The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, describes the lives of four Asian women who fled China in the 1940s and their four extremely Americanized daughters. Throughout this novel, similarities and differences are shown between the mother and daughter pairs. In addition, the mothers and daughters reveal important messages and themes that the author, Tan, tries to express through these similarities and differences of the pairings. The novel also reveals messages and themes through the difficulties the pairings have in their relationships or personal lives. The mother and daughter pairing of Lindo Jong and Waverly Jong is the pairing that will be analyzed. The first chapter of the Jong mother/ daughter pairing is called “The Red Candle,” in …show more content…
the point of view of the mother, Lindo. Lindo was promised, at a young age, to Tyan- yu. When Lindo was twelve, her house was severely damaged by a flood and the family moved to another village. Lindo, however, went to live with Tyan-yu’s family, where she was treated as a servant. At age sixteen, Lindo was married. On her wedding day, Lindo was filled with hopelessness at the thought of a life spent in pursuit of someone else’s happiness. Lost in hopelessness, she noticed the strong wind and realized that she was strong as well. She decided to honor her parents’ promise, but to do as much for her own happiness as she could. According to custom, the matchmaker arranged for the couple to have a red candle marked with Lindo’s name on one end, and Tyan-yu’s on the other. The red candle had a wick at both ends and if the candle burned until dawn without either Hass 2 end extinguishing prematurely, the marriage would be declared imperishable. The night of her wedding, Lindo, who was walking in the courtyard, went into the room and blew out Tyan-yu’s end of the candle. Lindo found a way out of the marriage, she told Taitai that her ancestors came to her in a dream and said Tyan-yu would die if he stayed in the marriage. Lindo then convinced Taitai that the ancestors had planted the seed of Tyan- yu’s child into the womb of a servant girl, secretly of imperial lineage, who was Tyan- yu’s “true spiritual wife.” The marriage between Tyan-yu and Lindo ended, and Lindo immigrated to America. “Rules of the Game” is the next chapter in the Jong mother/ daughter pairing, however, it is told from the point of view of Waverly Jong, the daughter. Lindo’s daughter Waverly Jong states that when she was six, her mother taught her “the art of invisible strength,” a lesson that helped her become a child chess prodigy (Tan 89). She then began the story of how her talent emerged. Waverly closely studied chess strategy guides from the library and she learned that the game hinged on invisible strength in the form of traps and foresight. She played in tournaments and by the age of nine she had become a national champion. Lindo took great pride in her daughter’s talent, she also made use of Waverly to feed her own self-pride. She would force Waverly to come to the market with her, presenting her to others. One day, Waverly yelled at her and ran off; when she returned later, Lindo said that because Waverly had no concern for her family, the family would have no concern for her. Waverly went into her room, laid down and envisioned a chess game in which her mother was her opponent. Lindo’s pieces were advancing and pushed Waverly’s pieces off. Hass 3 The next chapter that consists of Waverly’s point of view is called “Four Directions.” Waverly Jong wants to tell her mother that she is engaged to her boyfriend, Rich. Although every time Waverly mentions Rich, Lindo changes the subject. Waverly invites Lindo to her apartment to show her the mink coat Rich gave her. Her apartment is littered with Rich’s belongings, so Waverly knows that Lindo cannot ignore the seriousness of the relationship, but Lindo says nothing. Next, Waverly returns to the story that she began in “Rules of the Game,” the story of her being a chess prodigy and her disagreement with Lindo over Lindo’s constant bragging. Waverly decided to quit chess temporarily; she initiated the break by purposefully missing a tournament. Although Waverly had meant to hurt Lindo by missing the event, Lindo was not upset and Waverly suffered alone. Waverly broke the silence to tell Lindo that she had decided to play again, although she expected her mother to react happily, Lindo was critical and told Waverly that it is not so easy to quit and begin again. Next, Waverly lost her next tournament and other defeats followed. At age fourteen, Waverly gave up chess entirely. Next, Waverly describes her first husband, Marvin. Lindo used to criticize him, and Waverly feels that this criticism poisoned her marriage, as it caused her to see only Marvin’s faults and now fears that Lindo will spoil her marriage to Rich in the same way. Waverly brings Rich to dinner at her mother’s house, intending to break the news, however, Rich unintentionally commits several mistakes during dinner, so Waverly does not mention marriage. The next day, Lindo reveals that she has known all along about the engagement, and she expresses surprise at Waverly’s assumption that she hates Rich. Waverly realizes that she has misunderstood her mother for a long time. Hass 4 The last chapter of the mother/ daughter pair of Lindo and Waverly Jong is called “Double Face,” this chapter is told in Lindo’s point of view. Lindo Jong discusses with Waverly her wedding and honeymoon to China. To Lindo, Waverly has expressed her fear that she will blend in so well with the Chinese that she won’t be allowed to return to America. When Lindo replies that the Chinese will know Waverly is American before she even opens her mouth, Waverly is upset and disappointed. Lindo reproaches herself for having tried to make her daughter half Chinese and half American, when she considers such a combination impossible. Before her wedding, Waverly takes Lindo to her hair stylist, Mr. Rory. When Mr. Rory notes that Lindo and Waverly resemble one another, Lindo smiles a true smile while Waverly’s mouth narrows. When Mr. Rory hurries away, Lindo ponders the resemblance in the mirror. In addition, Lindo remembers herself and her own mother comparing their features. When she first came to San Francisco, she worked in a fortune-cookie factory, where she met An-mei Hsu.
