"[L]inguistically, [they are] barred from telling the stor[ies] [they wait] patiently and now hopelessly for what now appears to be an impossibility - the magical day when [they] will have the ability to speak with [their] daughter[s] in perfect American English" (Huntley 46). Each of these parables is at times a connection, but Tan also uses them as literal and figurative barriers between the women. This holds true until the very last of these parables, which is a coming together of sorts for the characters (Huntley 44). Queen Mother of the Western Skies deals with letting go of bitterness and looking towards the future with hope. It demonstrates the fragile accord the women come to upon Jing-mei's decision to travel to China to meet her sisters.
The parables are only the tip of the metaphorical iceberg. English professor and author, E.D. Huntley, makes an interesting observation when she points out that the daughters" stories are contained within the two sections of the mothers" tales; they are embraced as it were (44). Thus throughout all the insecurities, tragedies and turmoil described in each one of the accounts, this structural setup creates a feeling of closeness and protection which the mothers provide. In a way, it affirms the mothers" stance; although they often seem to be doing nothing more than making their daughters" feel inadequate - as is evident through the inner sections featuring the daughters" stories - it is all merely an attempt to care for their children and protect them the best way they know how. Their stories, and their maternal efforts are, as Huntley puts it, "enclose" their daughters" lives - for better or for worse. Thus, despite the inherent division and lack of connection with their daughters who "sprang from [them] like a slippery fish and [have] been swimming away ever since" Tan clearly intends to indicate that there is an inescapable common thread among them all (Tan 242).