In the 'Joy Luck Club', Amy Tan explores the central themes in the novel. The central themes in this novel are the lack of communication between the mothers and daughters, cultural differences (between China and America), mothers' critical (attitudes and expectations for daughters) and finally the change in relationships, (increased understandings). Throughout the novel there is always a great sense of tradition, with this comes many beliefs and superstitions. Mothers in each case always bring these superstitions and beliefs around.

One of the main themes in this novel is communication. There is a great lack of communication in nearly every single account. With this lack of communication between mother and daughter comes a great deal of misunderstandings. Since most of the mothers do not know English they cannot communicate with their husbands and daughters or sons easily. Therefore they cannot grasp the full meaning of what the mother is trying to say and people end up saying things for them.

I have noticed a communication problem in many of the stories. I have chosen to talk ab

However, Lindo fails to realize that she no longer has a 'truthful' face in some sense because she has both a Chinese face and an American face. When Mr. Rory, Waverly's hair stylist, comments that she and Waverly look alike, Lindo wears her Chinese face. Therefore, she subconsciously acknowledges that Waverly does have some aspects of Chinese character. Moreover, Waverly's comment that they are both two-faced brings Lindo to realize that American culture has marked her irrevocably. When she visited China, she wore Chinese clothing and used local currency, but the merchants and people knew that she was American. Her American face is not just a protective cover for her Chinese face. It has become part of her identity as an immigrant and it has left an indelible trace on her very being.

out Waverly and Lindo. Waverly's conflict with Lindo arose from Waverly's misunderstandings of her mother's pride in her achievements. Waverly wanted chess to be her domain. She felt that Lindo invaded her sphere by hovering over her while she practiced chess. She did not like the way Lindo showed her off because she felt that Lindo was stealing some of her 'wind,' so to speak. At the time, Waverly did not understand that her mother's pride functioned as an invisible support.

While Lindo thinks about her relationship with Waverly, she begins to think about her own identity. She lamented in an earlier story that American culture worked against inculcating Chinese character in her children. Before she immigrated to the United States, she thought that she would remain completely Chinese if she could find a way to hide her Chinese face. Since an American face is associated with sincerity, Lindo laments that Waverly does not have the truthful face she did.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lindo Waverly, Mothers' Critical, China America, Chinese English, Amy Tan, Moreover Waverly's, Lindo Waverly's, Lindo Lindo, Rory Waverly's, Lindo Rich, lack communication, lindo waverly, themes novel, waverly mother, central themes novel, central themes, expectations daughters, mothers' critical, mothers daughters, waverly understand, cultural differences, theme lack communication,
Approximate Word count = 1266
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)