Theme seeds have also began to spring up throughout the book. When Ying-Ying tells the story of the Moon Lady, she says, "So I thought as Amah only as someone for my comfort, the way you might think of a fan in the summer or a heater in the winter, a blessing you appreciate and love only when it is no longer there." This brings about the theme of selfishness and taking things for granted. She is saying that you don't realize how much you want and need something until it's not around anymore.…
The Joy Luck Club is a fictional novel by Amy Tan that unfolds the lives of four Chinese families and their American-born daughters. The story is portrayed in a diary-like fashion and it follows the lives and personal accounts of the Woo, Hsu, Jong, and St. Clair families. Culture is significant and it influences the story in many ways.…
Amy Tan has a contentious relationship with her mother perceived from her hostile tone. All mother-daughter relationships have troubles. In excerpts from Amy Chua’s memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom, and Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, mother-daughter relationships can be seen through diction, and tone. The annoyed tone in the situation between Amy Chua and her daughter shows a caring relationship while the hostile and hateful tone in Amy Tan’s excerpt shows a poor relationship with a hateful past.…
The Joy Luck Club, by the Chinese-American author Amy Tan, deals with many different themes. However, the idea from this novel that piqued my interest the most was how the story dealt with the language and cultural barriers that exist between generations in families that have immigrated to the United States. The book deals with four Chinese women who moved to the United States in hopes of finding better lives for their children, and it deals with each of their daughters who have grown up in America, yet were raised by their mothers' traditional Chinese cultural standards. The Joy Luck Club alternates back and forth each chapter, with one of the mothers telling an anecdote of her past and next one of the daughters speaking from her point of…
A thesis statement informs the readers of the content, the argument, and often the direction of a…
Children often do not understand our parent’s intentions for growth until we are able to empathize with them. When a child is misunderstood by their parent, they feel neglected and have trouble understanding others. In the Joy Luck Club, four Chinese women immigrate to the United States in the mid-1900s during the Chinese Communist Revolutions. Settling in a Americanized country proved to be challenging due to cultural differences, language barriers, and conflicted history in China. The relationships these women formed with their daughters were influenced by new and old customs. In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan illustrates how a relationship between a parent and child can change over time due to vast differences in beliefs and expectations.…
Over the course of three stories, the reader can see how the characters of “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry, overcome their sorrow and loss of joy. Although there is the resounding tragedy that leaves a bittersweet feeling at the end of all three stories, the characters still manage to find joy through their circumstances. From Gwilian discovering her true potential, to the Washwoman's work ethic, to the bittersweet tale of The Last Leaf, these three stories are filled with people overcoming their loss of joy.…
The response paper written by Elliot Tan is a well-written analysis of the recurring health economics question of whether or not the government should cover prescription drugs. With regards to the assignment, I found that the two primary criteria were correctly identified in the paper and were explained in a coherent manner. However, not enough emphasis was placed on answering the final two questions assigned.…
Literature let it be a poem, short story, or novel has a central theme. The theme is the author 's way of explaining a situation, topic, or an idea they feel strong about getting across within their writings. Usually, the title of a short story’s paints the correlates to the theme or themes of a short story. These literary elements are plot, point of view, tone, setting, character, and symbolism. I’ll be using two key literary terms that give focus to the themes of this short story. The setting and symbolism used within the story are key factors that give the ready a clear picture true journey the old African-American woman is taking on.…
“I knew from their snow white bellies and pretty voices they were magpies, birds of joy.” An Mei’s mom (243). Magpies are one of the many symbols used in the book The Joy Luck Club. Magpies were used to symbolize how some people’s joy comes from others sorrow. Double meaning and presentations of simple life situations are used as symbols throughout the book.…
Family members may get into occasional disagreements, but at the end of the day they are supposed to look out for and protect one another. However, when a fight between family members stubbornly drags on, it can cause major conflicts within the family. In Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom and Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, the author tackles the topic of mother-daughter relationships. However, both of the author’s perspectives on the relationships differ from one another. In Amy Chua’s work, the chapter portrays a patient and serene relationship between the mother and daughter. Contrary to that, in Amy Tan’s work, there is a strained and hostile relationship within the passage.…
Symbolism is frequent in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. The two symbols I chose are the jade pendant and the red candle. Each symbol has a significant meaning to the respective characters. In the “Best Quality” her now deceased mother Suyuan gives June a green pendant(life’s importance). The pendant was given to her after she and Waverly Jong got into a verbal altercation. In order, to fully understand why her mother decided to her the pendant you have to break down the situation. As a child, Waverly Jong told her told as quoted "You're not a genius like me." Jing-mei even reiterates to her mother “I'm not a genius!” Jing-mei is someone who has never known her worth she tends to feel anxious and self-conscious about everything. Furthermore, she…
The Joy Luck Club is a movie about the fate of four Chinese immigrant mothers; Suyuan, An-mei, Lindo , and Ying-ying , and their four Americanized daughters; June, Rose, Waverly, and Lena. In The Joy Luck Club the daughters are too young and naive to understand their mothers and the hardship they faced. The mothers want their daughters to break the American habit of only looking at people’s outward appearances. The mothers’ want their daughters to realize that they have a better life in America than their mothers’ did in China. By the end on the novel the daughters are able to understand where their mother came from through stories and experiences the mothers tell the daughters their background. The mothers’ life experiences that help every daughter identify a healthy relationship with themselves and their partners and to not tolerate domestic violence.…
In the Joy Luck Club, there are some symbols which represent love, wishes, and marriage. According to these symbols, they lead readers to comprehend the deeper meaning of the given symbols and have an epiphany at the end of the story. Symbols help you call up the reminiscences and realize something in life was important; and that is love, which is always be remembered in mind.…
Mother/daughter relationships are a significant aspect of the Joy Luck Club. Characteristics of each mother/daughter relationship relate to the four main themes of the novel. These being, parent/child conflict, the discovery of identity, the idea of balance and harmony as well as the use of symbolism. An example of one mother/daughter relationship in the Joy Luck Club, is that of Lindo and Waverly Jong.…