Analysis of Joy Luck Club

Analysis of Joy Luck Club

Ask any typical-looking Asian students around campus whether they are Chinese or Japanese and the reply will probably be universal: "Neither, I'm Chinese-American." In reality, developing a clear concept of exactly how they define themselves as a "race" has become a difficult thing to do in this day and age for most Chinese-Americans. Many have become so well adjusted to the American way of life, that the only thing still tying them to their ancestral roots is physical appearance and the answer to the SAT questionnaire about ethnicity background. This is the basis for the overall theme of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. The Joy Luck Club is a group of varied stories rooted in the culture clash between four women whom adamantly follow Chinese refinement and their respective daughters, who are Americanized. Throughout the story, it becomes obvious that the daughters have become Americanized and are veering away from the sacred culture with which the mothers have come to appreciate as the basis for what keeps them stable throughout the endless trails and hardships they face. The differences in the upbringing of those women born during the first quarter of this century in China, and their daughters, born in the American atmosphere of California, are differences that form a metaphorical brick wall between the two generations' lives. Faced with this wall, both sides have a hard time relating to one another.

From the beginning of the novel, Suyuan Woo tells the story of "The Joy Luck Club," a group started by the four Chinese mothers during World War II, where "we feasted, we laughed, we played games, lost and won, we told the best stories. And each week, we could hope to be lucky. That hope was ...

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...he St. Clair household. Both sides, parents and daughter, only tried to keep peace and stability growing up instead of really getting to know each other. Lena always ignored the fact that children learn to act as their parents do before them regarding marriage. Because of this, Lena inherits her mother's attitude and rushes into a superficial marriage just as her mother had done two times before.

When June makes her trip to China at the end of the book, it is her way of undermining any obstacles standing in the way and finally reaching out to her mother's culture. By completing her mother's promise to return to China and honor her sisters, June is transferring what she had absorbed from her mother and her tradition. One of the most important and pivotal quotes is on page 306 with the line: "And I think, My mother is right. I am becoming Chinese".