![]() Normal Little GirlĪt the same time, there's plenty about Waverly that smacks of a normal childhood. After all, if Mom wasn't slowly warping Waverly into her very own mini-me, there wouldn't be much of a story. As bad as it sounds, we can totally see the confrontation coming. The climax of the story occurs when Waverly finally freaks out at her mother and quasi-destroys her universe. Her mom's influence sets the story's conflict into motion, since Waverly isn't entirely down with Mom's grand plan and eventually starts fighting back. Waverly soaks up Mom's character traits whether she wants to or not. Looks like Mom's going to make sure that Waverly conforms… or else. Follicular agony aside, Waverly's hair totally points back to the battle of the wills that's happening in the Jong household. Waverly tells us that "Each morning before school, my mother would twist and yank on my thick black hair until she had formed two tightly wound pigtails" (9). We also know that Waverly and her mom have their own tug of war that takes place every day. Mom's not pumping iron, but she's no pushover either. Turns out it's her Mom who taught her to be strong, as Waverly flat-out tells us: "I was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength" (1). For example, we know Waverly possesses an invisible strength that allows her to face up to much older and bigger opponents and beat them. This is because it's actually hard to tell what qualities are hers and what qualities are the influence of Mommy Dearest. When it comes down to it, we don't know much about Waverly the person. Despite the fact that Waverly can't find an opponent who can beat her at chess, she has a bigger and scarier opponent closer to home-her mom. ![]() We follow her from age six until age nine as she begins and ends her chess journey. Meimei is the narrator and pint-sized hero of the story. ![]()
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