The Relationships of Waverly Jong and Jing-mei Woo in The Joy Luck Club
Amy Tan in her novel The Joy Luck Club presents us with daughters who are striving to place themselves beyond the control of strong mothers and become individuals. Adrienne Rich in her book Of Woman Born calls this splitting from the mother, "matraphobia" (Rich, 235), and later notes: "The mother stands for the victim in ourselves, the unfree woman, the martyr. Our personalities seem dangerously to blur and overlap with our mothers; and, in a desperate attempt to know where mother ends and daughter begins we perform radical surgery." (Rich, 236) Tan shows us two characters in her novel who consciously split from their mother when they feel unable to claim their true selves. These two characters are Waverly Jong and Jing-mei Woo.
Waverly's break from her mother comes when she perceives her mother's pride in her ability to play chess being something that increases her mother's own self worth. Waverly tells us: "I knew it was a mistake to say anything more, but I heard my voice speaking. 'Wh...
A psychedelic drug is one that alters the brains perception and cognition. Drugs of this sort can cause visual hallucinations. People have said it feels as though everything is alive, breathing, dancing. Of course, like any drug, there is the possibility of having a “bad trip.” This is where things seemingly go wrong. The person tripping feels trapped, frightened, and extremely uncomfortable. The
The Mother is very critical of the strategy that Waverly uses to defeat her opponents. When Waverly
In The Joy Luck Club, the novel traces the fate of the four mothers-Suyuan Woo, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair-and their four daughters-June Woo, Rose Hsu Jordan, Waverly Jong, and Lena St. Clair. Through the experiences that these characters go through, they become women. The mothers all fled China in the 1940's and they all retain much of their heritage. Their heritage focuses on what is means to be a female, but more importantly what it means to be an Asian female.
When analyzing the Joy Luck club it is important to consider the life of the author. It is apparent after studying both The Joy Luck Club and Amy Tan that there are some incredible similarities among the two, particularly the story of mother Suyuan-Woo and her daughter Jing-Mei Woo. Suyuan is a main character and plays an extremely important role in the novel even though she passed away. She created the Joy Luck club years ago and is the main reason why this tight kit family exists today. Suyuan decided to create the Joy Luck club during a ve...
Is it fair to judge someone by their sex? In traditional Chinese culture, many judgments were made about a person just by observing their sex. The women was looked upon as an inferior being. They had little or no status in society, and little was expected from them. They were discriminated against when they tried to stand up for themselves. Chinese culture was customarily male dominated. The male was expected to do most of the work, and the woman was expected to stay at home with their mouth shut. This custom leaves an unwelcome feeling in a woman's heart. They feel like nobody cares, and it makes it much harder to live with an optimistic view on life.
Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club uses much characterization. Each character is portrayed in different yet similar ways. When she was raised, she would do whatever she could to please other people. She even “gave up her life for her parents promise” (49), I the story The Red Candle we get to see how Tan portrays Lindo Jong and how she is brought to life.
While hallucinogenic drugs have been used for centuries, it was not until the discovery by Western society of their mind-altering properties (Hofmann 1959; Stoll 1947; Delgado, Pedro L; Moreno, Francisco A) that these compounds began to be more widely used for treatment of mental disorders (see Abraham, Aldridge & Gogia 1996; Strassman 1995; Neill 1987; McGlothlin & Arnold 1971; Freedman 1968; Delgado, Pedro L; Moreno, Francisco A). Hallucinates are derived from plants or the fungus that grows on plants, the first recorded hallucination was a tossup between mental issues that were then used for a political push or the ergotamine during the Salem witch trails in 1962, far after that Albert Hofmann became the creator of LSD from ergotamine a chemical from the fungus ergot, in Switzerland 1938. From that time LSD has played a part in history, studies have shown that much has changed in the half-century since LSD was first used by psychiatrists and then found widespread recreational use in the 1960's and 70's. Modern psychiatry has embraced drugs that affect the same brain molecules that are tweaked by hallucinogens (Blakeslee,
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD, is one of the most powerful substances in the world. Named LSD-25, as it was the 25th compound deriving from lysergic acid systematically developed by its chemist inventor, was first synthesized in 1938 and discovered to be psychoactive in 1943. It would reach peak popularity as a street drug in the 60’s and by 1968 it became illegal to possess. Hallucinogens produce quite a complex experience that affects the physical sense, the mind, and alter the mood. These experiences, often described as psychedelic, have been experienced as spiritual journeys and used as a form of medical treatment since ancient cultures first discovered their potential. The enormous spiritual and cultural importance has protected the substance Peyote (Mescaline) for exclusively the Native American Church in the USA (Robins, 1996). But no other substance has the same protection though have held heavy cultural and spiritual importance. LSD is one of those substances, it is a semi-synthetic substance, classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, and ramifications for possession are similar to those of highly addicting and dangerous substances like Heroin. This classification has drawn controversy, but there are two sides to every tale, this is a substance of remarkable potential for both euphoria and hell. It is safe to say LSD creates unpredictable experiences, and much remains unknown about this heavily criminalized substance.
Amy Tan is a Chinese-American author. She had become Americanized, according to her mother, who still held traditional Chinese values. They fought sometimes, just as the women and daughters of The Joy Luck Club, over who was right and who was wrong regarding many problems they encountered. Tan most likely modeled The Joy Luck Club after her relationship with her mother. She even dedicated the novel “To my mother and the memory of her mother. You asked me once what I wo...
Once Waverly begins to become a chess master, the mother is entering unchartered waters. There is a source of success, something that she has never experienced before. Waverly's mother has this sick and twisted belief that it is herself instead of Waverly as the true source of success.
Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club describes the lives of first and second generation Chinese families, particularly mothers and daughters. Surprisingly The Joy Luck Club and, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts are very similar. They both talk of mothers and daughters in these books and try to find themselves culturally. Among the barriers that must be overcome are those of language, beliefs and customs.
...ws us that for young women to understand themselves they must understand their mothers. The mother daughter relationship in The Joy Luck Club is illustrated through a learning process especially in Waverly and Jing-Mei’s situations. Each women has to learn though her mother and her own feelings what it is like to become Chinese because that is basically what this book’s theme is. Through the novel the women are developing mentally through experience some positive and some negative. Each women finds herself through her mother and comes to peace with themselves
Some hallucinogens occur naturally in trees, vines, seeds, fungi and leaves. Others are made in laboratories by mixing different chemical substances. LSD or acid is one of the most common, well-known hallucinogens. Psilocin or Psilocybin mushrooms, Mescaline or Peyote, MDMA, Bufotenine, Morning Glory seeds, Jimson weed, PCP and DMT are less common psychedelics with effects similar to LSD. PCP and Ketamine are drugs with hallucinogenic properties. Some drugs, such as cannabis, can cause hallucinogen-like effects when used in high doses or in certain ways. Using hallucinogens is often called tripping. In its pure form LSD is a white, odorless powder. This pure form is very strong, so LSD is usually mixed with other things to make the dose large enough to take. LSD comes in the form as liquids, tablets, capsules or squares of gelatin or blotting paper. LSD use can have many effects. These may include sleeplessness, trembling, and raised heart rate, and blood pressure. LSD users may feel several emotions at once (including extreme terror), and their senses may seem to get crossed, giving the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. Even a tiny speck of LSD can trigger these effects. Many LSD users have flashbacks; sudden repetitions of their LSD experiences, days or months after they stop using the drug.
course, I don’t. But I try to keep myself active as much as possible and put in several hours a