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Symbolism in a pair of tickets by amy tan
Symbolism in a pair of tickets by amy tan
Major themes of the joy luck club
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From Dreams and Wishes to Reality
The passage “A Pair of Tickets” written by Amy Tan, presents the idea or theme of belonging somewhere. In this passage Jing-mei yearns to find the “Chinese side” of herself. She feels as if she has never had one or lost it along the way of her journey in life. However Jing-mei finds it on a trip to China she will never forget. Tan really emphasized how lost Jing Mei was in the beginning of this passage, a joyful tone was also emphasized in this passage.
For instance, Jing-mei was heartbroken because the daughters of her mother (Jing-Mei’s two half twin sisters) whom she left in China during the war, where not aware that their mother had died. Although in the long run Jing-mei finds herself and her “Chinese side”. Both in this passage and The Joy Luck Club as whole provided a message that the road to finding yourself and reaching your goals will
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not be easy but will be worth it. In this passage Tan portrays Jing-mei as very sad and lonely after her mother had died. It’s as if when her mother died she lost the side of her that was Chinese. She wished she knew more about her heritage, all hope was lost. Until however, when she got the letter from her half-sisters in China I would like to think that a little glimmer of hope lit inside her heart. When she got the letter she sent back a Polaroid photo with a letter stating they were sorry and that their mother whom they never got to meet but were hoping to had died several months before. At this point in the passage Jing-mei thought that her sisters would hate her and think she was reason that their mother had died. However, the total opposite had happened the two daughters waved and rushed toward Jing-mei with welcome and open arms. Wiping one another’s tears and embracing each other. Even though they had only met once the twins seemed extremely familiar but she saw no trace of her mother in their faces. One of the twins said proudly “Meimei jandale,” “Little sister has grown up” and instantly they say that of her as if they had been reunited after many years but in a way they were. Jing-mei’s father took a Polaroid picture of them they waited as it developed and as the picture grew from dark to bright colors.
In a way the Polaroid represents Jing-mei’s life before the day she met her sisters her life was dark, gloomy, and she didn’t know who she was until that day. In that Polaroid was the key to her past, to her “Chinese side”. When she was with her sisters Tan wrote that she felt that she had her “Chinese side” all along that it was in her blood along, like as if it was finally released.
When the Polaroid finally developed they were all silent and frozen. They all saw the same thing, they saw their mother, and they all looked complete. Jing-mei felt that separate that she was incomplete without her sisters even though they had just met. She also felt that all three sisters were all puzzle pieces didn’t fit anywhere else but together fit perfectly. The moment Jing-mei saw her sisters something instantly clicked, like they connected just like that. The two sisters refer to Jing-mei as “little sister” with no hesitation as if that’s the way it’s been all
along. It amazes me how instantly they clicked and how when they met in the airport they acted as if it was a reunion. Three strangers embracing each other wiping tears off of each other’s knowing nothing about the other person, but at the same time they knew everything. And all they knew is that each one was the only living remnant of their very recently late mother. That’s all they needed to know. So of course they would cling to each other and embrace each other. This passage ends “The Joy Luck Club” with a happy and heartwarming story. The whole book was filled with ups and downs and it was basically a rollercoaster of emotions. From deaths, to victories, abandonments to being found, and finding yourself this book touches all corners of the spectrum. The Joy Luck Club emphasizes that no only blood can be family but also those who you surround yourself with can be your family and that remembering your heritage and where you have come from is always important.
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.
Amy Tan's "A Pair of Tickets," especially, explores the relationship of setting to place, heritage, and ethnic identity. Jing-Mei Woo, the main character, has trouble accepting that she is Chinese, despite her heritage. Jing-Mei Woo believed, at fifteen, that she had no Chinese whatsoever below her skin. If anything, she perceives herself as Caucasian; even her Caucasian friends agreed that she "was as Chinese as they were." Her mother, however, told her differently, "It's in your blood, waiting to be let go."
As she gets off the train, Jing-mei starts to describe her surroundings once again. For example, she describes Guangzhou as “The landscape has become gray, filled with low flat cement buildings, old factories, and then tracks and more tracks filled with trains like ours passing by in the opposite direction. I see platforms crowded with people wearing drab Western clothes, with spots of bright colors: little children wearing pink and yellow, red and peach” (266). The colors mentioned go along with how Jing-mei described her mother wearing clothes that do not go well together. The colors are bright, much brighter than the colors she saw on the train. It could mean that she is getting closer to her mother by seeing her in other people in China. However, Jing-mei has not fully embraced her roots, which is understandable since that side of her has only just awoken. Again, Jing-mei is questioning herself when she and her father are going through customs. For example, she describes the long lines as “getting on a number 30 Stockton bus in San Francisco” (266). Immediately after making that connection, Jing-mei reminds herself “I am in China. I remind myself. And somehow the crowds don’t bother me. It feels right” (266). Jing-mei is allowing herself to drift away to what is comfortable. Reminding herself that she is in China, she begins to feel at peace and that it feels
... and in her hurry to get away, she (falls) before she even reach(s) the corner,” (87). This foreshadows the relationship between the mothers and daughters in The Joy Luck Club. The daughters can not understand the reasoning behind their mothers’ decisions. However, the mothers realize their daughters are so much like them and they do not want this to happen. The daughters grow up being “Americanized,” but as they grow older they begin to want to understand their Chinese culture. All of the characters learned many valuable lessons that will be passed on to their own children.
