In the first section of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, there are many motifs threaded throughout each of the four stories. One of which is the color red. The color red is very symbolic towards early Chinese culture and tradition.…
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.…
Many Chinese mothers and Americanized daughters have trouble understanding each other and this problem can only be solved through accepting each other's values and their differences. In the chapter,Two Kinds, from the book "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan exposes the values of a Chinese mother, Suyuan and her Americanized daughter, Jing-mei about living in America. After seeing many articles and stories about prodigies, Suyuan innocently believes her daughter can be one too. At first, Jing-mei was ecstatic about the idea but through constant disappointment from her mother, Jing-mei became idiotically determined to disappoint her mother even more. Pursuing this further, Suyuan thought Jing-mei can be a virtuoso pianist…
The Joy Luck club centers on four, middle-aged, Chinese immigrants, Suyuan Woo, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair. Although the relationships that exist between each of the four women are important, it is the exploration into each woman’s relationship with her first generation daughter that is central to the plot line. Through this exploration, the generational and cultural gaps that exist between the each of the women and their daughters are exposed; allowing several interesting connections to course material to be made.…
Each girl eventually recognizes how the older generation played a significant part in shaping their identities causing them to embrace their Chinese heritage. The short stories focus on the first American mothers and their American Chinese daughters.…
Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” Tan grew up in a home with her Chinese mother who spoke English that she considered “broken”. It was difficult for others to understand what her mother was saying. Tan then realized that when she was with her mother that she spoke English differently than she did. She was trying to figure out how her background affected her life, such as her education; but she eventually learned to except her background. At the same time Tan wanted to become a writer and she found that by spending time with her mother who again spoke “broken” English. Even though she was told that writing was her worst skill by her boss, she was determined to make it work.…
Amy Tan portrays Lindo Jong, mother of Waverly Jong, as a brave, intelligent woman who uses her wit in order to get out of a restrained marriage. She shows an unwavering loyalty to her family as she sacrifices her, “life to keep [her] parents promise,” (42). Lindo deals with the harassment from her in-laws, as well as the childlike nature of her husband. She eventually receives abuse from her own daughter when she doesn’t fit the expectations of both Waverly and the society. Even through all these obstructions in her life, by being loyal, courageous, intelligent, and strong, she shows all the characteristics of the Chinese zodiac animal, the horse. In the Chinese culture, the horse symbolizes power and grace, as well as strength and freedom,…
As its complex structure suggests, the book tries to organize the the stories of mother and daughter with the intention of reaching the same destination: the daughter's recovery of her cultural and ethnic identity as Chinese by overcoming the generational gap and the cultural differences between herself and her mother. The mother intend to hand over their "good intentions" and "usable past" in China to their daughter in America. Amy Tan, depicts the relationship between Jing-mei, a young Chinese-American girl, and her mother, a Chinese immigrant, her mother. She does not have something special things. However, her normal life has changed a little because of her mother.…
A thesis statement informs the readers of the content, the argument, and often the direction of a…
In Amy Tan’s novel of conflicting cultures, The Joy Luck Club, the narrators contemplate their inability to relate from one culture to another. The novel is narrated by and follows the connected stories about conflicts between Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-raised daughters. Jing-mei, one of the daughters, has taken her mother’s place in a weekly gathering her mother had organized called the Joy Luck Club, in which four women would gather to gamble together to help each other. Through use of many different perspectives and concise diction, Tan reveals her theme of building bridges between cultures and generations and the revelation that tragedy shapes us. In The Joy Luck Club, Tan’s deceptively simple yet dramatic…
Amy Tan uses thoughtful laughter in her novel, The Joy Luck Club, to make a point through laughter or humor. Thoughtful laughter is effective because it grabs the attention of the reader and expresses a point, whether the reader knows it or not. One scene that provokes thoughtful laughter is in the chapter “Best Quality” while the family picks crabs to eat. When there was only two crabs left, Jing-Mei Woo tries to choose the crab with the missing leg, so her mom would have the better crab. On page 227 during the meal, Jing-Mei Woo says “That's the way Chinese mothers show they love their children, not through hugs and kisses but the stern offering of steamed dumplings, duck gizzards, and crab.” The Chinese mothers in The Joy Luck Club show affection to their daughters differently through non-obvious manners, such as showing off their daughters or giving…
In the 1950’s, many immigrants believed that America was a place where all their dreams and wishes could come true. There is no exception to one family who just move to the “land of opportunity” to give their daughter, Jing Mei for a brighter future. As the author, Amy Tan writes the story named “Two Kinds”. The story is centered around a Chinese immigrant, Jing Mei and her family’s struggles and how they have overcome many obstacles in their lives. Jing Mei’s mother strongly believes that Jing Mei will become a successful prodigy. Therefore, the family decides to live in San Francisco as their first home in the US. Her mother will make Jing Mei to live up to many expectations such as taking piano lessons. Throughout…
Taoism has been a major influence in China throughout much of its history and The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, reflects this influence through its infusion of Taoist principals. One of the fundamental concepts within Taoism is that of Wu-hsing. Wu-hsing is a way of understanding a matter by dividing it into five and is often represented by five phases, elements of directions. This is an unfamiliar concept to a western perspective, which tends to divide things into four. Understanding this fifth additional element, however, is essential to understanding The Joy Luck Club.…
Asian American women have gone a long way to get to America. They have faced many tribulations ranging from racism, gender issues, to familial issues. Those who experienced these problems back in their home town still faced them when they first immigrated to America. Even though they experienced hostility, life in America was still a luxury that they were willing to work hard for. It was because of this that deemed Asian Americans, particularly Asian American women, to be the model hard workers. Also, because of their hard work, they were able to indirectly achieve the “American Dream.” The three experiences in Louise’s life that corroborated her to be a hard working model minority are: growing up, life after marriage, and coming to America.…
The movie The Joy Luck Club offers so many excellent examples of the conflicts, misunderstandings, and issues that can arise during intercultural communications, even when those involved are aware of many of the differences. Two concepts that I found particularly interesting and evident throughout the film were differences in language functions and differences in verbal style between Chinese American women and their mothers as well as their husbands.…