Joy Luck Club

A detailed Summary of Joy Luck Club

Is it fair to judge someone by their sex? In traditional Chinese culture, many judgments were made about a person just by observing their sex. The women was looked upon as an inferior being. They had little or no status in society, and little was expected from them. They were discriminated against when they tried to stand up for themselves. Chinese culture was customarily male dominated. The male was expected to do most of the work, and the woman was expected to stay at home with their mouth shut. This custom leaves an unwelcome feeling in a woman's heart. They feel like nobody cares, and it makes it much harder to live with an optimistic view on life. In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, Ann-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying Ying St. Clair are all women who grow up in a traditional China, where there is sexism. They deal with serious problems that corrupt their lives. Through perseverance and the passing of time their lives return to normal. Ann-Mei, Lindo, and Ying Ying subjugated by males because of their sex, and Chinese tradition.

Ann-Mei is oppressed in many ways. Her mother is invited to spend time at the home of a wealthy merchant named Wu Tsing. During the night he comes into Ann-Mei's mother's

Ying Ying St. Clair's life suggests a lack of honor for the female. As a sixteen year old, she attends the festivities after her aunt's wedding. There, a man plunges a knife through a watermelon, symbolizing the loss of virginity. This is a sign of profound discourtesy. A man who treats a woman like this and gets away with it is very cruel. Something is wrong with society, if it allows gestures like this to go on unnoticed at a public party. This taunt deeply hurt Ying Ying, but her strength helped her overcome its pain. Later, she married this man. He began going on business trips to the north. Ying Ying came to know he was leaving her to live with an opera singer. "That I [Ying Ying] thought of throwing myself into the lake like the other ladies of shame. And I will tell her [Lena] of the baby I killed because I came to hate this man so much". This shows how badly this man made Ying Ying feel. He pledged love to her, but it showed that he undervalued Ying Ying once he left. Ying Ying was unable to really ever love again. Lena became involved in a terrible marriage also. She subordinated her spirit to her husband, and she bitterly resents his domination over her. She can do nothing to stop this, because that Chinese culture calls for male domination. Ying Ying's life as a female was poor because how males treated her was accepted by Chinese society.

The story of Lindo Jong allegorizes how women were discriminated against. At the very young age of twelve, Lindo is betrothed

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1017
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English