Joy Luck Club: Cultural Differences Across Generations

As long as the world continues to revolve, generations will come and go. Considering that they follow in turn, different generations make themselves disparate from others. This becomes what is known as a generation gap, one we will never be able to fill in, due to our contradictories. As the gap gradually develops, it struck modern generations apart from the others before them. As Lindo stated in Joy Luck Club, “American circumstances but Chinese character…How could I know these two things do not mix?” Culture acts as a crucial influence to why relationships suffer because it has made the new generation indifferent and unable to recount to the monetary struggles the older generations has gone through. Considering our roles in the family, divergent

Born in the seventies in the city of Taishan, China, my mother was the oldest of three children; she has a younger brother and sister. Due to the fact that my grandparents worked throughout the whole day, it was her liability to take heed of the household. My mother gained valuable independence and leadership skills from her responsibilities because her parents rarely paid attention to her and expected her to figure out her obligations. Because my mom was often disregarded in her childhood after her siblings were born, she deduced that her children should not have to experience what she went through. Aside from being the only child in my family, I have become unconsciously spoiled because my parents are always there to help me dodge hardships and provide me with the luxuries that I yearn for. Thus, I was never properly taught how to take care of myself and relied on my parents for everything. Both our parents made sure that we received superior education, yet the quality of the teachings was interpreted

My mother’s dream throughout her whole life was to get a better life and possess luxuries. During her childhood in the villages, my mother’s family encountered severe hardships, and just simply staying alive had been an obstacle. Food and pollution were vast complications in my mother’s generation, which never allowed her to feel safe in her environment. However, in my generation, I have never truly encountered a hardship, which permits me from relating to my mother’s horrid experience. The dream that my mother valued in her generation have now lost its value due to the generation gap, lost in the barrier that provoked us to relate to each