The Joy Luck Club Essay

A detailed Summary of The Joy Luck Club Essay

The Generation Gap in The Joy Luck Club

"Hey, Ben, are you Japanese or Chinese?" I asked. His reply, as it seems to be for a lot of minority groups, was, "Neither, I'm Chinese-American." So, besides his American accent and a hyphenated ending on his answer to the SAT questionnaire about his ethnic background, what's the difference? In Amy Tan's captivating novel, The Joy Luck Club, I found out the answer to that question. Through the relationships and experiences of four Chinese mothers and four Chinese-American daughters, I was able to see a massive difference between their corresponding lifestyles. The generation gap of the women born during the first quarter of the century in China, and their daughters born in the American atmosphere of California, is a quality that doesn't exactly take a scientist to see.

From the beginning of the novel, we hear Suyuan Woo tell the story of "The Joy Luck Club," a group started by some Chinese women during World War II, where "we feasted, we laughed, we played games, lost and won, we told the best stories. And each week, we could hope to be lucky. That hope was our only joy." (p. 12) Really, this was their only joy. The mothers grew up during perilous times in C

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." (p. 289) The American-born daughters never grasped on to these traits, and as the book showed, they became completely different from their purely Chinese parents. They never gained a sense of real respect for their elders, or for their Chinese background, and in the end were completely different from what their parents planned them to be.

hina. They all were taught "to desire nothing, to swallow other people's misery, to eat [their] own bitterness." (p. 241) Though not many of them grew up terribly poor, they all had a certain respect for their elders, and for life itself. These Chinese mothers were all taught to be honorable, to the point of sacrificing their own lives to keep any family members' promise. Instead of their daughters, who "can promise to come to dinner, but if she wants to watch a favorite movie on TV, she no longer has a promise"

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lindo Jong, War II, St Clair, Luck Club, Club Chinese-American, I'm Chinese-American, luck club, Joy Luck, joy luck club, joy luck, Japanese Chinese, Suyuan Woo, Amy Tan's, chinese mothers, experiences chinese, generation gap, american circumstances, real unless, experiences chinese mothers, chinese character, respect elders,

Approximate Word count = 857
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

join now Save Paper

Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

"Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
Jack M.
"With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
Brian P.
"I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
Sara J.
"I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
Rachel W.
"I love this site!!!"
Marie N.

The Joy Luck Club Essay

Related Essays

Saved Paper

Newest Essays

Testimonials