The True Message of Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses

1922 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What is the dilemma in amy tan's "the joy luck club

The True Message of Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses

Alice Walker calls Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, "honest, moving, and beautifully courageous." Publisher's Weekly describes the novel as "intensely poetic, startlingly imaginative and moving ... deceptively simple yet inherently dramatic." Not only has Amy Tan's fiction been praised for its literary merit, but it also has been included in anthologies of multicultural literature for its portrayal of Chinese and Chinese-American culture.

However, critics such as George Tseo vehemently disagree with these and other accolades, particularly regarding the cultural details of Tan's fiction and Mandarin Chinese dialogue. "I take umbrage at Amy Tan's confused rendition of Mandarin not only because the true beauty of the language is obscured but because by doing so the Chinese culture is misrepresented." He argues that Tan uses "phony" and "stereotypically wooden and metaphorical" Chinese dialogue, a one-sided over-emphasis on Chinese superstitious practices, and culturally implausible plots (339).

Sau-Ling Cynthia Wong, an associate professor of Asian-American studies at the University of Berkeley, corroborates Tseo's challenge of Tan's cultural accuracy. Wong points out errors such as Tan's misuse of the term "tang jie" or "sugar sister" in The Hundred Secret Senses, Tan's third novel. Not only has Tan confused the word "tang" with its Chinese homophone--which does not mean "sugar"--but she has ascribed a metaphorical use, meaning a friend as close as a sister, to a term which only refers to a blood relative in the Chinese kinship system (180-82). Wong acknowledges that "errors of the 'sugar sister' type [lin...

... middle of paper ...

...s.

Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1997. 85-7.

Schell, Orville. Critical Extract. Asian-American Women

Writers. Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House,

1997. 82-3.

Shear, Walter. "Generational differences and the diaspora in

The Joy Luck Club." Women Writers. 34.3 (Spring 1993): 193.

Expanded Academic Index.

Souris, Stephen. "'Only Two Kinds of Daughters:'" Inter-

Monologue Dialogicity in The Joy Luck Club." Melus 19.2

(Summer 1994):99-123.

Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Ivy Books, 1989.

--------- The Hundred Secret Senses. New York: Ivy Books, 1995.

Willard, Nancy. Critical Extract. Asian-American Women

Writers. Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House,

1997. 84-5.

Xu, Ben. "Memory and the Ethnic Self: Reading Amy Tan's Joy

Luck Club." Melus 19.1 (Spring 1994): 3-17.

Show More
Related

  • Strict/Loose Jacksonian Democracy

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Democratic/Republican party proved to be both strict and loose in their adhering to the documents in many ways. The Democratic/Republican party was known for being "strict" in following the document writings, and they didn't change their opinions much. For example, in Document A, Thomas Jefferson stated that "our country is too large to have all its affairs directed by a single government". Democratic/Republicans believed that the states should control themselves instead of following rules under one national government. "The state's rights should be preserved unquestionably."

    Read More

  • AP US History: 1800s

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Democratic Republicans started out by supporting their ideas fully and confidently. In Jefferson's letter to Gideon Granger (Document A), Jefferson displays his ideas on how the Constitution should be interpreted and how they oppose the ideas of the Federalists. Jefferson also tells Granger that he disagrees with the Federalists' ideas and that it would "sink the states' governments, consolidate them into one, and to monarchies that." He also believes in a weak central government, an idea of a Democratic-Republican, having the states be control of everything internal and only having the central government in charge of foreign affairs. In Document B, Jefferson's letter to Samuel Miller, Jefferson stated that the president has no authority over religious exercises. This was an exact belief of a Democratic-Republican. Not only did this document states that the central government should be weak, this also states the belief of a strict interpretation of the Constitution. Jefferson demonstrated his beliefs through the government primarily. After he was elected president, he started to "slim" things down, cutting taxes and the army and limiting the power of the government and eliminating Federalist power. During Madison's term, he also somewhat stuck to his principles. In Document H, he expressed his thoughts on the Internal Improvements Bill acknowledging the bill. Although he set aside some of his republic ideals, he still vetoed the bill under a constitutional amendment. Overall, he stuck with his principles of a Democratic Republican.

