Joy Luck Club
If there was one occurrence that befell every mother in "The Joy Luck Club," it would be the loss of a child and the after effect it had on their relationships with their living children. This lead to a misunderstanding between mother and daughter, and the climax of their separation before the problems could be resolved. The long, gradual build up of lack of understanding kept the two family members divided and it took self actualization to bring them together. Ying-Ying St.Clair and her daughter Lena St.Clair both grew up passive and quiet. They had a distrust in life, did not hear their own voices, and had to find themselves before helping each other. Ying-Ying grew up in a family where she had to keep her wishes to herself, after awhile, she just stopped wishing, there was no use for it. After she lost one son, and resorted to killing the other, she had no strength left to take care of Lena. So, Lena grew up in a quiet home with a depressed mother, and a clueless father, neither could communicate with each other. Like her mother, Lena kept all her desires to herself and could not hear herself. She longed for a good relationship but fell into a poor one anyways. Her "fair" relationship proved to be not so balanced but she did
Lindo just wanted th best for Waverly, and did not see how happy Rich made her. She had lost her true talent, and decided that her mother did not have her best intentions for her, even though she did. The club's other members-Lindo, Ying-ying, and An-mei-are three of her mother's oldest friends and fellow immigrants. Tan does this so the reader can see the stories behind both sides and so as not to judge either side unfairly. But Jing-mei wonders whether she is capable of telling her mother's story, and the three older women fear that Jing-mei's doubts may be justified. As the story in the beginning of the section suggests, the mothers watch as their daughters grow, feeling the desire to protect them, to teach them "how to lose your innocence but not your hope. They had both American and Chinese qualities, and were truly connected. Suyuan's story is representative of the struggle to maintain the mother-daughter bond across cultural and generational gaps; by telling this story as her mother's daughter, Jing-mei enacts and cements the very bond that is the subject of Suyuan's story. In this instant, she gained that understanding with her mother. Waverly was so disgusted that her mother would criticize a gift. The novel is composed of four sections, each of which contains four separate narratives. They fear that their own daughters, like Jing-mei, may not know or appreciate the stories of their mothers' lives. The three women repeatedly urge Jing-mei to travel to China and tell her sisters about their mother's life. This assimilation problem isn't as severe as it may sound (after all, some of my Asian friends seemed to fit in just fine--maybe it's just me???), but it's still there, and Amy Tan does an excellent job of portraying it through her characters. Although they believe that their mothers' antiquated ideas do not pertain to their own very American lifestyles, their search for solutions inevitably brings them back to their relationships with the older generation.
Common topics in this essay:
Amy Tan,
Livotny An-mei,
Sadly June,
Lena Rose-relate,
Jing-mei Suyuan,
Luck Club,
Rose Rose,
Thousand Li,
Lena Lena,
American Translation,
luck club,
joy luck,
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mother daughter,
story beginning,
mothers daughters,
heritage mothers,
suyuan's story,
stay strong,
amy tan,
amy tan explores,
mother rose,
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Acceptance Essays
