The Joy Luck Club Research Paper

“America is the only country in the world where you can suffer culture shock without leaving home.” Humans rely on culture “with a side” of instinct for everything. When we remove ourselves from our culture we become disoriented -we get culture shocked.

As a result cultures collide and can causes conflict in many different ways. Novels and movies depict characters caught between colliding cultures. The Joy Luck Club, illustrates this idea with stories of Chineses woman living in San Francisco, describing past memories that show the uniqueness of american influence on chinese culture. As well as, the theme of the complex interactions between mother and daughter. In some stories coming to america benefited them as an escape from their life

in China. When Suyuan Woo fled to america before the japanese invaded kwelin.Then, later when Lindo Jong, got money from the family that she was forced to marry to go to america.
However, in some circumstances the colliding of american and chinese did not mix well. For example, referring back to Lindo Jong she felt that even though America was an escape for her she felt that she failed at teaching her daughter “ american circumstances and chinese character.” That “ Only her skin and hair was Chinese. Inside-she is all American-made.” That being surrounded by both cultures ended up turning into a different direction then the one she wanted. Her daughter classified herself as American rather than Chinese.
Colliding cultures and becoming completely immersed in someone else's lifestyle come with pros and cons. It can impact someone in way they never imagined but also could cause then to not fit in, in the place they are. We can learn from these experiences and use them to better ourselves.