    Read More

  • Characterization in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club

    505 Words  | 2 Pages

    Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club uses much characterization. Each character is portrayed in different yet similar ways. When she was raised, she would do whatever she could to please other people. She even “gave up her life for her parents promise” (49), I the story The Red Candle we get to see how Tan portrays Lindo Jong and how she is brought to life.

    Read More

  • Jeffersonian Republicans

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before 1801, the Jeffersonian Republicans were usually strict constructionists of the constitution. However during the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison they had to adopt some Federalist ideas. In many instances, the two parties completely interchanged their views on the construction of the constitution. During that period of time it was difficult to characterize anyone as a member of either the Federalist or Republican party based on how they interpreted the constitution.

    Read More

  • Jeffersonian Republicans Vs. Federalists

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the young colonies of America broke away from their mother country and began to grow and develop into an effective democratic nation, many changes occurred. As the democracy began to grow, two main political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists.      Each party had different views on how the government should be run. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict construction of the Constitution. The Federalists opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. Throughout the years, the political parties have grown, developed, and even dispersed into totally new factions. Many of the inconsistencies and changes can be noted throughout the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

    Read More

  • Themes of Language and Racial Identity in Native Speaker, By Chang-Rae Lee

    2640 Words  | 6 Pages

    Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker expresses prominent themes of language and racial identity. Chang-Rae Lee focuses on the struggles that Asian Americans have to face and endure in American society. He illustrates and shows readers throughout the novel of what it really means to be native of America; that true nativity of a person does not simply entail the fact that they are from a certain place, but rather, the fluency of a language verifies one’s defense of where they are native. What is meant by possessing nativity of America would be one’s citizenship and legality of the country. Native Speaker suggests that if one looks different or has the slightest indication that one should have an accent, they will be viewed not as a native of America, but instead as an alien, outsider, and the like. Therefore, Asian Americans and other immigrants feel the need to mask their true identity and imitate the native language as an attempt to fit into the mold that makes up what people would define how a native of America is like. Throughout the novel, Henry Park attempts to mask his Korean accent in hopes to blend in as an American native. Chang-Rae Lee suggests that a person who appears to have an accent is automatically marked as someone who is not native to America. Language directly reveals where a person is native of and people can immediately identify one as an alien, immigrant, or simply, one who is not American. Asian Americans as well as other immigrants feel the need to try and hide their cultural identity in order to be deemed as a native of America in the eyes of others. Since one’s language gives away the place where one is native to, immigrants feel the need to attempt to mask their accents in hopes that they sound fluent ...

    Read More

  • Domination Of North America

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the late 1600s and the to the mid-1700s, countries fought for land and power in order to have global domination. While several countries fought for the same cause, resolving their differences was nearly impossible, and this often led to more wars and conflicts. One of the many conflicts concerned the domination of North America. While many European powers competed for control of North America, Britain gained the most territory through the four French and Indian wars, King William's War, Queen Anne's War, King George's War, and the French and Indian War. As these wars progressed, Britain achieved the most success and eventually became the most dominant power in North America.

    Read More

  • Marilyn Manson

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    1993 was a very busy year. They got a contract from Trent Reznor's new own label Nothing and got a spot on NIN's 94 tour. The making of their first album, "Portrait of an American Family", was underway. Trent Reznor was the producer of the album.

    Read More

  • Mother Daughter Relationships - The Mother-daughter Relationship in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan explores mother-daughter relationships, and at a lower level, relationships between friends, lovers, and even enemies. The mother-daughter relationships are most likely different aspects of Tan's relationship with her mother, and perhaps some parts are entirely figments of her imagination. In this book, she presents the conflicting views and the stories of both sides, providing the reader--and ultimately, the characters--with an understanding of the mentalities of both mother and daughter, and why each one is the way she is.

