Amy Tan's The Kitchen God's Wife
Amy Tan's The Kitchen God's Wife is the story of a relationship between a mother and daughter that is much more than it seems. This touchingly beautiful narrative not only tells a story, but deals with many of the issues that we have discussed in Women Writers this semester. Tan addresses the issues of the inequality given women in other cultures, different cultures' expectations of women, abortion, friendship, generation gaps between mothers and daughters, mother-daughter relationships, and the strength of women in the face of adversity. Tan even sets the feminist mood with the title of the book, which refers to a woman in Chinese Mythology who cared for a selfish man who became a minor god. She pulls from her own life experiences, relatives, and emotions to write this story, a factor that probably contributes to the realness of the plot and the roundness of the characters. Tan's mother's previous marriage to an abusive man, her father's death, and her loving relationship with her relatives (specifically her mother) all show themselves in the intricately woven story of a mother named Winnie, and a daughter named Pearl, and their struggles as Chinese-American women.
Much of this story stems from Tan's love for her own mother, Daisy Ching, who gave birth to the brilliant Amy in 1952 in California. Daisy Ching, a great inspiration for this novel, has a vividly detailed recollection of her life in China which she shares with her daughter. Tan, in turn, shares some of this with her readers in The Kitchen God's Wife through the voice of the mother-figure, Winnie. Like Daisy Ching's eldest son (Amy Tan's brother), the main character, Winnie, experiences the de...
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...rength will preserve her memories forever. Tan teaches her readers that women have the strength, despite the fact that society has said otherwise, to overcome all obstacles. She also shows the sad plights of our predecessors who have committed sins out of love in their oppressed existence. With the love of a mother and a daughter, both real and imaginary, Amy Tan demonstrates these three things (and more) that we have discussed this semester: women's strength in the face of adversity, the idea that taking a life is better than giving a bad one, and the incorporation of one's own experiences into writing. Tan has written a beautiful piece of literature worthy of being read by men and women alike.
Works Cited
1. Tan, Amy. The Kitchen God's Wife. Thorndike Press: Maine 1991.
2. "1st Person: Amy Tan" Http://www.sunherald.com/1ptan/html/la.htm
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He published Poor Richard’s Almanac at the end of 1732, which was a huge success. The almanac contained weather, poetry, advice, recipes, astronomical information, and much more; he continued to publish it for 25 years. He organized the Union Fire Company to protect against dangerous fire hazards. He also innovated with the invention of the Franklin stove, which was a stove that provided more heat with less fuel. “By 1748, the 42-year-old Ben had become one of the richest men in Pennsylvania. He turned his business over to a partner to give him more time to conduct scientific experiments.” (Paragraph 12) He moved into a new house and acquired slaves to work around the house, but his views on slavery evolved to where he considered it evil, and then freed his slaves in the 1760s. He joined the Pennsylvania militia at age 42. His interest in electricity grew and he began experimenting on electricity. He conducted experiments and recorded them into a book called “Experiments and Observations on Electricity.” He is most famous for his kite-key experiment in 1752 to prove there was electricity in light. He is also credited to the invention of bifocal glasses, the rocking chair, and the American penny. “His self-education earned him honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, England’s Oxford University and Scotland’s University of St. Andrews in
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Amy Tan is a Chinese-American author. She had become Americanized, according to her mother, who still held traditional Chinese values. They fought sometimes, just as the women and daughters of The Joy Luck Club, over who was right and who was wrong regarding many problems they encountered. Tan most likely modeled The Joy Luck Club after her relationship with her mother. She even dedicated the novel “To my mother and the memory of her mother. You asked me once what I wo...
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