The Struggle In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

In "Rules of the Game" we see a mother daughter conflict.  Waverly's mother is always showing her off because she is a national chess champion.  Waverly takes this as being exploited by her own mother because she was raised in a society with more American influence than Chinese.  In a Chinese society a woman's social standing is measured by

(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.

Most parents want their children to be happy and successful but with that also comes pressure and too many expectations that is put upon the children. The Joy Luck Club, a fiction novel written in 1989 by Amy Tan demonstrates what leads to children giving up. The book focuses on four Chinese immigrant families who moved from China in the mid 1900s to San Francisco. The book shows different situations where parents, more specifically mothers put superfluous amount of stress and pressure on their daughters. In the book, Amy Tan emphasises that consequent to high pressure and expectations that parents put on their children, children become unmotivated, unsuccessful and fail.

Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club is a well-known novel that discusses the difficulties that Chinese American immigrants face especially in the second generation. This novel specifically focuses in on the stories of the mothers and their daughters, their sufferings and triumphs. Due to both the generational and cultural differences between the mothers and daughters are extreme and these differences cause their relationship to be strained. I think that one of the critical themes from the book comes from Jing-mei’s chapter. “Only two kinds of daughters. . . those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind!”(Tan 1989 142)

Some of our great grandparents witnessed the great depression and the bombing of Pearl Harbor; Our grandparents lived through the space race, the Vietnam War, and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.; even our own parents experienced the end of the cold war, and the terror attack on 9/11. But how does this relate to you? Your ancestors’ experiences shaped their identity and their beliefs, which in turn has shaped you.

In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, the author, Amy Tan, intricately weaves together the roles and experiences of Chinese mothers with their American born daughters. During a time of war, the mothers flee from China to America, leaving behind a past filled with secrets that unravel as their daughters mature. While sharing their difficulties, these mothers must be able to teach Chinese beliefs and customs to their daughters in a way that relates to American society. However, this is difficult because the daughters seek to identify themselves with their own American culture. A lack of understanding and knowledge amongst these societies exists between the mothers and

Lindo, shortly before her own marriage, finds an inner strength that carries her through the wedding and the marriage afterwards. Waverly, on the other hand, seems unable to hold her own identity. She feels as if her mother “blur[s] what I was seeing and transform him [Rich] from the divine man I thought he was into someone quite mundane, mortally wounded with tiresome habits and irritating imperfections.” (191). This causes a sense of resentment in Waverly, as she thinks her mother is shaping her into another version of herself. Her mother, before her own marriage, found inner strength and the ability to keep her own character regardless of the influence of others when she looked in the mirror. She decides, “I would always remember my parents’ wishes, but I would never forget myself.” (53). Where Lindo promises never to let another shape her character, Waverly feels as if she has no choice other than to bend to her mother’s wishes. These differences and conflicts show the stark differences between Lindo’s and Waverly’s relationship with their

It seemed that Waverly had an ability inherited from her mother to conceal feelings and strategies, much like what is needed to win a chess match. Waverly got along better with her mother than June did, but June's mother pushed her in a direction she didn't want to go in, rather than taking credit for success. Both actions were misconceived however.

    Instead of constantly "failing" her mother, Waverly Jong was in constant competition with Lindo Jong. Oddly enough, their mother-daughter relationship could be compared to a game -- a game based solely on strategy – chess. Waverly mastered the game at a very young age, and eventually her mother proceeded to show her off like she was one of the trophies Waverly had won. Not only did Waverly show her strategic thinking for strictly the game, but she also showed it within  her surroundings. Her mother would dress her up in pink and white dresses and taught her how to sit just right as to look so innocent, and then Waverly would defeat her

Tan shows both perspective to give that background story of who they really are as a person. However, they don't come to conclusion with life decision allows us as reader to see which culture there more lean to,?I wasn't her slave. This wasn't China.? Her mother wants her to be obedient like if they never left China and jing-mei isn't agreeing with that. Her mother tells her not to be American more like the culture she was raised in,?Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind.? She couldn't do much living without that culture always coming in her life and stopping her from living a American life.

In this story, there is a main character, Waverly, who has a strained relationship with her mother. She always thought her mother was an enemy, but right after she got a letter from her mother, Lindo, her mind has changed.

The Joy luck Club by Amy Tan is a book comparing and contrasting the differences in Chinese and American culture. The book is divided into three parts. The first part talks about the mother’s experiences while raising their daughters in America. The second part of the book centers on the daughters’ lives growing up Chinese-American and the struggles they had to face. The last part of the book consists of how the mothers have sacrificed everything to leave China and provide a better future for their daughters. There are many differences found between Chinese and American culture.

Born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland, California, Amy Tan is introduced to the world as an American novelist. Amy Tan is known for being a worldwide artist, as she published two of her famous novels, The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife. Often, people would think that successful people had a great start at a young age; yet, Amy Tan had experienced a rough childhood until she later became successful. Both of her parents, John and Daisy Tan, are Chinese immigrants at the time she is born, since they were fleeing the war back in China. As Tan grows up, her parents and Chinese culture are a large influence in her life. Amy Tan, whose name is An-Mei in Chinese, is expected to earn good grades and follow her Chinese heritage from her parents. As time passed, many hardships came to light, as her beloved father and her older brother died of cancer, 8 months prior to one another when Amy was 15. With the death of her father and brother, her own relationship with her mother crumbles. Additionally, with the American influence towards Amy, her mother was disappointed towards her, for she knows that Amy is forgetting her own Chinese culture; despite the efforts of her mother trying to force her to follow the past traditions. Later in life, Amy pursues to become a writer, for she secretly dreamt of becoming an artist. Her mother did not live to see all of the accomplishes Amy Tan did, but before she died, she was proud

The Joy Luck Club, written by Amy Tan, has many stories within the actual book that describe the relationships between the four Chinese mothers and their American-born daughters. The mothers and daughters hold weekly parties where they play games and enjoy each others company. “And each week, we could hope to be lucky. That hope was our joy. And that's how we came to call our little parties Joy Luck.”(pg.25) However, Jing-mei “June” Woo, the main character, replaced her mother’s seat after her untimely death. All of the characters have truly captivating stories, but June specifically tells many stories eventually leading up to realizing that she is Chinese and that she should embrace it despite being American-born. This novel is truly mesmerizing

    In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan focuses on several mother-daughter relationships. One of the relationships explored is that between an immigrant Chinese mother and her American born daughter Jing-mei.  The mother expects Jing-mei to be a prodigy child - while pursuing this dream she unintentionally creates a serious conflict between her and her daughter.