Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, is a book that compiles stories of the lives of Chinese women that were raised in China and became American citizens. These women formed the "Joy Luck Club," which was a small group that discussed their homeland and troubles, but still enjoying the treasures of food and each other's company. Each section of the book is written from the point of view of the character. The book continues on with the stories of these women's daughters, telling stories of their lives being raised by mothers who were immigrants, and dissolving into American society. Chinese mothers try to pass on their values, instincts, and intuitiveness on to the second generation. Great fortune has come to the members of the Joy Luck Club through their hardships, and they only want their daughters to understand what it takes to succeed in life. The Joy Luck Club ladies were all friends who over time have formed blissful lives for themselves in America. All of the daughters in this book were raised with high expectations, even the mothers while they were in China. This is contrary to an overall idea that girls in China were not a great commodity to their parents. Each member of the Joy Luck Club was a mother that
The mothers in the Joy Luck Club continue their mission to have near perfection in the lives of their daughters. In a typical Chinese mother way, Ying-Ying St. Clair criticizes her daughter even after she is grown and has a successful career. Ying-Ying says her guestroom has "walls close in like a coffin." (275) She thinks her daughter's life, as an architect, is modern and foolish. A Chinese mother is not easily pleased. Nevertheless, this is admitted so. A second generation's life should be different, far different from times in China when a girl was told she should "stand still" simply because she was a statuesque future wife for some wealthy man (70). Though the struggles of the two generations may be different, Ying-Ying saw that in these two faces was "the same happiness, the same sadness, the same good fortune, and the same faults." (159) only wanted their own daughters to understand why they should be respectful of their Chinese culture and grateful for their American opportunities. Waverly Jong, daughter of Lindo, was raised in Chinatown and her mother taught many lessons to "raise them out of circumstances." (Tan, 90) Lindo thought the best combination was " American circumstances and Chinese character." (259) The women of the Joy Luck Club were competitive amongst each other when it came to their children's successes. Jei-Mei (June) Woo's mother wanted her to be a chess prodigy like Waverly Jong, or become a
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Approximate Word count = 965
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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