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Personal values and their importance
Personal values and their importance
Personal values and their importance
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Culture is always a prevalent topic chosen by a number of film directors and also one of the key elements in the Joy Luck Club, which brings numerous conflicts between characters in the film. Briefly, the film is about the relation between four mother-daughter (Lindo - Waverly, Ying Ying - Lena, An mei - Rose, Suyuan - June) duos living in America. Four mothers were immigrants from China with tragic past and four daughters are American born and raised which makes them overwhelmed by American culture and oblivious of their root. In order to have a profound understanding about its cultural issues, this essay will mainly analyze the cultural dimensions of the movie. Outstanding cultural elements presented in the Joy Luck Club include the idea …show more content…
In individualistic culture, people are highly responsible for their own decisions or actions which are taken for their own sake not for the group or society’ sake. On the other hand, collectivist culture, every decisions or actions are taken based on family or group’s desire. This cultural idea is reflected in Waverly’s reaction to her mother when she presents Waverly the chess champion to everyone on the street. For Waverly, playing chess is exclusively her own talent that makes her stand out from the others. Waverly wants chess to be absolutely her own achievement which she had to pay by her own endeavor. Thus, she wants to receive the acknowledgement and compliment equivalent to her effort. She is also critical of her mother for taking credit for her success. It seems that in American culture, people greatly value recognition of success, more than that of any other cultures and people, and there is no exception to Waverly. Not satisfied with her mother’s action, she puts her discontent into the words: “Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, why don't you learn to play chess?”, Waverly aspires to recognition for her talent and success, which is typical of individualistic thinking. Contrary to American culture, individualism is not …show more content…
According to Koester and Lustig (2006), a high-context culture is “a culture which prefers to use high-context messages” in which “very little of its meaning is provided in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message”. In contrast, a low-context culture is the one in which information and meaning are conveyed clearly in the messages or communication. The clash of low-context and high-context culture in the film is when Waverly shows her mother, Lindo, the coat that Rich gave her and hints that Rich really cares about her. Contrary to the reaction that Waverly expects her mother to have, Lindo says that the coat is of bad quality with all leftover strips. Even when Waverly reproaches her mother that she should not criticize a gift, Lindo still criticizes the coat. It can be noticed that Waverly’s mother does not explicitly show that she is not approval of the relationship between her daughter and Rich but taking the coat as the implication to refer to. The coat looks in high quality and even is given with Rich’ sincere heart but for Lindo, it is not good enough as well as he is not good enough for Waverly. This example indicates the high-context communication style that is common to the mother, a traditional Chinese woman. Another scene in which this concept is displayed is in Waverly’s family dinner when Rich criticizes Lindo’s
She explains that there is no lasting shame in being born in America, and that as a minority you are the first in line for scholarships. Most importantly, she notes that "In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you (289).” Living in America, it was effortless for Waverly to accept American circumstances, simply because she was born into liberties of America without a true realization of what advantages she had gained effortlessly. Her mother was far less fortunate however, having struggled so hard to find her own independence while attempting to keep true to her cultural background. As a Chinese mother though, she also wanted her daughter to learn the importance of Chinese character. She tried to teach her Chinese-American daughter "How to obey parents and listen to your mother 's mind. How not to show your own thoughts, to put your feelings behind your face so you can take advantage of hidden opportunities . . . How to know your own worth and polish it, never flashing it around like a cheap ring
She doesn't face her problems or try to fix them. Waverly and her mother are constantly fighting and disagreeing with each other because of her mother's boastful pride. This conflict continues to build up until Waverly is no longer able to take it and runs away. When Waverly's mother boasts to others about Waverly's success in chess, Waverly "raced down the street, dashing between people, not looking back as [her] mother screamed shrilly" (Tan 23). This shows that Waverly runs away from her conflicts. Because her mother is so proud, she boasts to everyone about Waverly. This annoys Waverly because she feels embarrassed about her mother always showing her pride
... and good standing among her peers, and led her to ignore the real value of family and its heirlooms. It is obvious throughout the story that Wangero fails to see the value of family other than when they can provide when a convenient boost in her social status. Through Wangero’s ignorance, Alice Walker skillfully portrays what can happen when a person neglects to understand his heritage and latches onto a fabricated, popular culture to reconcile a misunderstanding of his own heritage. Wangero’s craving for peer attention leads her to commercialize invaluable family items that should never be looked at as a source of monetary or social gain.
When the Walls family gets a ride from a stranger after their vehicle breaks down on the highway. Jeannette is annoyed how the stranger keeps on uses and emphasizes the word poor on the Walls family. And that Jeannette is not accepting reality about her family being poor.
