Biography of May June, A Chinese

The story starts out with Jing-Mei being troubled by going here talking to her mother and how she doesn’t feel connected to her ethnic roots her mother replies to this with “Someday

Four Chinese mothers have migrated to America. Each hope for their daughter’s success and pray that they will not experience the hardships faced in China. One mother, Suyuan, imparts her knowledge on her daughter through stories. The American culture influences her daughter, Jing Mei, to such a degree that it is hard for Jing Mei to understand her mother's culture and life lessons. Yet it is not until Jing Mei realizes that the key to understanding who her

Mostly, Jing-mei 's fears echo those of her peers, the other daughters of the Joy Luck Club members. They have always identified with Americans (Jing-mei also goes by the English name"June") but are beginning to regret having not paid attention to their Chinese history. Her fears also speak to a two-way fear shared by the mothers, who wonder whether, by giving their daughters American opportunities and (the ability to survive with no outside help), they have abandoned them from their Chinese history.

Setting is one of the many way we learn about character. In Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets,” June May, the protagonist, at the age of fifteen denied that she had any Chines whatsoever in her. Now at the age of thirty-six June May is on way to China carry her mother’s dream of going back home, with her seventy two year old father, Canning Woo. Their first stop will be Guangzhou, to visit Canning Woo aunt who he had not seen since he was ten years

This is what Suyuan believed and lived by, whereas Jing-mei believed that she is an independent individual and is capable of making her own choices. Consequently, Jing-mei believed her mother was simply trying to push Jing-mei into someone she was not, and could never be.

There is a parallel in the story between the father and daughter. It is not only June May who discovers her Chinese roots but also her father rediscovers his childhood Chinese in him. Both the father and daughter are going to China for the same reason: to see their sisters. Her father is going to meet his older sister, Aiyi, and June May is going to see her half-sisters from her mother’s first mirage. Their reaction when they see their sisters is the same; they are both emotionally moved. Their response when June May helps her father take a picture of him and Aiyi is the same as when June May and her sisters eagerly wait for the film to develop. “The camera flashes and I hand them the snapshot. Aiyi and my father still stand close together, each of them holding the corner of the picture, watching as their images begin to form. They are almost reverentially quiet.” “The flash of the Polaroid goes off and my father hands me the snapshot. My sisters and I watch quietly together, eager to see what develops.” One of the important elements of the story are the names of the characters. In Chinese all names have a special meaning. June May’s mother’s name

Over there nobody will look down on her, because I will make her speak only perfect American English.  And over there she will always be too full to swallow any sorrow!  She will know my meaning because I will give her this swan- a creature that became more than what was hoped for.”  (Tan 1)  The culture in China the mothers of Joy Luck dealt with was unlike anything their daughters could ever imagine or appreciate. Between the mothers Lindo, Suyuan, An-mei and Ying-ying, the Chinese culture forced them into being married by a matchmaker, giving up babies, witness desperate attempts to save loved ones, and having an abortion.  In many ways the Chinese culture scared each woman, although they were proud of their heritage, their daughters deserved better.  These four mothers had very high hopes for the better lives that they wanted to give their daughters by raising them in America.  They didn’t like or want to have their daughters looked down upon, just because they were Chinese women.  From each of their own experiences, they learned that they wanted to improve the lives of their following generation.

In Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets,” setting unfolds an important aspect of the story by positioning a ‘where’ and ‘when.’ Throughout the story, June May struggles with her internal conflict of resisting her Chinese culture. However, she begins to release this resistance as she ventures through China. The setting perpetuates the theme through the usage of transportation, the significance of the color gray amongst colors, and June May’s transition into a Chinese-American. As reflected by the setting and external places visited in “A Pair of Tickets,” June May’s interior state becomes more Chinese as she explores her native country.

