Altercation Amidst Disparate Cultures of American Born Chinese, Depicted in Tan's Joy Luck Club

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Conflict emerges between Chinese and American cultures when Chinese parents try to discipline their American children. The “Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan, portrays the clash between Chinese and American cultures thoroughly. There are four mothers and four daughters, each mother emigrated from China and each daughter was born in the United States. Each daughter has a hard time understanding their mothers and how and what they want to teach them. Their mother’s presuppose them for eminence but they fail and chagrin their mothers. It is similar for Amy Tan, the author of the Joy Luck Club, “born in the US to immigrant parents from China” (amytan.net). She experiences a personal battle between Chinese and American cultures. Tan’s life is similar to her characters’ life, “[Amy Tan] failed her mother’s expectations that she become a doctor and concert pianist. She settled on writing fiction” (amytan.net). Tan’s life is portrayed in the book through the daughters of the Joy Luck Club. Chinese and American cultures are heavily analyzed within the Joy Luck Club.

Culture is important to many families. Chinese Culture is the background culture of each mother and daughter of the Joy Luck Club. In the Chinese Culture, honor and Family are salient, “Culture is the way of living which a group of people has developed from one generation to the next” (brooklyn.cuny.edu). The Japanese invaded China before World War II. After the Japanese infringed in China, aggregation was altered, “The Japanese conquest of the China mainland featured incredible atrocities, the most famous of which was the massacre of thousands in Nanjing” (learnoutloud.com). Many villages were raided and razed forcing many Chinese to abscond. Some absconded across China, others who w...

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...ate in order to have better lives. But these American born Chinese do not belong with anyone, not the Americans and not the Chinese but have instead formed American Chinese and have created better lives for themselves and their families.

Works Cited

Tan, Amy. Joy Luck Club. Print.

Brett, Melendy. The Oriental Americans. Print.

Deidre, Hunter. We the Chinese Voices from China. Print.

Martin, Emily. Women in Chinese Society. Print.

"Amy Tan Overview." Amy Tan "The Joy Luck Club". N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Jun 2010.
Wine, Sherwin. "Japanese Invasion of China 1937."Japanese Invasion of China. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Jun 2010. .

Tan, Amy. "AmyTan.net." Amy Tan Official Bio. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Jun 2010. .

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