Joy Luck Club Culture

Family connections require communication in order to strengthen emotional connections. Amy Tan, author of Joy Luck Club, demonstrates the value of family bonds throughout all of her novels. While writing, Tan considers personal struggles respecting Chinese culture and adopting American culture. Although fictional, Tan implements personal experiences while writing realistic circumstances in The Joy Luck Club. Tan’s characters experience traumas typically common within immigrant families, rather than unrelatable scenarios. Much like real life, Tan illustrates the disconnect between generations of Chinese mothers and American-raised daughters. When Tan describes her writing of her story, she explains, “The question is always related to my life,

so that’s autobiographical in a sense. Then there’s an image, which is often something from my life or something my mother talked about in a story to me [...] that’s all from my life” (Leahy).

Utilizing her own experiences and culture when writing places emphasis on the importance of understanding the value of history through elder generations. Understanding the division that takes place between immigrants and their native-born children allows Tan the chance to share her stories with the readers. Supporting evidence towards contrasting cultures, states, “this discontinuity, however, may give the reader a glimmer of confusion ethnic minorities in the United States feel, or perhaps a sense of disconnection between the families” (Stoeckl). The challenges in upholding ideal Chinese tradition and adopting American culture are only a few of the minor details Chinese-American children face after immigration. When analyzing realism and humanity’s disconnect in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, communication reveals differences between generations and

culture.
The Joy Luck Club is a story about Chinese immigrants’ adjustment to American life while upholding traditional ideals. The club, created by outcast mothers, spark stories of pride and history while sharing personal fortunes and ambitions. When creating this conglomerate immigrant club, the older generations “could sense that the women of these families also had unspeakable tragedies that they had left behind in China and hopes they couldn’t begin to express in fragile English [...] and she saw how quickly their eyes moved when she told them her idea for the Joy Luck Club” (Tan 7). The club originated from a time of pain in light of a better future. Although the intentions of the meetings suggest sparking ideas of positivity, hardships often surfaced during this club. With goals of a positive atmosphere, the group ultimately resulted in dissecting each individual’s crisis. Each mahjong player part of the club and their daughter had a story to tell. “Tan’s intermingling of the stories [...] allows the reader to note from multiple perspectives how the emotional dynamic that binds mother and daughter plays out in the day-by-day interactions and at different intervals in their lives” (Bloom). Each individual woman shares a perspective per chapter; therefore, various opinions are provided. Unfortunately, these individual narratives are unspoken and frequently lead to disconnect between friendships and family. Discord among the families originates from various generations not communicating desires and expectations. Traditionally, when the Joy Luck Club meets after the death of a member, a daughter must fill the position. The generational replacement is the first revelation and exposure to problems existing. Tan emphasizes the disconnect of all mother and daughter’s relationships, where they “never really understood one another. We translated each other’s meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard more” (Tan 27). Each daughter divulged misperceptions occurring within each household. Hidden failed expectations and immeasurable pressures surfaced for the daughters; whereas, Mother’s share regrets and differences in societal expectations. Humanity struggles to express personal expectations and impressions as displayed by Tan’s fictional immigrant families.
Familial ignorance occurs due to disconnection’s presence. The death of Suyuan Woo became the first initial symbol for opportunity; therefore, in death, communication had to take place within the families. Mortality reminds others life can end before problems and secrets are resolved. Communication and confessions are a necessity before parting from family. As the youth speaking to older generations, she recognized the divide between generations mindsets. “They are frightened. In me, they see their own daughters, just as ignorant, just as unmindful to all of the truths and hopes they have brought to America. [...] They see daughters who will bear grandchildren born without any connecting hope passed from generation to generation” (Tan 31). The younger generations are unaware of mother’s best intentions. These American born children lost the culture their mother’s desired to preserve. The legacies projected on Jing-Mei, reflect what all mothers wish for their kin. Older generations aim for further improvement and better lives to thrive per generation passing on; however, immigrant families commonly share concern for children’s lack of respect to heritage’s culture when accepting the American way of life. These diversities and the lack of explanations create tension between disconnected family members. For instance, “Tan sets up the idea of continuity between the generations, of the importance of sharing emotional heritage, and “suggest[s] strongly a journey of maturity, ethnic awakening, and return-to-home” (Stoeckl). Parents desire a separation between current residence and the homeland; whereas, children blend environmental expectations. With communication, the desire for comprehending diversities can be reality. Understanding various perspectives enables the advancement of appreciation for cultural and generational respect. For example, Jing-Mei, a daughter once aware of these opposing ideas, visits her mother’s homeland to visit past relatives and understand her culture’s “different world”. Jing-Mei overcame the gap between generational and cultural disconnect. She proves shying from confrontation limits the comprehension one achieves from intergenerational communication. The immediate response to avoid undesired atmospheres is not the response that will solve disconnect, but rather increases disconnect’s tension.
Disconnect only furthers confusion and stunts relationships.

