Our Identity In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

 In the Joy Luck Club, the author Amy Tan, focuses on mother-daughter relationships. She examines the lives of four women who emigrated from China, and the lives of four of their American-born daughters. The mothers: Suyuan Woo, An-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-Ying St. Clair had all experienced some life-changing horror before coming to America, and this has forever tainted their perspective on how they want their children raised. The four daughters: Waverly, Lena, Rose, and Jing-Mei are all Americans. Even though they absorb some of the traditions of Chinese culture they are raised in America and American ideals and values.  This inability to communicate and the clash

In Amy Tan’s story “The Joy Luck Club,” Jing-mei recalls the struggles she is burdened by in not understanding the extensive sacrifices her mother made and the guilt she carries of never living to be her mother’s swan.

In the article “Being an immigrant in the United States today means..,” an interview from one of the many immigrants here in the United States stated that they “try our best to look American” because of the worry that anytime they might have to prove their citizenship and documentation just for being Indian. Similarly, in the prologue of the book The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, the narrator describes the journey of a woman across the ocean towards America while saying, “Over there nobody will look down on her, because I will make her speak only perfect American English!” Both these scenarios describe how immigrants are not being fully accepted by American society. It shows that different ethnicities and races are still widely separated no matter the country both live in together. The fear of being frowned upon by Americans and fellow Chinese civilians in America by the woman and the fear of getting picked out because of the color of their skin by the interviewees prove that these people have to live with the pressure of perfecting American ways and culture.

(insert hook here) For several immigrant families, parents’ goals and their children’s hopes for being happy are in conflict with one another. In the book The Joy Luck Club, written by Amy Tan, the story is a tale of the clashing relationship and dreams between Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters. As a result of language barriers, communicating thoughts between each other is very difficult and leads to misunderstanding each other’s needs. Tan conveys to her readers that unhealthy relationships between parents and their children can emerge from excessive parental pressure, which is caused by clashing ideas and backgrounds.

Traditions, heritage and culture are three of the most important aspects of Chinese culture. Passed down from mother to daughter, these traditions are expected to carry on for years to come. In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, daughters Waverly, Lena, Rose and June thoughts about their culture are congested by Americanization while on their quests towards self-actualization. Each daughter struggles to find balance between Chinese heritage and American values through marriage and professional careers.

Amy Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club” has a theme dealing with immigration. The article that I have chosen, “Chinese Illegals Pay Up to $30,000 to Enter U.S. Through Mexico”, can be connected to the book and myself in many ways.

The Joy Luck Club is a novel by Amy Tan which tells the individual, cohesive stories of Chinese American daughters and their Chinese mothers. In each story, the cultural differences between mother and daughter acts as a wedge between them. The conflicting cultures of descent and consent causes a conflict between mother and daughter; although they ultimately want to have a relationship with each other, the differences in values make coming together harder. For the mothers, their expectations for their daughters are high, while the daughters are trying to understand how China fits into their American lives. This conflict between values perpetuates until there is an acceptance of each way of life.

History, Culture and Identity of Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club

Relationships define a connection between two beings, whether it be through blood, friendship, or romance. In most cases, the first group that people experience is with their families. The kinship people are born into comes with ups and downs, which may cause a rift between both parties. Thus, maintaining a seamless connection may become a struggle between two dissimilar individuals, “Like many relationships, we have our struggles, our misunderstandings, and our miscommunications. We are very different people, but also very similar at the same time” (Goreski). Amy Tan, an author of numerous novels, understands the battle of relationships, especially between culturally diverse mothers and daughters. In one of Tan’s novels, The Joy Luck Club, she writes to get the point across of how difficult it is for contrasting cultures to communicate with one another, “...out of an intense concern with the individual artistic choices she was making at every level and at every moment” (Evans 3). The passionate message Tan stresses in the novel demonstrate how crucial communication is to her, specifically between a mother and daughter.

Chinese and American cultures and societies have many differences and similarities seen in Chinese-American children. An example of this can be seen in the realistic fiction novel, The Joy Luck Club, written by Amy Tan. Happiness is described in many ways, but as many things are described, 'beauty (happiness) is in the eye of the beholder.' Tan writes sixteen short stories to exemplify the differences in happiness between Chinese and American cultures. This is displayed in The Joy Luck Club with short stories detailing the lives of four Chinese-American daughters trying to define their own idea of happiness.

Children’s book author, Dr. Seuss once wrote, “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” This quote relates to many because it explains how people try to change their identity for the sake of others. It shows how you should always be yourself, regardless how people feel about you. In the short stories “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, and “The Bass, The River, and, Shelia Mant” by W.D. Wetherell, the characters learn about themselves through significant moments.

In our lives, many of us underestimate the power our words have on others. Because of this, Amy Tan reveals the idea that words have a profound effect on people; In The Joy Luck Club Amy tan portrays this theme through Lena’s life.

Conflicts play a crucial role in novels. Without conflict, novels would be uninteresting and very dull. Conflicts are seen in many different forms, as internal conflicts, when a character must deal with private problems, and external conflicts, when a character must deal with problems originating from an external source, like another person or society in general. Some common conflicts seen in other novels are person versus society, as in The Scarlet Letter when Hester is forced to face her mistake of adultery due to the obsession of the unforgiving town. An example of an internal conflict is present within Animal Dreams, when Cody must decide where she belongs and

Many times plot development is thought of as a key detail in keeping a story organized, while others would say that plot structure tends to add too much order to a piece of work and hinder the reader from exploring true creativity. A great example of these two contrasting ideas is illustrated in Amy Tan’s well-known novel “The Joy Luck Club”. Although some could argue that there is no definite plot structure portrayed at all within the book, this is not true. A slight plot lies within each individual short story. While there might not be an overall rising and falling action connected throughout the novel, an exposition, climax, and resolution are clearly illustrated in each story.

“Here is how I came to love my mother.  How I saw her my own true nature.  What was beneath my skin.  Inside my bones.” (Tan 40)