Project Action Plan #3, Week 14, The Joy Luck Club

Choose a reading selection. Explore the relationship between elements of the selection. 

How does setting influence character development – China vs San Francisco, California, US.

The four mothers were born and grew up in China, their daughters were born and grew up in San Francisco. The mothers wanted a different life for their children, but still tried to instill their cultural values in them. The mothers realized that although they wanted a better life for their children in America, it was very different then what they expected.

Literary Devices:

Flashback

Characterization

Paradox

Simile

“.. Chinese New Year, my mother gave me my “life’s importance,” a jade pendant on a gold chain. …..I stuffed the necklace in my lacquer box and forgot about it. ….I wonder what it means, because my mother died three months ago…. Shes the only person I could have asked, to tell me about life’s importance to help me understand my grief. I now wear that pendant every day” (197)

“She lies down on a psychiatrist couch, squeezing the tears out about this shame…..I know this, because I was raised the Chinese way. I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, to eat my own bitterness. And even though I taught my daughter the opposite, still she came out the same way!” (215)

“My mother, she suffered. She lost her face and tried to hide it. She found only greater misery and finally could not hide that. There is nothing more to understand. That was China… They had no choice. They could not speak up. They could not run away. That was their fate. But now they can do something else. Now they no longer have to swallow their own tears…” (241)

“When my daughter looks at me, she sees a small old lady. That is because she sees only with her outside eyes. She has no chuming, no inside knowing of things. If she had chuming, she would see a tiger lady. And she would have careful fear.” (248)

“Now I must tell my daughter everything. That she is the daughter of a ghost…. I will use this sharp pain to penetrate my daughter’s tough skin and cut her tiger spirit loose.” (252)

“My daughter did not look pleases when I told her this, that she did not look Chinese. She had a sour American look on her face. Oh, maybe ten years ago, she would have clapped her hands – hurray!- as if it were good news. But now she wants to be Chinese, it is so fashionable. And I know it is too late. All those years I tried to teach her!” (253)

“It’s my fault she is this way. I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things did not mix?” (254)
“…but I couldn’t teach her about Chinese character. How to obey parents and listen to your mother’s mind. How not to show your own thoughts, to put your feelings behind your face so you can take advantage of hidden opportunities.” (254)

Cited Work
Tran, Amy, et at “The Joy Luck Club”, Penguin Books, 2006