Summary Of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club
“The Joy Luck Club” was written by Amy Tan, an important novel that shows the love and hardship mothers from a chinese culture bring. The book had all started in 1949, where four chinese immigrants had recently moved to San Francisco because of a war, where the joy luck club had all begun. Three main points in the story would have to be how important mothers should be to families, that winning is not everything, and also that one can never judge people’s experiences in life if one did not live it with them. The point of the joy luck club is to serve a purpose that mostly everyone should understand and know in life. Think about the thought of one day waking up and realizing that a particular mother is no longer by their daughters side anymore
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only her memory is. Jing-mei “June” Woo daughter of Suyuan Woo use to always consider her mother overbearing. June had thought this because her mother had always forced her to be a piano prodigy but lacks her talent (Tan, #37-38). It really had never occured to June the choices her mother had made to get to where she is now. Before June had been born her mother had given birth to two twin daughters, that during the war had to leave them behind because she had felt she was going to die but did not want it to happen while her babies were in her arms. June never thought of things that would make her mother happy because she never put hard work into anything, such as playing the piano for her. “My mother’s
Souza 2 long-cherished wish.
Me, the younger sister who was suppose to be the essence of the others. I feed myself with the old grief, wondering how disappointed my mother must have been” (Tan, #281). Which stated that June had never knew or thought what was going on in her mother’s heart and mind. It is really important to keep in mind what people go through in life to keep their own family happy and safe. Especially when fighting over certain situations that you do not quite agree whether it comes down to winning or losing. Winning in life is not everything, people just need to be happy. Waverly Jong, Lindo Jong’s daughter, becomes a chess champion not because her mother pushes her to be but because she had loved to play (Tan, #96-97). The self-esteem her mother gives out when they are shopping is that she shows her off because she is proud of Waverly’s success. “Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess” (Tan, #99). Waverly loses her happiness playing because to her all it seemed about to her mother was winning but she obviously did not care she liked playing whether she won or lost. Nobody really understand the fun Waverly had while playing chess, since all her mother has done was to show her off as a champion and not realizing her daughter gets embarrassed. She then no longer has an interest in playing anymore. Her mother just wanted to finally be proud of something her daughter has accomplished in life since
she had never felt that way when she was little. People never really understand what their parents had to go through in life just to put their kids where they are now. An-Mei’s mother was a well respected scholar who loses most things in her life when her husband dies (Tan, #215-223). She had went through so much, she was raped and forced to be Wu-Tsing’s concubine (Tan, #225-230). She had never really seemed to have an
Souza 3 interest in him that one day she kills herself in a bedroom of overdoses because she had wanted to give her own daughter her hope and spirit. “ Do you see how shameless my life is… Do you see how I have no position” (Tan, #229). Her mother felt as if she was never needed in life , like she had no purpose in living anymore, she had then began to fall apart. It only appeared to her that the right thing to do was die and give her daughter her spirit. An-Mei never really understood why her mother had lived the way she did if she was unhappy with herself and did not feel as if she had a desire of living. Briefly, there is always a lesson learned in life whether it is from reading a book or even in everyday life. Most people who have read “The Joy Luck Club” sometimes have no idea what is going on or what people have actually went through in life. Parents and/or guardians should be important in someone’s life no matter what. Winning is not everything sometimes someone wins sometimes someone loses it is all part of life not everything will always go one’s way. One should also never really judge someone based on their looks or personality because one will never know what someone has been through in life just to make a family and keep them safe, healthy, and happy. Most importantly always appreciate what is given in life while one has it because one day a person could wake up and not have anything at all.
only her memory is. Jing-mei “June” Woo daughter of Suyuan Woo use to always consider her mother overbearing. June had thought this because her mother had always forced her to be a piano prodigy but lacks her talent (Tan, #37-38). It really had never occured to June the choices her mother had made to get to where she is now. Before June had been born her mother had given birth to two twin daughters, that during the war had to leave them behind because she had felt she was going to die but did not want it to happen while her babies were in her arms. June never thought of things that would make her mother happy because she never put hard work into anything, such as playing the piano for her. “My mother’s
Souza 2 long-cherished wish.
Me, the younger sister who was suppose to be the essence of the others. I feed myself with the old grief, wondering how disappointed my mother must have been” (Tan, #281). Which stated that June had never knew or thought what was going on in her mother’s heart and mind. It is really important to keep in mind what people go through in life to keep their own family happy and safe. Especially when fighting over certain situations that you do not quite agree whether it comes down to winning or losing. Winning in life is not everything, people just need to be happy. Waverly Jong, Lindo Jong’s daughter, becomes a chess champion not because her mother pushes her to be but because she had loved to play (Tan, #96-97). The self-esteem her mother gives out when they are shopping is that she shows her off because she is proud of Waverly’s success. “Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess” (Tan, #99). Waverly loses her happiness playing because to her all it seemed about to her mother was winning but she obviously did not care she liked playing whether she won or lost. Nobody really understand the fun Waverly had while playing chess, since all her mother has done was to show her off as a champion and not realizing her daughter gets embarrassed. She then no longer has an interest in playing anymore. Her mother just wanted to finally be proud of something her daughter has accomplished in life since
she had never felt that way when she was little. People never really understand what their parents had to go through in life just to put their kids where they are now. An-Mei’s mother was a well respected scholar who loses most things in her life when her husband dies (Tan, #215-223). She had went through so much, she was raped and forced to be Wu-Tsing’s concubine (Tan, #225-230). She had never really seemed to have an
Souza 3 interest in him that one day she kills herself in a bedroom of overdoses because she had wanted to give her own daughter her hope and spirit. “ Do you see how shameless my life is… Do you see how I have no position” (Tan, #229). Her mother felt as if she was never needed in life , like she had no purpose in living anymore, she had then began to fall apart. It only appeared to her that the right thing to do was die and give her daughter her spirit. An-Mei never really understood why her mother had lived the way she did if she was unhappy with herself and did not feel as if she had a desire of living. Briefly, there is always a lesson learned in life whether it is from reading a book or even in everyday life. Most people who have read “The Joy Luck Club” sometimes have no idea what is going on or what people have actually went through in life. Parents and/or guardians should be important in someone’s life no matter what. Winning is not everything sometimes someone wins sometimes someone loses it is all part of life not everything will always go one’s way. One should also never really judge someone based on their looks or personality because one will never know what someone has been through in life just to make a family and keep them safe, healthy, and happy. Most importantly always appreciate what is given in life while one has it because one day a person could wake up and not have anything at all.