the main focus or story line in some cases is completely different and
the parent and child relationship are not fully developed in the course, the insights that an author
leaves intentionally helps the reader to imagine the idea of parenthood throughout the past
centuries. In the stories, The Rules of Games written by Amy Tan and the story Paul’s case
written by Willa Cather, the parent and child relationship plays a very significant role not only in
the development of the stories but contributes largely to the setting and climax of the story.
In The Rules of the Games, Amy Tan presents the complex mother and daughter
relationship that portrays the negativity of too much interference of a mother in the child’s life
create. On the other hand, the father-son relationship in Paul’s case account for the absence of
compassion between the two entities though, the father has a concern about his son (Chung-Hao
74).
Waverly Jong and Lindo Jong are the Chinese immigrants in America. Lindo Jong is a
strong character who taught her daughter about the invisible strength. This invisible strength
helped Waverly in going through various odds (Tan). For Lindo however, the invisible strength
refers to the female power. She was a strong woman who sacrificed a lot for the success of her
daughter’s dream. Paul’s father, on the other hand, was also concerned about his son’s abnormal
attitude towards the society. He struggles hard to put back Paul’s life in track (Carther).
However, nowhere in the story, it was found that he tries to solve the issue by imparting
guidance directly to his son or sit back for some moment in order to understand his perspective
(Carther). The similarity between the two stories lies in the sense that both the parent in the two
stories tried hard to pave their ward’s life and lifestyle just as they wanted. Lindo Jong wanted

2COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY
her daughter to rise among the Americans. Paul’s father wants Paul to live a family life like
every other man does.
The lack of proper compassion and motherly figure is prominent in both the stories. For
Waverly, she thinks about her mother as an adversary. This becomes clear when she says, “ I
could see the yellow lights shining from our flat like two tiger’s eyes in the night,” thus, for
Waverly, her mother was like a tiger ready to pounce upon her (Gale). She clearly thinks herself
as the victim in the situation. Her mother’s constant act of having control over her made Waverly
feels to be a stripped fish that has been trapped and is unable to come out. Paul’s case is similar
yet different ( TEA ). Paul’s father is strict and he struggles to deal with the fact that his son is
different. Unlike Linda Jong in the other story, Paul’s father is not happy with his son. However,
he makes no effort to connect with his son either. In order to have a healthy parent child
relationship, it is necessary to have a healthy parenthood. The harshest treatment that Paul
received was from his father. In the case of Linda Jong and Waverly Jong, the parental fault was
too much indulgence in the life of the daughter. This created a negative effect on the daughter
though the mother had been a great source of inspiration and help for her. On the other hand, the
miserable condition of Paul’s was in the fact that he got to understand that he will never be able
to get the acceptance of father.
Another significant contrast between the two stories lies in the fact that the antagonistic
attitude within the parent and child relationship streams from two totally different and opposite
reasons. In the case of the rules of the game, the conflict between the mother and daughter is
made realistic by the fact that the mother always brags about her daughter’s achievement and
that embarrasses her daughter. On the other hand, the conflict between the father and son is

3COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY
taking place because of the fact that the father is utterly disgusted about the son’s choices and
orientation in life (Martha. 246).
Different in context, the two stories put a problematic parent-child relationship that
ultimately resulted in a disjuncture and ended with each other’s wrong perceptions of the point of
view. The discussion done above sheds light on the similarity as well the dissimilarities of two
parent child dynamics which are seemingly poles apart.

4COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY
Reference Lsit:
Czernicki, Martha. "Fantasy and Reality in Willa Cather's PAUL'S CASE." The Explicator 75.4
(2017): 242-247.
Ku, Chung-Hao. "A Boy Under the Ban of Suspension": Renouncing Maturity in Willa Cather's"
Paul's Case." MFS Modern Fiction Studies 61.1 (2015): 69-89
DUZA, TEA. "CLASH BETWEEN CHINESE AND AMERICAN VALUES IN AMY TAN’S
“RULES OF THE GAME”." Social Sciences and Humanities.
Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Amy Tan's" Rules of the Game". Gale, Cengage
Learning, 2016.