All of the woman who migrated from China all have a curtain pride for their own mothers and cultures cultures respectively. Major acts of pride go into what these woman do while raising their daughters, as they want to push their daughters for success. “What will I say? What can I tell them about my mother? I don’t know anything. . . .” The aunties are looking at me as if I had become crazy right before their eyes. . . . And then it occurs to me. They are frightened. In me, they see their own daughters, just as ignorant. . . . They see daughters who grow impatient when their mothers talk in Chinese . . . who will bear grandchildren born without any connecting hope passed from generation to generation.” The other mothers are flabbergasted that June does not know that much about her mother. The mothers also have their own pride in their daughters, and all the daughters have been together, so this phrase from June scares the other mothers of what their own daughters might think about them. In Chinese tradition, respecting your mother is very important, due to June being raised in America, she does not realise what she has just proclaimed as bad until the other mothers react to it.

June wants to learn more about her mother and her culture with the added pressure of meeting Suyuan’s lost daughters in China. She starts to embrace the Chinese culture and is excited to eat a traditional Chinese meal, even though she does not get the chance (page 278). She also asks her father more about Suyuan’s time in China and the meaning of her name (page 280). When June finally meets her sisters, they murmur, “‘Mama, Mama’” (page 287). June finally feels a connection with her mother and with her Chinese background. Therefore, June’s character developed because of her mother’s passing.

Early in childhood Jing Mei dreamed of finding her prodigy and being a famous Chinese American, mostly because of the views and actions her mother placed on her. Her mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. (pg 405) Her mother was always pushing new tests and talents on Jing Mei. She even went as far as having her daughter Jing Mei models her physical appearance and actions after a child-star Shirley Temple. Her other was always testing her with many different things trying to discover Jing Mei’s talent. Later Jing Mei started to feel like her mother was just trying to make her into someone she was not and started to just fail and not try to do anything right hoping her mother would give up. When her mother died she had realized what her mother had been trying to do. Her mother had only wanted her to do her best. She had then to realize what her mother had

Jing-Mei can't deny who she is because it's in her DNA. Suyuan, her mother, told her "Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel and think Chinese" (Tan 139). Her mother said that to her because Jing-Mei is Americanize and knows little about her heritage. Tan is pretty much describing herself that she was born in American and knows little about her background. Jing-Mei tells her mother about her and her friends "I was about as Chinese as they were" (Tan 139). Jing-Mei means that she knows as much about Chinese as her white friends in America would know. But her mother claims that she knows more because she is a nurse and keeps telling her that no matter what, she is Chinese and it's in her.

Suyuan Woo, the mother of Jing-mei (June), is a strong, willful character who strives for nothing short of excellence. Throughout her life, she faced many hardships, such as losing her first two children in China and migrating to America to live the “American Dream”. Rather than wallowing in the difficulties that may have consumed her life at times, she chose to find happiness and success within. Her remarrying and having a second child (June) only proved how brave she was to continue her life and leave the past behind to focus on what the future holds for her.

Jing-mei originally believed that in order to “be Chinese” one must live in China and abide by the stereotype of Chinese people; after her visit to China, she finds that “being Chinese” is accepting the Chinese DNA in her blood and understanding the culture. In the beginning of A Pair of Tickets, Jing-mei does not feel Chinese. She repeatedly denies being Chinese saying, “… and all of my Caucasian friends agreed: I was about as Chinese as they were” (Norton 179). She had never experienced the culture first-hand and never truly connected with her true heritage. She sees China in her visit. This is the first opportunity she has ever had to interact with other Chinese people. Coming from a social group of all Caucasian friends, first-hand interaction allows her to understand the Chinese people in a much more advanced manner. They seem less

Ching also made the life-altering decision to travel to America to escape the oppressive society of China. So does Winnie. Much of Winnie's story is revealed to her daughter only at the end of the novel through the intervention of Auntie Helen, but brings the mother and daughter to a higher level of understanding of each other and their respective customs. One can only imagine a similar exchange between Tan and her own mother, an experience obviously worthy of publication.