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Among democratic nations each generation is a new people". With this quote, Alexis de Tocqueville aptly summarises the reason for the increased conflicting views between different generations of today. The Joy Luck Club and Mississippi Masala present some of the problems that frequently arise between parents and their children. These problems often unavoidable due to the circumstances in which they arise give us an interesting insight into the vulnerable relationship between immigrant parents and their first-generation American children.In the movie The Joy Luck Club the characters Suyuan and Jing-Mei Woo have a mother-daughter relationship scattered with conflict but ultimately composed of deep love and commitment for one another. Because of extreme differences in the environments in which they were raised and in their life experiences, these two women have many opposing ideas and beliefs. For example, most Asian parents try and raise their children with a strong work ethic, something that is not necessarily imposed by parents in America. Whenever Jin-Mei would give up on something, her mother would bring up the issue about her being lazy and not fully utilizing her natural talent. Having grown up in the American society Jin
The desire to become more Americanized is another reason for major conflicts between the two generations. -Mei did not understand this reasoning by her mother and they would end up having an argument over it. Immigration brings along with it fragmentation and hence the need for greater care and a responsible upbringing is necessary to avoid these problems. Her parents held a different set of values and expectations than hers because they were from a different generation and were brought up in a more conservative society. Ever since that incident, Lindo became extremely critical of her daughter, who began to view her as an insurmountable enemy out to ruin her life and destroy her hopes and happiness. It was only later on in life that she realised the true worth of her mother's criticism and the love and reverence she had for her. Even after her constant persuasion to stop seeing Demetrius, Meena disagreed with her mother. Along with all this, their lack of communication further worsened the many problems they faced in their relationship. Another such visible problem in the movie was with Waverly and her mother Lindo. These children realise that they are different from the mainstream American and this is when they successfully begin to walk in both worlds. Lindo would always brag to others that her daughter was a chess champion and try to take all the credit for Waverly's success. However, this begins to see a reversal as the younger generation ages. Leaving their homeland to settle in a new country causes fragmentation of the extended family network. Many children are confused about their identity, hence leading to frustrations because of the disparity between their parents' culture and America's.
Common topics in this essay:
Demetrius Meena,
Mississippi Masala,
Lindo Waverly,
Luck Club,
First-generation Americans,
Jing-Mei Woo,
Whenever Jin-Mei,
,
joy luck,
Joy Luck,
joy luck club,
luck club,
extended family,
mississippi masala,
parents' culture,
family network,
american society,
generation gap,
extended family network,
chess champion,
lack communication,
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Acceptance Essays
