The Joy Luck Club Essay

Given that women have led successful businesses, raised families, and created positive changes all over the world, it is shocking how in many countries women are still being oppressed because of their gender. Amy Tan was aware of such male dominating cultures when she wrote her book, The Joy Luck Club. Within her novel, stories of Chinese mothers and their Chinese-American daughters reveal the cruelties towards women in the Chinese culture. One of her characters, An-Mei Hsu, speaks out on her experiences as a woman living in China. Through her rhetorical devices, she reveals her main idea that women living the Chinese way are stuck in a cycle of pain

Many women find that their mothers have the greatest influence on their lives and the way their strengths and weaknesses come together. In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, the lives of four Chinese mothers and their Chinese-American daughters are followed through vignettes about their upbringings and interactions. One of the mothers, An-Mei Hsu, grows up away from her mother who has become the 4th wife of a rich man; An-Mei is forced to live with her grandmother once her mother is banned from the house, but eventually reunites and goes to live in the man’s house with her mother. Her daughter, Rose, has married an American man, Ted, but their marriage begins to end as he files for divorce; Rose becomes depressed and unsure what to do, despite

The mother-daughter relationships represented in Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club are influenced by many existing factors. Lena St. Clair, Ying-Ying St. Clair’s daughter, is a Chinese-American adult who lives with her forceful husband, Harold. Ying-Ying is a Chinese mother who travelled to America to live a better life after experiencing many hardships in China. Throughout the novel, the relationship between Lena and Ying-Ying is represented as weak and distant. These characters are prevented from having a healthy relationship because they do not support each other, they possess similar characteristics, and they are strong.

When Jing Mei recognizes the similarities between her mother and herself she begins to understand not only her mother but herself as well. There are subtle connections and likenesses from the beginning between Jing Mei and her mother that Jing Mei does not see. The book commences with Jing Mei taking her mother's place at the mah jong table, creating a similarity between them from the beginning. Suyuan dies two months before the start of the book, and therefore is not able to tell the stories. Jing Mei has learned and must tell her stories in her place, forming another parallelism between mother and daughter. Because Suyuan is dead, Jing Mei must act in place of her mother when she goes to meet her Chinese sisters in China. Throughout the book Jing Mei takes the place of Suyuan, showing she and her mother

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.

In the novel, Joy Luck Club, we see Waverly Jong and June Woo’s competitiveness when Waverly becomes a child chess prodigy and June struggles to master the piano. This rivalry reflects how success and worth are depicted in this novel. A mother’s success would be encouraging or coercing their child to master a particular hobby and to improve constantly. A daughter’s worth would be determined by the daughter’s talents, and whether or not the daughter brings a good reputation for the family. We can tell that Lindo Jong was very proud of her daughter Waverly Jong when she was a chess prodigy, competed in different cities, and would bring home a myriad of trophies. Because Lindo was so proud of Waverly, she would brag excessively about her and

Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long-cherished wish.”(277) Which explains that they are all like her mother and yet they aren’t, but all that doesn’t matter because all that counts is blood and heritage. Through her meeting with her half-sisters, Jing-mei finds her heritage and identity.

Whether it is wholesome or tough love, the bond of a mother and daughter can never be broken. “The Joy Luck Club” is the epitome of this notion. The anthology contains a series of sixteen vignettes, four of which belonging to one of each of the four members of The Joy Luck Club. These vignettes cover the perspectives of mothers who immigrated to America from China, along with the flip side point of view, taken over by each of their daughters. In the anthology, Tan reflects on her past life and incorporates it into the book, exploring cultural, relationship, and internal conflicts.

“I threw away my foolish innocence to protect myself. And then I taught my daughter to shed her innocence so she would not be hurt as well.” (Tan 213). The Joy Luck club is a book containing sixteen stories told by four mother-daughter pairs, as well as four anecdotes about no particular character. The mothers are all Chinese Immigrants. Each mother's story details their experiences in China, while the daughters talk about life in America. The exception to this is with the Woo family, where the mother, Suyuan, has passed away, and the daughter, June, tells her stories for her. In ‘The Joy Luck Club’, Amy Tan uses the stories of the mothers to illustrate the similarities and differences in the ways the mothers and daughters think about

My mama looked up at her and was quickly taken aback by the woman’s appearance and boorish nature. I thought I had even heard her gasp quietly before saying to me in a low tone, “Oh, dear… Who is that?”

This movie depicted different life experience of four pairs of Chinese mother and daughter. Though distinct grievous life stories they had, these four Chinese mothers were all born and bred under the background of feudal Chinese regime, cultivated by Chinese traditional feudalism, and fatefully, their lives were poisoned and destroyed by malignant tumor of Chinese backward culture and ideology, for example, women are subordinated to men. More unfortunately, the four daughters who were born and educated in America, assumed to avoid from the influence of Chinese feudal culture, still inherited deformed character, like without self-value and spirit; extended last generation’s tragedy—misery marriage. The

Unlike Chinese culture, Jing-Mei starts to revolt against her mother. As a result of her mother

Sex-role expectations were a very important issue in the relationship between An-Mei and her daughter. Throughout the mother's life, she was expected to

Jing-mei’s inability to connect with her mother arises from her upbringing. Mrs. Woo pushed Jing-mei to extremes with her parenting and failed to realize the lasting trauma it had on her daughter. Jing-mei as a fragile child wants nothing more than for her “mother and father [to] adore [her]” (233). The developing girl is looking for acceptance through her parents, but Mrs. Woo does not understand the positive reinforcement required in those early stages of development. Instead

The word “family” is often used in connection with a person’s ancestry. Most families are based on kinship. Members belong to the family through birth, marriage, or adoption. Family plays the most vital role in our daily life and family is the finest thing that you can ever desire for. It’s the family who assists their child in hardships of life and give affection no matter what happens. Human personality reflects on what his /her family status is and what their families have taught them.