Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, is a book that compiles stories of the lives of Chinese women that were raised in China and became American citizens. These women formed the "Joy Luck Club," which was a small group that discussed their homeland and troubles, but still enjoying the treasures of food and each other's company. Each section of the book is written from the point of view of the character. The book continues on with the stories of these women's daughters, telling stories of their lives being raised by mothers who were immigrants, and dissolving into American society. Chinese mothers try to pass on their values, instincts, and intuitiveness on to the second generation. Great fortune has come to the members of the Joy Luck Club through their hardships, and they only want their daughters to understand what it takes to succeed in life. The Joy Luck Club ladies were all friends who over time have formed blissful lives for themselves in America. All of the daughters in this book were raised with high expectations, even the mothers while they were in China. This is contrary to an overall idea that girls in China were not a great commodity to their parents. Each member of the Joy Luck Club was a mother that
Chinese mothers even go to great extents to instill their values into their children. After Jing-mei's mother died, as a memento to her mother, she has the piano that she once felt slave to, tuned. A Chinese mother is not easily pleased. Clair remembers when her mother kept having a feeling to rearrange furniture, only to find out she was pregnant. Later in life, another daughter of the Joy Luck Club, Waverly, disgusted her mother when she decided to marry a Caucasian man. However, through it all, I believe the daughters took to heart the efforts and good intentions that their mothers tried to instill. Though the struggles of the two generations may be different, Ying-Ying saw that in these two faces was "the same happiness, the same sadness, the same good fortune, and the same faults. After great pressure to become a prodigy or a piano playing princess, Jing-mei Woo shouted to her mother, "Why don't you like me the way I am!" (146) This is an obvious example of the classic "American rebellion" coming out of the second generation of Chinese immigrants. only wanted their own daughters to understand why they should be respectful of their Chinese culture and grateful for their American opportunities. Avoiding trouble is also an instinct for the Chinese. Waverly Jong, daughter of Lindo, was raised in Chinatown and her mother taught many lessons to "raise them out of circumstances. Ying-Ying says her guestroom has "walls close in like a coffin.
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Acceptance Essays
