Amy Tan is an American writer, born in the United States, and was raised by first generation Chinese immigrant parents. Tan wrote the story “Mother Tongue” to describe her mother’s day-to-day obstacles caused by living in a country where she does not speak the native tongue: English. She uses various rhetorical devices to develop the theme throughout this short story. Tan demonstrates that the way a message is conveyed should not take away from the overall meaning. This theme is conveyed throughout the entirety of the story as Tan describes various situations in which her mother has been thought of as less of person due to her “broken” English. Tan believes her mother’s English is perfect stating, “Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery” (Tan 343). Using literary devices, Tan develops her argument that a message is more important than how it is communicated.

Tan’s use of imagery throughout her story provides the reader with a complete understanding of the basis for her argument. Descriptive examples of mistreatment are used in this story to create a vivid image of various distressing scenarios. The examples of her mother’s mistreatment by different individuals show the reader how the use of “broken” English can affect a person’s daily life. Tan describes a situation in which she is on the phone with her mother’s stockbroker who had not taken her mother seriously due to her language difficulty. Her mother “…was standing in the back whispering loudly ‘Why he don’t send me check, already two weeks late. So mad he lie to me, losing me money’”, while adolescent Amy Tan has to speak proper English for the man to take the situation seriously. At another point in the story, Tan’s mother again receives maltreatment due to the language barrier when she goes to the hospital for a CAT scan. When she attempts to receive the results of the CAT scan, the nurses claimed, “they had lost the CAT scan and she had come for nothing” (Tan 344).  It was only until the doctor called “her daughter, me, who spoke in perfect English” (Tan 345) that the CAT scan would be found, followed by apologies. This makes the reader involved in what is happening to her mother. The descriptive imagery in these examples makes the readers feel as though they are experiencing it hand in hand with Amy and her mother and are affected by the mistreatment as well. The reader realizes through these descriptive examples that the language the mother speaks does not take away from the message. This is shown when Amy says the same things as her mother just not using the same words and gets respect for it. The imagery is easy for the reader to understand because it is depicted through simple descriptions.

It is evident that a message is more powerful than the word choice by Amy Tan’s decision to employ simple diction throughout this story. The reader is aware of why Tan decides to proceed with using this style in her later fictional stories when at the end of the short story she reveals that she is using her mother as a target audience. Tan reveals that the diction she uses in some of her stories is “simple” (Tan 346) because it is the language she speaks with her mother: a language almost all English speakers can understand. The omission of complex writing and words in her stories does not take away from the meaning the reader receives. Tan discloses her passion for language: “I am a writer. And by that definition, I am someone who has always loved language” (Tan 342), which introduces her idea that language is simply words and the same message can be conveyed no matter the complexity of the language used. Tan feels accomplished when her mother reads her writing and gives “her verdict: ‘so easy to read’” (Tan 346) because her mother was able to obtain the same purposeful meaning as others without the use of overwhelmingly complex diction. This supports the overall message of the story that the greater importance is in what is being conveyed, and not how it is being conveyed. The reader is going to get the same meaning from a story whether simple or complex diction is used.

Tan uses simple diction through her first person point of view to connect the reader to the passage as a whole. The first person point of view makes the reader feel as though they are experiencing the mother’s language struggles with Tan. This point of view also helps the reader feel Tan’s passion for language as she states, “I am fascinated by language in daily life. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language” (Tan 342). The reader gets an insight into her passion from her own words. Tan’s ability to describe herself directly using first person makes it easy for the reader to precisely understand Tan and her passion for writing in her direct thoughts such as, “I happen to be rebellious in nature and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions made about me” (Tan 346). Knowing Tan’s perception of herself allows a sense of honesty about the piece. The reader knows that the author speaks from true personal experience, which persuades the reader into accepting the argument the piece is making. Her love for writing and ambition for proving others wrong helps convey the overall message.

Tan employs irony to contrast what is expected with the actual reality of her experiences. Tan uses her examples of a child acting as an adult to prove her point that language does not facilitate the message that is trying to be conveyed. It is ironic that various adults were more empathetic to a child speaking correct English than an adult speaking broken English. After Mrs. Tan had gotten a CAT scan for a benign brain tumor without any results, she confronted the doctor that had “lost the CAT scan” (Tan 344). Once confronted, the doctor said he could not find the scans and “did not seem to have any sympathy when she told them she was anxious to know the exact diagnosis” (Tan 344). A young Amy then spoke to the doctor in perfect English and the scans appeared immediately. This ironic situation exemplifies the unfortunate but prevalent phenomenon that even respect is not based on the message but how it is communicated. This further communicates the unjust nature of the maltreatment that Tan’s mother received, considering her child gained more respect by simply using proper English.

Tan conveys the overall message that words are not important; the meaning conveyed with those words is what is important. Just “because she expressed them imperfectly, her thoughts were imperfect” (Tan 344) is what people thought of Tan’s mother. The author uses this assumption to prove to the reader that any broken language does not take away from the true meaning behind the use of the language. Tan’s use of diction, point of view, irony and imagery helps develop the theme of the passage as a whole.  The message is ultimately the most important part of a piece, regardless of how that message is presented.