An-mei introduced her to Tin Jong, Lindo’s future second husband. While pregnant with Waverly, Lindo bumped her nose on the bus, making it crooked. She suspects that the crooked nose damaged her thinking, for when Waverly was born, Lindo saw how closely she resembled her and feared that Waverly’s life path would resemble her own. She then named her Waverly, after the street they lived on, to let her know that America was where she belonged. She knew that by naming her daughter after their street, she was taking the first step in making her American, alienating her daughter from herself. In the beauty parlor mirror, Lindo notices that Waverly’s nose is crooked like her own and she urges her daughter to get cosmetic surgery, but Waverly laughs because she is pleased to share this feature with Lindo. She says she thinks it makes them look devious and Lindo Hass 5 thinks about the two faces both women share, and wonders which is American and which is Chinese. The mother/ daughter pair of Lindo and Waverly Jong has many similarities and differences in personality. One example of a difference between mother and daughter
is in the chapter “Rules of the Game.” As a chess prodigy, Waverly was always confident in her skills and as for her mother, she was the one bragging about her daughter’s skills. After winning several games, Waverly started to see her mother always showing off Waverly’s skills and trying to get credit for them. Waverly only sees her mother as her competitor; however, Lindo was only trying to show how wonderful her daughter was and didn’t have any intention of embarrassing her daughter. “ Her black men advanced across the plane, slowly marching to each successive level as a single unit. My white pieces screamed as they scurried and fell off the board one by one…I closed my eyes and pondered my next move (101). This misunderstanding led both Waverly and Lindo to have different perspectives. Another example of the differences between Waverly and Lindo is in the chapter “Four Directions.” In the beginning of the chapter at lunch, Waverly describes herself as “…a Rabbit, born in 1951, supposedly sensitive, with tendencies toward being thin-skinned and skitter at the first sign of criticism” (167). While Waverly is a rabbit, Lindo is a horse, “…destined to be obstinate and frank to the point of tactlessness” (167).
knowing that she needed to do something to support her child. After the war, she
To begin, Charlotte and The Mother from “Borders” have both struggled with society trying to shape them into a certain type of person. Charlotte has always tried to conform to what her mother wanted since she was you. She would “...obey all rules without question or argument.” (pg.226) when it came to her mother. As she got older she began to realize that thing can be done different ways then what her mother wanted. The Mother from “Borders” has a similar problem as Charlotte. She is a proud Blackfoot citizen living in Canada but doesn't consider herself a Canadian. While she is going to visit her Daughter in Salt Lake City she must cross the border. While at the border the guard asks her about her citizenship. She answered with Blackfoot; that wasn't the answer the guard was looking for. The guard tells her “...you
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Amy Tan 's novel, The Joy Luck Club, explores the relationships and experiences of four Chinese mothers with that of their four Chinese-American daughters. The differences in the upbringing of those women born around the 1920’s in China, and their daughters born in California in the 80’s, is undeniable. The relationships between the two are difficult due to lack of understanding and the considerable amount of barriers that exist between them.
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.
influence all her life and struggles to accept her true identity. Through the story you can
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.
“When we got the letter in the post, my mother was ecstatic.”(Cass 1). This the first line of the book that I read called The Selection by Kiera Cass, which is the perfect way to start this dramatic story of America Singer. America Singer lives in a world built with castes, in which she and her family are fives out of eight castes. She gets a letter to enter The Selection, a competition for Prince Maxon’s heart. America’s name gets pulled and the next thing she knows, she is in the palace with 34 other girls. She goes on an emotional journey trying to decide if she wants to stay or go back home. I can easily evaluate that America has a lot of different thoughts running through her head right now. I found myself asking many questions such as
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...
she was pretty and that was everything” (225). This captivation with herself along with the constant looking in the mirrors and thinking her mother was only pestering her all the time because her mother’s own good looks were long gone by now (225) shows a sign of immaturity because she believes everything revolves around whether or not someo...
She is a seventeen year old in her prime who feels immortal because she has a long life to live, therefore decision making are not based on careful planning but emotions, peer pressure and fantasies. Risk taking from a teenager normally comes from poor judgement, why would America take the decision of leaving the comfort of her home to go to a country which is mainly travelled by the men in her town? Why did she leave with the most unlikely candidate, her brother-in-law? In adversity her first yearn was for her mother’s touch, her food and her home, the fragile little girl in her cries for a mother touch when times are hard because that’s what she is used to, mom handling the
Nancy Lee is very proud of who she is and where she comes from. Until the scholarship she received was taken away from her, she holds her head high as an African American and loves who she is and the country she lives in. Even after the scholarship is taken away from her she promises to make a difference in the world. As the pledge comes to an end and the words “one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” are spoken, Nancy Lee thinks to herself “That is the land we must make.” She keeps confide...
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.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as a maid. Vernita was so busy cleaning houses she didn’t have any time to take care of her daughter, Oprah. So she asked her mother Hattie Mae Lee, to take care of her. Hattie took Oprah under her own wing, and decided to raise her as if she was her own child on a farm in Wisconsin. Oprah and her grandmother would go to church ever...
Mother-Daughter Relationships in Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club In the Joy Luck Club, the author Amy Tan, focuses on mother-daughter relationships. She examines the lives of four women who emigrated from China, and the lives of four of their American-born daughters. The mothers: Suyuan Woo, An-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-Ying St. Clair had all experienced some life-changing horror before coming to America, and this has forever tainted their perspective on how they want their children raised.