The Theme of Girl Power in Joy Luck Club and Taste of Honey

The Theme of Girl Power in Joy Luck Club and Taste of Honey

Joy Luck Club and Taste of Honey

Women’s rights is an issue of serious interest in much of today’s

literature. As more women take the pen in hand more and more female

characters take center stage in the stories they write. The newest

term for this focus on the powerful heroine is called “Girl Power” and

this strength of persona can be seen in two pieces of literature in

particular. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, and A Taste of Honey, by

Shelagh Delaney.

In the Joy Luck Club Amy Tan write about the lives of four mother’s

from China who pass their lives’ wisdom down to their daughters who

are growing up on the foreign shores of California, USA. Each of

these women have a story to tell about growing up in the patriarchal

society of china, how they overcame the stifling environment they grew

up in and how they survived and escaped to the “new world” as it

were.

The story of An Mei, Waverly Jong’s mother, is an excellent example of

how women can take control of the situations that are forced upon them

and make their lives better. In the novel An Mei is sold into a

marriage at the age of four. At fifteen, on her wedding day she

discovers she has been married to 13 year old boy, who no more wants

to be a husband than he does a father. An Mei is forced to sleep on

the floor and treated to the derisive comments and punishments of her

mother in law when she fails to produce a child. However, over

hearing a house servant who found herself pregnant, she devises a plan

to escape her ill-fated life and out-trick her lying child-groom. She

uses the superstitions of the traditional Chinese and her clever wit

to win a ticket out of the loveless marriage and back to Shanghai

with her family. This tale, re-told by An Mei, shows how woman, even

in dire situations, can take charge of their lives and make the most

of what they have.

Rose Hsu Jordan is another one of Tan’s Characters that really takes

charge of her life just when it seems she would be swallowed whole by

a man’s world. In this present day tale, a young woman find herself

married to man whose opinions she has grown to value above her own.

She has forgotten how to value herself and fallen prey to the pitfall

of pleasing her husband before taking care of her own needs.