The Joy Luck Club Identity Essay

The Joy Luck Club: Faces

An individual’s culture and history play undeniable roles in the person they are and the person they become. People are products of their environment, and regardless of how someone may feel about their life, their background, or their circumstances, these factors play an important role in their identity. Amy Tan explores the turbulent path to finding one’s identity in The Joy Luck Club, a novel that explores not only the strength of an individual, but the strength of a culture. Lindo Jong, a Chinese immigrant in the novel, describes this phenomenom as her two faces. Lindo believes that one always sacrifices part of oneself by putting on one’s ‘American face’ or one’s ‘Chinese face’. By choosing to wear one of these

How can two people fully understand the thoughts and emotions of each other if they grew up in completely different environments and generations? The struggle between the mothers and daughters to find common ground and connect is not at the fault of either party, but truly circumstantial. Regardless, the mothers grew up in China, where they practiced traditional cultural activities and values, while their daughters were raised in America with western values. The disconnect is seen in each mother-daughter relationship told in the novel. Jing-Mei Woo, one of the daughters, recalls: “A friend once told me that my mother and I were alike, that we had the same wispy hand gestures, the same girlish laugh and sideways look. When I shyly told my mother his, she seemed insulted and said, “You don’t even know little percent of me! How can you be me?” And she’s right” (14-15). This quote shows how acutely aware both mother and daughter are of the fact that they do not know each other on a deeper level, and the manner in which it is addressed reflects hurt feelings. While it is acknowledged, there remains a sense of sadness and anger at how little they know about each other’s lives and past experiences. Similar feelings surface in Lindo and