Amy Tan Themes
Essay Writing
Amy Tan’s beautifully written novel outlines what it is to be an immigrant in America and a daughter, woman, wife, lover, sister and friend. The novel shows four different stories each from different women that were born in China but forced to leave due to tragic occurrences, and their four daughters who were all born on the other side of the world, America. The novel explores one of the themes, the cultural divide between the two generations of women and their daughters and how national identity influences their lives.
The daughters of the four women are somewhat frustrated by their own mother's inability to leave behind their Chinese superstitious behavior and seeming reluctant to embrace the culture of their daughter's. …show more content…
The mothers despair at the daughters distancing themselves from them. The author Amy Tan writes all eight characters' complex viewpoints both sympathetically and blunt but honest. One of the daughters Waverly Jong and her mother Lindo are an example of this theme. " My mother placed my first trophy next to a new plastic chess set... As she wipes each piece with a soft cloth, she said "Next time win more, lose less pieces". (p.98) This quote continues with Waverly explaining to her mother that it does not matter how many pieces you lose, but her mother has no knowledge of the game, she insists that Waverly should lose fewer pieces. This quote shows the ignorance in Waverly's mother and what lead to Waverly being upset with her mother. Waverly Jong experiences both external and internal conflicts. Waverly Jong defies her mother, Lindo. The reason why she hates her mother is because Waverly misunderstands her mother's pride in her achievements. When Waverly's mother, Lindo wants to watch Waverly during chess practice, , Waverly feels annoyed and invaded because Waverly wants chess to be her own achievement instead of her mothers, and she feels as though her mother is taking credit for what Waverly achieves. Her other conflict is whenever her mother goes shopping with her, her mother's bragging makes Waverly embarrassed which lead to a fight with her
Amy Tan’s beautifully written novel outlines what it is to be an immigrant in America and a daughter, woman, wife, lover, sister and friend. The novel shows four different stories each from different women that were born in China but forced to leave due to tragic occurrences, and their four daughters who were all born on the other side of the world, America. The novel explores one of the themes, the cultural divide between the two generations of women and their daughters and how national identity influences their lives.
The daughters of the four women are somewhat frustrated by their own mother's inability to leave behind their Chinese superstitious behavior and seeming reluctant to embrace the culture of their daughter's. …show more content…
The mothers despair at the daughters distancing themselves from them. The author Amy Tan writes all eight characters' complex viewpoints both sympathetically and blunt but honest. One of the daughters Waverly Jong and her mother Lindo are an example of this theme. " My mother placed my first trophy next to a new plastic chess set... As she wipes each piece with a soft cloth, she said "Next time win more, lose less pieces". (p.98) This quote continues with Waverly explaining to her mother that it does not matter how many pieces you lose, but her mother has no knowledge of the game, she insists that Waverly should lose fewer pieces. This quote shows the ignorance in Waverly's mother and what lead to Waverly being upset with her mother. Waverly Jong experiences both external and internal conflicts. Waverly Jong defies her mother, Lindo. The reason why she hates her mother is because Waverly misunderstands her mother's pride in her achievements. When Waverly's mother, Lindo wants to watch Waverly during chess practice, , Waverly feels annoyed and invaded because Waverly wants chess to be her own achievement instead of her mothers, and she feels as though her mother is taking credit for what Waverly achieves. Her other conflict is whenever her mother goes shopping with her, her mother's bragging makes Waverly embarrassed which lead to a fight with her