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A thesis on American culture and Chinese culture
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A thesis on American culture and Chinese culture
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Power of the Mother and Daughter Relationship Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club
In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, the author, Amy Tan, intricately weaves together the roles and experiences of Chinese mothers with their American born daughters. During a time of war, the mothers flee from China to America, leaving behind a past filled with secrets that unravel as their daughters mature. While sharing their difficulties, these mothers must be able to teach Chinese beliefs and customs to their daughters in a way that relates to American society. However, this is difficult because the daughters seek to identify themselves with their own American culture. A lack of understanding and knowledge amongst these societies exists between the mothers and daughters, making it difficult for the two generations to connect with each other. Nonetheless, these mothers have "a legacy that they wish to bestow on their daughters," ( The Joy Luck Club ). A cultural clash and a generation gap are the roots to the problems the mothers and daughters must overcome in order for their relationship to be stronger. One such example is the relationship between Lindo and Waverly Jong.
While in China, Lindo’s life takes a complete turn around as she escapes a prearranged Chinese marriage. In "The Red Candle," Lindo obeys the typical female role of being obedient at the beginning of her marriage to Tyan-yu, but later goes against these expectations and flees to America. She listens to her mother-in-law by doing household chores and by being a submissive individual. Asian society says their women "value marriage. They do not believe in divorce. They marry for life…in good times and bad," ( China Bride ). However, Lindo manages to outwit her new family and escape the m...
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...standing their mothers’ viewpoint on an issue. Despite a lack of cultural knowledge, the mothers have good intentions for their daughters. Even though the daughters do not want to admit it, they have inherited more from their mothers than they thought because "each daughter…becomes a stronger person through her mother’s past," ( "Analysis of Literary Merit" ).
WORKS CITED
Analysis of Literary Merit. 27 Mar. 2004. http://la.mvla.net/Curric/English/alhweb/student/sabrina/Joy/joy_literary_merit.htm.
China Bride. 30 Mar. 2004. http://www.chinabride.com/gen/whyasia.html.
Roles of Women. 27 Mar. 2004.
http://la.mvla.net/Curric/English/alhweb/student/sabrina/Joy/joy_roles_of_women.htm.
Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Ivy Books. 1989.
The Joy Luck Club. 30 Mar. 2004. http://members.tripod.com/~Roella/AmyTan/JoyLuck.html.
Amy Tan 's novel, The Joy Luck Club, explores the relationships and experiences of four Chinese mothers with that of their four Chinese-American daughters. The differences in the upbringing of those women born around the 1920’s in China, and their daughters born in California in the 80’s, is undeniable. The relationships between the two are difficult due to lack of understanding and the considerable amount of barriers that exist between them.
Traditions, heritage and culture are three of the most important aspects of Chinese culture. Passed down from mother to daughter, these traditions are expected to carry on for years to come. In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, daughters Waverly, Lena, Rose and June thoughts about their culture are congested by Americanization while on their quests towards self-actualization. Each daughter struggles to find balance between Chinese heritage and American values through marriage and professional careers.
The book The Joy Luck Club is a novel written by Amy Tan, who is very famous in writing about mother-daughter relationships. There are four pairs of mothers and daughters whose stories are told in The Joy Luck Club. All of the mothers were born in China and came to America because of some kind of problem, but their daughters were born in the United States. Due to the fact that the daughters were born in the United States, they are extremely Americanized. Consequently, they do not value the Chinese heritage which their mothers valued dearly. As the daughters are growing up, this conflict between them increases. Suyuan Woo and her daughter, June or Jing-mei, two characters from the book, had major conflicts over the Chinese belief system of Confucianism and on the matter of death and mourning.
The United States Marine Corps, established in 1775, is known for their production of the strongest offensive soldiers that defend our country. Their training includes amplified endurance, multiple styles of hand to hand combat, and artillery accuracy. Marines are trained to be the steel of the front lines that cut through and push back enemy lines. The branch rose to this dedication primarily in the 1940-50s thanks to one warrior-leader’s dedication to his country and men in his command. Lieutenant Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller is the prime model of every marine due to his dedication to service, desire to better his men through training and education, and the instilment of esprit de corps.
