Although Rose believes that she has "no hope," inside she has a nengkan as powerful as her mothers, which makes her wish her marriage would last, just as her mother wishes Bing would still be alive. Overall, each mother in The Joy Luck Club went through something emotionally exhausting and saddening in her life. The mothers use their experiences to try to direct the course of their daughters' lives, to make them simpler and more carefree. Initially, however, the daughters only see that their mothers want to make decisions for them, not to help them. Ultimately, the daughters realize their mothers' intentions, but not all accept them.
Jing-mei was trying her best on everything her mom asked her to do. She never thought about how much having a talent can make someone so upset when you end up falling. In the story, Jing-mei stated “In fact the beginning, I was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so” (Tan 221). Jing-mei was happy when her mom wanted her to do the prodigy when it first started. Then when she started having all the yelling from her mom when she did not do something right she was not feeling the fun.
Dee explains that the other name did not suit her. Now even though Mother reluctantly goes along with this new name, it is obvious that she is not used to changing names, especially if it is one of great family importance. Another character that that has a hard time changing along with Mother is Maggie. When Mother sent Dee to a good school where she could get a very good education, Dee used to come back and try to teach her lowly, uneducated family members. Maggie and her Mother were not used to this, and they were happy with the education that they had.
Emily is taught that women stay in the house and iron; she is not encouraged enough by her mother early on. The mother regrets her failure to teach her daughter that she can make her own path through life, claiming her “wisdom came too late” and that she can only hope that Emily “ know[s]- that she is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless before the iron” (Olsen 298). The narrator failed to guide her daughter through life and to help her avoid some of the mistakes she made. Emily will likely fall down the same path the narrator has taken, because of the perpetual nature of
Her mother loves her dearly, but was not able to provide her with a great life a child should have lived. Sadly, there was not enough weighing on their relationship her mother welcomed a new husband and more children. Emily seemed to be pushed farther from the entire family. As time goes on Emily grows up, her mother criticizes and blames herself for the distance between the relationships. It is causing tension in their already rocky relationship.
Jing-mei differed from her mother in one way: “I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be” (Tan 484), leading her to stubbornly refuse to try, until, in time, she finally understood what her mother wanted for her: the best she could be. From the haircut mishap to the magazine tests, Jing-mei had more or less tried to live up to her mother’s expectations. However, since the piano fiasco, Jing-mei gave up, and soon after, her mother lost hope in her daughter as well. It wasn’t until years later, after her mother had died, did Jing-mei realize her mother’s intentions. Jing-mei was once a pleading child stuck on the notion that “I could only be me” (Tan 484), but twenty years later, she became perfectly contented, understanding that there is no limit to efforts and dreams.
She talked about the great things they would bond over and all the things the mother would do for their children. However, 62.4% of children will never see this. Not because their vision is impaired, but their mothers decided a different life for themselves that did not include them. The mothers selfish act lead to lifelong effects on their child that surpass just not knowing who their mother is. Sandra Maria Esteves opened up the world of how great a mother is, but the world of those 62.4% of children is a dark and deep one with negative psychological effects.
Emily was unable to cry the tears she should have cri... ... middle of paper ... ...ving to raise a child on her own was not the life she had imagined. She had no experience to go by; only what the books told her was right and wrong. She did the best that she was able given her circumstances. The mother tells the person that has asked help to understand Emily to “let her be.” (Olsen) She tells herself that Emily has become all that she is going to become. Because of the world around and the decisions made by her mother, she will not have the opportunity to become more.
The idea Jing-mei's mother had for her to become a prodigy was too much pressure for a small child and was something that Jing-mei was clearly not ready to be. As a result the pressure that her mother laid upon her only made Jing-mei rebel against her mother and she resisted in giving her best. Jing-mei did this because she only wanted her mother's love and acceptance for who she was not only what she could become. Furthermore, Jing-mei's point of view of being the kind of person that one can be proud of was very different from her mother's point of view. Jing-mei and her mother have conflicting values of how Jing-mei should live her life.
However some women are unable to have strong relationships with their mothers, this can be seen in then novel The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan. Unfortunately Jiang Weili wasn't able to have a powerful relationship with her mother. Because of her mothers absence Jiang Weili wasn't able to find her own identity and isn't able to have a productive relationship with her daughter. Pearl feels alienated from her mother however, Jiang Weili only believes she is doing the best for her daughter. Pearl and Winnie prove that the mother daughter relationship is essential for a girl to become a woman.