Quote 1
"Aii-ya. So shame be with mother?" She grasped my hand even tighter as she glared at me.
I looked down. "It’s not that, it’s just so obvious. It’s just so embarrassing."
"Embarrass you be my daughter?" Her voice was cracking with anger.
"That’s not what I meant. That’s not what I said." (II.1.59)
Linguistic misunderstandings can escalate arguments and hurt feelings.
Quote 2
"How do you know this?" she asked eagerly.
"You see it on everything. Made in Taiwan."
"Ai!" she cried loudly. "I’m not from Taiwan!"
And just like that, the fragile connection we were starting to build snapped.
"I was born in China, in Taiyuan," she said. "Taiwan is not China."
"Well, I only thought you said ‘Taiwan’ because it sounds the same," I argued, irritated that she was upset by such an unintentional mistake. (III.2.151)
Despite trying to be on the same page, Waverly still misinterprets her mother, causing hurt feelings and a barrier to open conversations in the future.
Quote 3
How can she talk to people in China with these words? Pee-pee, choo-choo train, eat, close light sleep. How can she think she can blend in? Only her skin and her hair are Chinese. Inside – she is all American-made. (IV.3.6)
Lindo cites language barriers as one of the reasons no one in China would ever mistake Waverly for being Chinese.