In the story "A Pair of Tickets," by Amy Tan, a woman by the name of Jing-mei struggles with her identity as a Chinese female. Throughout her childhood, she "vigorously denied" (857) that she had any Chinese under her skin. Then her mother dies when Jing-Mei is in her 30's, and only three months after her father receives a letter from her twin daughters, Jing-Mei's half sisters. It is when Jing-mei hears her sisters are alive, that she and her dad take a trip overseas to meet her relatives and finally unites with her sisters. This story focuses on a woman's philosophical struggle to accept her true identity.
Just as Jing-Mei found what made her Chinese, Lindo discovered what made her American. "I was so much like my mother. She did not see how my face changed over the years. How my eyes began following the American way"(293). She is a mixture, no longer one hundred percent Chinese, yet she has held her culture with her throughout her life in America. "Not only traditional and not only modern, not just Chinese and not just American, but Chinese-American"(Reece). This is the same discovery that Waverly and Jing-Mei come to, they finally understand were their mother's have come from and the history brought with them from far away. And the mother's best intentions are no longer like the illusive mountains covered in fog, left in China.
“The minute our train leaves the Hong Kong border and enters Shenzhen, China, I feel different. I can feel the skin on my forehead tingling, my blood rushing through a new course, my bones aching with a familiar old pain. And I think, my mother was right. I am becoming Chinese. (179). In the story A Pair of Tickets by Amy Tan, the protagonist character, Jing-mei, finds herself in several difficult situations due to how her social and cultural upbringing has shaped her. She finds herself pulled between her Chinese DNA and her American background. While she was raised being told that she was Chinese and “it’s in her blood”, she does not identify as such, because she grew up in America and only sees herself as an American. After her mother’s passing,
... her own person and wanting only to be accepted for who she is and not who she could be. Even though the argument was never discussed it still haunted Jing-mei. That is why Jing-mei was surprised when her mother offered her the piano for her thirtieth birthday, she took it as a sign of forgiveness.
As the daughter mature, they begin to feel that their identities are incomplete and become interested in their Chinese heritage. One of Jing-mei’s greatest fears about her trip to China is not that others will recognize her as American, but that she herself will fail to recognize any Chinese elements within herself. Waverly speaks wishfully about blending in too well in China now that it’s in fashion, Waverly likes to think that being Chinese is part of her identity, and doesn’t appreciate it when her mom points out how American Waverly.
In the beginning, Jing-mei, is “just as excited as my mother,”(469). Jing-mei was eagerly hoping to make her mother proud. However, her mother’s obsession with becoming a prodigy discouraged Jing-mei. The daily test began to aggravated Jing-mei because they made her feel less sma...
Jing-Mei tries to live up to her mother’s expectations but feels that her mother expects more from her than she can deliver. She doesn’t understand why her mother is always trying to change her and won’t accept her for who she is. She feels pressure from her family when she is compared to her cousin Waverly and all her accomplishments. Soon the conflict grows to resentment as her mother tests her daily on academics, eventually causing Jing-Mei to give up while her mother struggles to get her attention and cooperation. Her mother avoids arguing with her daughter early in the story, continuing to encourage her to strive for fame. Her mother’s next assignment for her daughter is piano lessons. This goes along pretty well until her mother forces her to participate in a talent show. The daughter’s failure on her performance at the talent show causes embarrassment to her mother. Conflict is evident when two days later, after the talent show, she reminds her daughter that it’s time for piano practice and the daughter refuses to obey her mother. The conflict that the daughter feels boils over in an outburst of anger and resentment towards her mother for trying to make her something that she is not. Harsh words are spoken causing the mother to retreat and not speak of this event ever
The movie, The Joy Luck Club, focuses around the lives of four Chinese mothers and their Chinese-American daughters. The story takes place a few months after Junes mother, Suyuan has died. The mothers and daughters hold very different principles, where the mothers are still very traditional to their Chinese upbringings the daughters are much more “American.” The movie can be viewed from the Feminist Literary Theory, since the 8 main characters are female. The women’s life stories are told through a series of flashback scenes that deal heavily with female gender roles and the expectations of women. While the mothers and their daughter grew up in vastly different worlds, some of their experiences and circumstances correlate solely due to that fact that they experienced them because they are females.
The struggle of self identity as she realized that all this while, her mother was right. Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel and think Chinese. Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets” presents an incredibly interesting perspective of a woman named Jing mei who is traveling through her native country of china, embarks on this journey of self-discovery to find her true chinese roots. The opening scene of "A Pair of Tickets" is an appropriate setting for Jing mei remark of becoming Chinese, because the introduction grabs the audience attention. We are first starting out in the story as reading Jing mei turning from American to Chinese in an instant second of the moving of a train from one city to the next. The narrator
...ot help but be torn by the strife and struggle the people of Fengjie are forced to accept as a convention on the mantel of normal behavior.
The Joy Luck Club is the telling of a tale of struggle by four mothers and their four daughters trying to understand the issue of gender identity, how they each discover or lose their sense of self and what they mean to one another. Throughout the book each of the mothers works hard at teaching their daughters the virtues of Chinese wisdom while allowing the opportunities of American life. They try passing on a piece of themselves despite the great barriers that are built between the women. Each of the stories gives a wonderful glimpse into the Chinese culture and heritage that the mothers are trying to reveal to their daughters through the use of festivals, food dishes, marriage ceremonies, and the raising of children, essentially their past experiences.