Miscommunication and misconstrued intentions can happen when familial divides are prominent. Highlighting this concept, Tan states, “for a long time now the woman wanted to give her daughter the single swan feather and tell her, ‘This feather may look worthless, but it comes for afar and carries with it all of my good intentions’” (Tan 3). All mother’s contain aspirations reflecting upon children, but detachment inhibits the immeasurable pressure felt from reaching children. However, the appearance of worthlessness may overshadow underlying ideals mothering generations seek. Providing the feather reveals love and care a mother longs to provide for her daughter, “the feather stands for the meaning of a mother’s life that she is desperate to convey to her daughter; the daughter, for her part, must, for reasons of her own, turn away and retreat” (Bloom). The tale demonstrates disconnect’s challenges as one may initiate conversation, whereas, another speaker may shut down. Truthful to humanity, people miss the “feather” of hopes parents desire to share. The feather wives tale told, expresses a realistic circumstances all parents face when connecting with children. Furthermore, when displaying familial pride, “I will use the sharp pain to penetrate my daughter’s tough skin and cut her tiger spirit loose. She will fight me, because this is the nature of two tigers. But I will win and give her my spirit, because this is

the way a mother loves her daughter” (Tan 286). Despite anger between the St. Clair family, Ying-Ying offers her spirit to her daughter. Battling depression alone, this mother intends for her daughter’s success even as emotional distance separates the relationship. Interactions between the St. Clair family reveals humanity’s common hope; comparatively, most humans sacrifice for family. For those who acknowledge sacrifices and communicate, receive familial blessings. Generational pride each mother has as they witness children’s development indicates, “the tragic beauty of maternal or filial sacrifice [...] asks us to believe that mothers who have been portrayed as destroyed by oppression, as having lost themselves, may yet bequeath to their daughters a useful legacy of strength and wisdom” (Bloom). Ying-Ying’s efforts in assisting her child demonstrate the positive impact communication has upon generations. She longs for the betterment of her child’s life while suffering personal hardships. Implementing discovery by communicating allows family members to be blessed through a respect for heritage. Separation between family members inhibits hopes, as well as increasing resentment between relatives.
Communication is the only solution to misconstrued communication. From the mother’s perspective, these children need to receive a better life in America, while maintaining the heritage of past generations. “And I wanted you to think, This is where I belong. But I also knew that if I named you after this street, soon you would grow up, leave this place, and take a piece of it with you” (Tan 303). When opening up to converse, the feeling of disconnect is replaced with feelings of belonging. The mothers are not ignorant towards problems arisen from immersion, but they seek for children’s active involvement in claiming past cultures. Holding fast to pieces of culture while balancing personal adjustments to the American life is every immigrant’s goal for their child. Unfortunately, “every mother and daughter ends up holding a bit of themselves from one another, and that can widen and widen into a deep gulf” (Snodgrass #1). In every relationship containing distance, Tan suggests the chasm is from withholding information from relatives. When solving spatial problems, society must communicate for the sake of resolving feelings of disconnect. Ties between kin will not divide despite distance; therefore, the only solution to weakened relations is communication. “In the spirited shuttling of the mah jong tiles, the oral sharing of wisdom and talk-story sustains the next generation with winnowings from the Chinese motherland” (Snodgrass #2). The Joy Luck Club’s realizations are forged from initial conversations while playing mah jong; further demonstrating, sharing and communicating must take place in favor of advancing. Tan’s immigrant parable encourages familial communication to release tension’s discord. Disconnect’s solution stems from communicating.
Tan wove together eight stories of Chinese-American culture conducive to teach the value of communication. Through the interpretation of culture and history, each mother’s individual longing for their children’s betterment and quality of life while maintaining respect for their homeland is shared. The children, Tan created, demonstrate lack of understanding through personal and cultural evolution and solitude from parental guidance. Tan’s writing style and intentions, remind humanity to reconnect with family in order to realign relationships and release tension. Without communication and an open mind to new information, families disconnect. Families enduring change, such as immigration, must communicate for the chance to sustain throughout cultural expectation and familial hardships. Humanity’s strains are relieved when solving disconnect.