Joy Luck Club

First of all, the Joy Luck Club had so many conflicts and misunderstandings between almost all of the characters. Most of the conflicts were between Waverly and her mom. Some conflicts were just differences between Waverly and her mother because of the generation gap between the two. Her mom didn’t like the things she would do and she could never see herself doing things that Waverly was doing back when she was a child. There were also cultural and martial conflicts throughout the book also.

What are the ways in which each major character experiences conflict (either with self, with other characters, or with the social and/or physical environment)?

the inner conflict of Connie, the protagonist of the book. The source of that struggle is her

     Throughout the story we see the events unfold and learn a lot about each character. The grandmother is a self-serving, manipulative, and righteous old woman that represents the old way of life. The grandchildren represent the new way in which the grandmother does not approve. The Misfit represents the evil in the world and how it affects both the old way as well as the new. Flannery O’Connor was deeply concerned with the values an the direction of the youth of her time. She believed that Christ was

• What are the ways in which each major character experiences conflict (either with self, with other characters, or with the social and/or physical environment)?

The next example of dynamics relationship between mother and daughter is almost at the end of the story when Waverly's mother forces her to the market on Saturday so she can constantly brag that Waverly is her daughter. This really embarrassed Waverly. She got so angry at her mother and told her that she wished that she would stop telling everyone Waverly is her daughter. Then she and her mother got into an argument, and Waverly ran away from her mother.

Characterization is a widely-used literary tool in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Specifically, each mother and daughter is a round character that undergoes change throughout the novel. Characterization is important in the novel because it directly supports the central theme of the mother-daughter relationship, which was relevant in Tan’s life. Tan grew up with an immigrant mother, and Tan expresses the difficulties in communication and culture in the stories in her book. All mothers in the book are immigrants to America, and all daughters grew up living the American lifestyle, creating conflict between the mothers and daughters due to miscommunication. Characterization of the mothers and daughters in Amy Tan’s The Joy Club creates and

The bond mothers and daughters share is unique, it’s connection that can only exist between mother and daughter. The article talks about how a mother and daughter don’t always get along the older the daughter gets, and the more independent the daughter becomes. This can relate to the story of the Chinese mothers and their daughters in The Joy Luck Club.

Lastly, her family betrayed her by not listening to her side of the story after her sister told lies about her, and they betrayed her when they acted as if they did not care if she moved out of the house. In all of these actions, the family itself and certain members of the family are portrayed as uncaring, unsupportive, disrespectful, conniving, deceitful, and hateful to Sister. Through every action of the family, Sister is treated harshly, and she tries to not let this bother her. Yet, anger and bitterness build up inside of her until she cannot take it anymore. Consequently, it built up so much inside of her that it severely affected Sister so profoundly that she moved away from her home to get away from her family.

However, the conflict between Waverly and her mother is very realistic, due to the nature that many mothers and daughters have different views which causes disagreements. The people of Chinese descent have their Chinese heritage, but struggle to keep true to their traditions while living around American culture. The major conflict in the story, the clash of different cultures, leads to the weakening of the relationship between the two characters. For example, when Waverly reenters the apartment after running away, she sees the "remains of a large fish, its fleshy head still connected to bones swimming upstream in vain escape" (Tan 508). Waverly sees herself as the fish, stripped clean by her mother 's power, unable to break free. Through the major conflict, the characters struggle to keep their relationship healthy and loving. Tan explains the feelings of Waverly through an important symbolic imaginary chess game as she writes, “My white pieces screamed as they scurried and fell off the board one by one. As her men drew closer to my edge, I felt myself growing light” (508). This shows how Waverly feels about the relationship with her mother and how she is losing the battle. The conflicts are important, especially to the theme, for the conflicts shows where the lack of understanding comes from and how it can be resolved.

Lindo was arranged to marry Tyan-yu. While the marriage was short-lived, Tyan-yu constantly lied to Lindo, and Tyan-yu’s mother treated Lindo like an object to be bartered between families. Lindo experiences depression being trapped in this lifestyle, so she decides to flee to America in order to escape it. When reminiscing on her marriage Lindo says, “I had no choice, now or later. That was how backward families in the country were. We were always the last to give up stupid old-fashioned customs” (Tan ). Similar to the mother in the beginning, Tan creates appeal to pathos, forcing the reader to sympathize with Lindo. The reader’s sympathy to Lindo allows Tan to expand on the larger issue of sexism, creating an emotional and educational tone in order to coax the reader into, again, understanding the true scale of sexism. Tan drilling this larger idea of sexism into readers changes the reader’s perspective. With new perspective, readers notice the need for change to establish equality between both sexes. Therefore, Tan is using her writing as a tool for a deeper subject: exciting change within the world, and thus, exemplifying Jong’s words.

All literature is created by themes, without themes, they would simply be stories, and within those themes are patterns; constantly repeating throughout the work. Throughout the novel, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, the use of themes and repeating patterns are seen through four different families. Some of the most prominent themes or patterns are family, specifically mother-daughter relationships, women and femininity, and growth in characters.

The relationship a mother has with her daughter is one of the most significant relationships either person will possess. In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, the stories of four mothers and their respective daughters are established through vignettes, which reveal the relationships between them. Throughout the novel, the mothers and daughters are revealed to be similar, yet different. Lindo and Waverly Jong can be compared and contrasted through their upbringings, marriages, and personalities.

The mother begins to rebel against tradition by taking an active role in educating and freeing herself. Through her radio, telephone and trips out with her sons she develops her own opinions about the world, the war, and the domination and seclusion of woman. She loses her innocence as a result to her new knowledge and experience.

From the film The Joy Luck Club, Chinese girls were supposed to act obedient and respectful to their parents and elders. This included the girls having to abide by each and every Chinese tradition that their parents instilled in them. Girls were also expected to be quiet and considerate to their parents and elders. They were only supposed to speak when spoken to at all times. Acting out against anything their parents enforced upon them was completely unacceptable.