The Joy Luck Club is an emotional tale about four women who saw life as they had seen it back in China. Because the Chinese were very stereotypic, women were treated as second class citizens and were often abused. Through sad and painful experiences, these four women had tried to raise their daughters to live the American dream by giving them love and support, such things which were not available to them when they were young. These women revealed their individual accounts in narrative form as they relived it in their memories. These flashbacks transport us to the minds of these women and we see the events occur through their eyes. There were many conflicts and misunderstandings between the two generations due to their differences in upbringing and childhood. In the end, however, these conflicts would bring mother and daughter together to form a bond that would last forever.
Reviewing the whole book, it is clear that The Joy Luck Club is a link to intergenerational and intercultural connections. Tan said that "To my mother and the memory of her mother you asked me once what I would remember this, and much more." The novel develops with mother and daughter and Tan understands the special bonds between women. The Joy Luck Club is set in San Francisco's Chinatown, but much of it occurs in the flashbacks to the mothers' lives in China. As a result, we become familiar with three different times and places: China, where the mothers grew up, San Francisco, where the daughters and mothers live, and America in general place.
The Mother Daughter Relationship in "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen. I stand here ironing, a unique phrase uttered by a woman in her conquest of life. It may seem like an unwanted phrase to many, but it has a deep meaning behind it. This phrase is almost whispered by the narrator of?I Stand Here Ironing,?
This paper will accomplish two tasks. First, it will briefly outline the main points of Thomas Nagel’s argument in “Personal Rights and Public Space”. Secondly, it will examine and discuss the portion of his argument that I find to be the most problematic.
Smith, T. (2012). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings. 1st ed. New Delhi, India: PHI Learning Private Ltd.
It was Benjamin Franklin’s early years that influenced his stance for change. From a young age, Benjamin Franklin had an early readiness in reading and shortly after improved his literacy by reading sermons, books, and other pieces
Oftentimes the children of immigrants to the United States lose the sense of cultural background in which their parents had tried so desperately to instill within them. According to Walter Shear, “It is an unseen terror that runs through both the distinct social spectrum experienced by the mothers in China and the lack of such social definition in the daughters’ lives.” This “unseen terror” is portrayed in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club as four Chinese women and their American-born daughters struggle to understand one another’s culture and values. The second-generation women in The Joy Luck Club prove to lose their sense of Chinese values, becoming Americanized.
In the Joy Luck Club, the author Amy Tan, focuses on mother-daughter relationships. She examines the lives of four women who emigrated from China, and the lives of four of their American-born daughters. The mothers: Suyuan Woo, An-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-Ying St. Clair had all experienced some life-changing horror before coming to America, and this has forever tainted their perspective on how they want their children raised. The four daughters: Waverly, Lena, Rose, and Jing-Mei are all Americans. Even though they absorb some of the traditions of Chinese culture they are raised in America and American ideals and values. This inability to communicate and the clash between cultures create rifts between mothers and daughters.
In The Joy Luck Club, the novel traces the fate of the four mothers-Suyuan Woo, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair-and their four daughters-June Woo, Rose Hsu Jordan, Waverly Jong, and Lena St. Clair. Through the experiences that these characters go through, they become women. The mothers all fled China in the 1940's and they all retain much of their heritage. Their heritage focuses on what is means to be a female, but more importantly what it means to be an Asian female.
"Two Kinds" by Amy Tan is about the intricacies and complexities in the relationship between a mother and daughter. Throughout the story, the mother imposes upon her daughter, Jing Mei, her hopes and dreams for her. Jing Mei chooses not what her mother wants of her but only what she wants for herself. She states, "For, unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be. I could be only me" (Tan 1). Thus this "battle of wills" between mother and daughter sets the conflict of the story.
The characters in Hemingway’s short story add to the conflict throughout and conflict appears both between the characters and within the characters themselves. Hemingway clearly depicts three major characters which include an old man, a young waiter, and a middle-aged waiter. The old man who is drinking in the Spanish café experiences his own inner conflicts; this is shown in dialogue between the two waiters: “’Last week he tried to commit suicide,’ one waiter said. ’Why?’ ‘He was in despair.’ ‘What about?’ ‘Nothing.’ ‘How do you know it was nothing?’ ‘He has plenty of money’” (Hemingway 186). This