Mother Daughter Relationships - Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

Mothers and Daughters in The Joy Luck Club

Although mothers and daughters are genetically related, sometimes they seem like complete strangers. When immigrants raise their children in America, there is a great concern for these parents that American culture will negatively affect their children. In the novel, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, four mothers try to instill their Asian culture into their daughters' lifestyle; however, these daughters rebel against them, due to their desire to assimilate themselves into American culture.

Early in the novel, the Joy Luck Club members discuss the different types of mah jong; it is then that Jing Mei realizes how oppositely she and her mother spoke to one another. While these women are explaining the differences in Chinese and Jewish mah jong, Jing Mei plays back the conversations that she and her mother used to have regarding the same topic. During their talks, her mother indirectly attempted to have her daughter keep her Asian culture a part of her daily lifestyle. One way was through Suayan's snappish tone, used when describing the lesser style, Jewish mah jong, with no logical explanation. Jing Mei assumed that this negativity was simply because of its ethnicity being unlike the Chinese way. Despite her mother's wishes, Jing Mei played Jewish mah jong with her friend's (22). Another roundabout manner Suayan avidly sought to keep the Asian tradition in her daughter's lifestyle was Suayan's refusal to speak to her daughter in English. Jing Mei's rebellion was similarly apparent when she continued to speak in a subdued tone in English while her mother spoke in Chinese.

Later on in the novel, Waverly and her mother, Lindo, are at odds with each other over a simple haircut. Lindo is annoyed by Waverly's haircut because it does not resemble a traditional Asian hairstyle; rather it looks "chopped off," and that Waverly should "ask for {her} money back (182). Waverly, on the other hand, loves it because it looks fashionably American (182). Knowing it would infuriate her mother, Waverly rebels regardless because it was more important to look "hip" than to please her mother.

Towards the end of the novel, Waverly and her mother conflict over whether Waverly, as a young woman, will be accepted in China since she has been able to "walk out the door by herself and go to school," she has chosen not to follow her mother's Chinese ways (289).