Joy Luck Club Novel vs Movie

The Joy Luck Club; an intriguing novel and movie about the hardships about being a Chinese

immigrant to America soon after the immigration ban was lifted. A challenging story that forced the

reader to try to understand that certain customs and traditions that were seen as 'usual' can be very

unlike the ones we as Americans are used to. A story where, even though it lacked a lot of violence,

action, or suspense it still was able to grab its readers and viewers.

With a little bit of her own experiences tied into the story, we learn the 'fictional' story of four

Chinese mothers (Lindo Jong, Suyuan Woo, Ying-ying St. Clair, An-Mei Hsu) and their daughters, all

American born (Rose Hsu Jordan, Jing-mei Woo, Waverly Jong, Lena St. Clair). In a feudal China, the

four mothers decided to avoid having their future children live in such a traumatic country and thus

decide to move to San Francisco's China Town. Yet, as similar as the stories should be, small

differences between novel and movie can always be found.

The main difference between the novel and the movie is the overall feel for it. If you watched the

movie and then read the book you might have seen how the book was able to keep an intriguing, and

even 'dark' feel as we can feel the words jumping out at us as a tense moment arises. While in the

movie, these 'moments of despair' seemed to arise quickly and pass over just as fast. We saw that in

most detail when it came to death.

In the novel, we are told a story of anger, of hate, a woman scorned. We are told a story of a

cheating husband and a feeling of having absolutely no way out. We can feel how her walls were

closing in all around her as she desperately searched for a way out. Can you imagine how far gone

your mindset has to be where the only escape is to kill your own child? How something so cruel and

inhumane is treated as a way out? In the novel we can feel the decline