The Joy Luck Club is an emotional tale about four women who saw life as they had seen it back in China. Because the Chinese were very stereotypic, women were treated as second class citizens and were often abused. Through sad and painful experiences, these four women had tried to raise their daughters to live the American dream by giving them love and support, such things which were not available to them when they were young. These women revealed their individual accounts in narrative form as they relived it in their memories. These flashbacks transport us to the minds of these women and we see the events occur through their eyes. There were many conflicts and misunderstandings between the two generations due to their differences in upbringing and childhood. In the end, however, these conflicts would bring mother and daughter together to form a bond that would last forever.
An example of this is the lack of food that the children have throughout the novel. Due to the poor socioeconomic status of the family, Jeannette and her siblings never have food to take for their school lunches. This would have been understandable if the family had no means to make money, however, this is not the case. Jeannette says that she and Brian found a “genuine two-carat” diamond ring. Jeannette tells her mother that “…that ring could get us a lot of food“ (Walls 118). In response, Rose Mary says “That's true…but it could also improve my self-esteem. And at times like these, my self-esteem is even more vital than food” (Walls 118). Clearly, Rose Mary exhibits a selfish attitude and prioritizes her self-esteem over the needs of her family. If she had sold the diamond ring, a family which could not even afford to eat would be able to thrive. Evidently, by placing her own needs above those of the family, Rose Mary shows how she is willing to prioritize herself at the peril of her family. Contrastingly, Rex tends to put the children’s needs above his own. When the children need new beds, Jeannette says that he “built each of us a wooden box with sliding doors for personal stuff” along with the bunk beds (Walls 96). Moreover, he lets the children have the bedroom in Welch and resorts to sleeping on a
The Joy Luck Club, is a film that shows a powerful portrayal of four Chinese women and the lives of their children in America. The film presents the conflicting cultures between the United States and China, and how men treat women throughout their lives. People living in the United States usually take for granted their roles as a male or female. The culture of each country shapes the treatment one receives based on the sex of the individual. Gender roles shape this movie and allows people, specifically the United States, to see how gender are so crutcial in othe countries.
Since the story uses a certain object, the Jacket, as the meaning of several issues, it primarily focuses on the narrator's poverty-stricken family. First of all, an example of the poverty is demonstrated when the narrator complains that the jacket "was so ugly and big that I knew I'd have to wear it a long time"(paragraph 3). It is clear that his lack of money was a problem in which he would have to keep the jacket because he could not afford a new one. The narrator then feels embarrassed and upset by the jacket by stating "I blame my mother for her bad taste and cheap ways"(paragraph 10). By mentioning his mother's "cheap" ways he is conveying that he is aggravated because of his mothers option to choose bad and ugly clothes in ord...
Rose Mary is a selfish woman and decides not to go to school some mornings because she does not feel up to it. Jeannette takes the initiative in making sure that her mother is prepared for school each morning because she knows how much her family needs money. Even though Rose Mary starts to go to school every day, she does not do her job properly and thus the family suffers financially again. When Maureen’s birthday approaches, Jeannette takes it upon herself to find a gift for her because she does not think their parents will be able to provide her with one. Jeannette says, “at times I felt like I was failing Maureen, like I wasn’t keeping my promise that I’d protect her - the promise I’d made to her when I held her on the way home from the hospital after she’d been born. I couldn’t get her what she needed most- hot
Lindo, waverly's mother, grew up as a food and "perfect" child. She thought her daughter would be the same, but sadly for her she isn't. Because she believes she's her own person. Waverly feels as if her mother is being unreasonable for being against the marriage with rich shields. Lindo doesn't understand why her daughter is treating her like an enemy. Since they don't rake the time to listen to one another, a constant feud goes on among them.
This quote marks the beginning of Waverly’s journey as she discovers her chess talent. Despite this, Waverly fails to realize her mother’s important role in her success, “‘Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess’” (Tan 99). This quote shows Waverly’s immaturity and her inability to recognize her mother’s affection.
Although she may be book smart, she does not have any knowledge about her family history. On the other hand, her sister Maggie has no education but knows plenty about her family. Her new identity does not have true family value. This is why her new identity is self-centered and selfish. When she finds the quilts that she wants, she begs to her mother if she can have them. Wangero in a strong tone, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!” and saying “She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use”(Walker). This is significant in the text because Maggie would put the quilts to everyday use because she is proud of her culture and families previous history. On the other hand, Wangero would hang them up and keep them because they look
“Individualistic cultures, in the western-hemisphere, [such as the United States,] emphasize… personal identity and self-determination. Conformity is far less pervasive in individualistic societies because democratic choices and laissez-faire viewpoints are somewhat considered.”
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.
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.