Ying-Ying St.Clair and her daughter Lena St.Clair both grew up passive and quiet. They had a distrust in life, did not hear their own voices, and had to find themselves before helping each other. Ying-Ying grew up in a family where she had to keep her wishes to herself, after awhile, she just stopped wishing, there was no use for it. After she lost one son, and resorted to killing the other, she had no strength left to take care of Lena. So, Lena grew up in a quiet home with a depressed mother, and a clueless father, neither could communicate with each other. Like her mother, Lena kept all her desires to herself and could not hear herself. She longed for a good relationship but fell into a poor one anyways. Her "fair" relationship proved to be not so balanced but she did

In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan explores the different mother-daughter relationships between the characters, and at a lower level, relationships between friends, lovers, and even enemies. The mother-daughter relationships are most likely different aspects of Tan's relationship with her mother, and perhaps some parts are entirely figments of her imagination. In this book, she presents the conflicting views and the stories of both sides, providing the reader--and ultimately, the characters--with an understanding of the mentalities of both mother and daughter, and why each one is the way she is.

not know how to take control. Her mother saw her falling apart but had to reflect on her own past before trying to save her daughters. The climatic even between these two occurred after Clifford's table broke. Ying-Ying asked why Lena had not prevented it from collapsing, but she did not have an answer for her. It was then Lena realized she had to change, become strong, and break away from her relationship, or she would never be able to escape. It was then that Lena gained a new sort of respect for her mother.

The book is organized into four sections, two devoted to the mothers and two devoted to the daughters, with the exception of June. The first section, logically, is about the mothers' childhoods in China, the period of time during which their personalities were molded, giving the reader a better sense of their "true" selves, since later in the book the daughters view their mothers in a different and unflattering light. Tan does this so the reader can see the stories behind both sides and so as not to judge either side unfairly. This section, titled Feathers From a Thousand Li Away, is aptly named, since it describes the heritage of the mothers in China, a legacy that they wished to bestow on their daughters, as the little story in the beginning signifies. For many years, the mothers did not tell their daughters their stories until they were sure that their wayward offspring would listen, and by then, it is almost too late to make them understand their heritage that their mothers left behind, long ago, when they left China.

The second and third sections are about the daughters' lives, and the vignettes in each section trace their personality growth and development. Through the eyes of the daughters, we can also see the continuation of the mothers' stories, how they learned to cope in America. In these sections, Amy Tan explores the difficulties in growing up as a Chinese-American and the problems assimilating into modern society. The Chinese-American daughters try their best to become "Americanized," at the same time casting off their heritage while their mothers watch on, dismayed. Social pressures to become like everyone else, and not to be different are what motivate the daughters to resent their nationality. Being Chinese, I have also faced this same problem, but not to the extent that Tan's characters do, for the Chinese-American daughters grew up in the 50s, when it was not as "fashionable" to be ethnic than it is today, in the 80s and 90s, the years of my childhood. Nevertheless, I have still felt pressure to belong, to fit in with my schoolmates, the majority of whom are Caucasian. Besides that, I have also felt that I didn't quite belong around my classmates, as Tan's characters had, and that's partly why so many of my friends are Chinese (the "Chinese clique" =^D) and Asian--we look similar and come from similar backgrounds. Our parents are constantly demanding more from us when our best isn't enough for them, they're strict, and basically, "in a crowd of Caucasians, tqo Chinese people are already like family." (from The Joy Luck Club) Personally, I feel like I belong more in a group of mixed races than I do in a group that is all Caucasian. It's a subconscious feeling, but it's there. I don't know if this is true for

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2601
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)