    Read More

  • The Use of Setting in A Pair of Tickets and Everything that Rises Must Converge

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    Amy Tan's "A Pair of Tickets," especially, explores the relationship of setting to place, heritage, and ethnic identity. Jing-Mei Woo, the main character, has trouble accepting that she is Chinese, despite her heritage. Jing-Mei Woo believed, at fifteen, that she had no Chinese whatsoever below her skin. If anything, she perceives herself as Caucasian; even her Caucasian friends agreed that she "was as Chinese as they were." Her mother, however, told her differently, "It's in your blood, waiting to be let go." This terrified Jing-Mei, making her believe that it would cause her to suddenly change, "I saw myself transforming like a werewolf." Jing-Mei Woo finally realizes that she has never really known what it means to be Chinese because she was born and has lived in America all her life. After her mother's death, Jing-Mei discovers that she has two twin sisters living in China who have been searching for their mother and that s...

    Read More

  • The First-generation Immigrant in America

    2126 Words  | 5 Pages

    The scene is always the same: the three of us sitting in a room together, talking. I see her from the corner of my eye, glancing for only a second or two, but always long enough to notice the look on her face, the expression I’ve become so painfully familiar with over the years. I am forced to turn away; the conversation resumes. She is a few feet from us. She hears everything, and understands nothing except what she can gather from the expressions on our faces, the tone of our voices. She pretends not to be bothered, smiling at us and interjecting random questions or comments in Chinese—a language I was raised to speak, a language I’ve slowly forgotten over the years, a language that is now mine only by blood. It is an earnest but usually futile attempt to break through the invisible barrier that separates her from us, and in spite of all her efforts to hide it, that sad, contem...

    Read More

  • Michael Jackson: The Jackson Five

    1588 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before signing with a record label The Jackson Five performed at the Apollo Theatre and

    Read More

  • Relationship Between Colonial Colonies And England

    1692 Words  | 4 Pages

    Till then, England 's preoccupation with civic skirmish and current war with France permitted the Colonies to carry on foreign and domestic trade with tiny intrusion from British powers. Furthermore, since their founding, the Colonies had been managing much of their affairs. The Colonists, as a result, established a sense of freedom. When England started imposing limitations on the Colonial trade and carrying other activities that recommended Colonists never had similar rights as British peoples in England, the Colonials began to take stock of their individuality and question Great Britain 's authority over them. When the French and Indian War lastly finished in 1764, no English subject on both sides of the Atlantic could have predicted the coming fight between North American colonies and the parent country. More so, the roots of these battles were started, and therefore, this war. One should keep in mind that the French and Indian War, which was known in the Europe as the ‘Seven Years ' War, ' was a worldwide

    Read More

  • A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennesse Williams

    1851 Words  | 4 Pages

    A Streetcar Named Desire is about Blanch Dubois a thirty year old southern belle. In the play Blanche loses her ancestral home of Belle Reve and her husband commits suicide leaving her emotionally scarred. Blanche then goes to live with her sister and her husband Stanley Kowalski, whom she finds vulgar and inappropriate. She attempts to hide from her past, but eventually the people there find out she had many affairs, even one with a student, and was forced to leave her teaching job (Marotous, 2006). At the end of the play she begins losing her mind and is sent to a mental hospital.

    Read More

  • Amy Tan’s A Mother’s Tongue

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tan was born to a pair of Chinese immigrants. Her mother understood English extremely well, but the English she spoke was “broken.”(36) Many people not familiar with her way of speaking found it very difficult to understand her. As a result of this, Tan would have to pretend to be her mother, and she called people up to yell at them while her mother stood behind her and prompted her. This caused Tan to be ashamed of her mother throughout her youth, but as she grew, she realized that the language she shares with her mother is a “language of intimacy” (36) that she even uses when speaking with her husband.

    Read More

More about The True Message of Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses

Open Document