Which was symbolic because when June took over from her mother, it was like the first step in her journey to understand her mother and the mother-daughter relationship ( Emerick 1) . So the structure of the book is actually similar to the structure of the game; “Like a game of Mahjong, the novel is structured into four main divisions, each division consisting of four parts, and each part featuring one of the four mothers or one of the four daughters” (Emerick 2). Thus making the game “a controlling metaphor for the novel” (Emerick 2). Mahjong and its elements such as walls provide a better understanding of the novel; Just like walls, Chinese culture and language create a barrier between mothers and daughters. One of the daughters, June, expressed her opinion on how she feels that she and her mother, Suyuan, “speak a different language” (Emerick 3) because Suyuan got tired of explaining to June how to play Mahjong in Chinese while June responds to Suyuan in English. The game of Mahjong not only provided a favorable way to begin the story, but also had a significant impact on the theme, imagery, structure, and characterization of the novel (Emerick 5). This is evident in the final chapter of The Joy Luck Club (1989) when June