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

Analysis, Week 14, The Joy Luck Club

Life is not always what it seems.

In the book, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tran, there are four mothers born and raised in China, and later immigrated to San Francisco with their husbands and had daughters. The book contains stories from the mothers and daughters growing up and then talks about their relationships once the daughters became adults. The daughter’s views of what their mothers wanted for and from them were very different than what the mothers want for their daughters At the of the book the daughters finally see what their mothers have been trying to show and tell them for all of their lives.

There are many literary devises used throughout this book, however I am going to focus on tragedy and symbol.

Tragedy is shown in the following quote. “But today I realize I’ve never really known what is means to be Chinese. I am thirty-six years old. My mother is dead and I am on a train, carrying with me her dreams of coming home. I am going to China.” (268) This is a very meaningful quote to me, the character Jing-Mei, has a realization that she is not who she thought she was and now that her mother has died. Now, she is taking a journey with her father to find the two daughters her mother left on the side of the road in Kweilin and was never able to find while she was alive. Sometimes in life we have a picture in our mind about who we are, how we see our self and how others see you, even though you may think you know who you are, with a single event in your life, your whole world can change and you can find yourself lost, confused, and with a lot of unanswered questions. I have felt this way in life and in the previous quote it reflects that Jing-Mei feels the same way.

Symbol is another literary devise used in this book. “Together we look like our mother. Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long-cherished wish.”(288) Jing Mei and her twin sisters are three adult children, who share the same mother, Suyuan Woo. Jing-Mei grew up in America with her mother that she did not always see eye to eye with and did not appreciate her, and now regrets. Her twin sisters grew up in China with a mother, who raised them, but also honored Suyuan Woo as their mother. The only thing these two daughters had of their mother was a picture. However, once they are together they see that they share the same facial features as their mother, a symbol that they share a special bond as sisters.

It is very true, Life is not always what is seems, but we have to make the best of it and try to take the challenges on head on, go with the flow and make the best of it. It might just turn out better than we had planned.

Citied Work

The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tran, Penguin Books 2006

Reading Notes B, Week 14, The Joy Luck Club

Double Face 253-266

Lindo Jong – at the hair salon getting her hair ready for the wedding. Waverly speaks for her mother.

Daughter – Waverly Jong – preparing for her wedding and thinking about her honeymoon in China.

“When you go to China,” I told her, “you don’t even need to open your mouth. They already know you are an outsider.” “What are you talking about? She asked. My daughter likes to speak back. She likes to question what I say.” (253)

“Even if you put on their clothes, even if you take off your makeup and hide your fancy jewelry, they know. They know just watching you walk, the way you carry your face. They know you do not belong.”(253)

“Oh, maybe ten years ago, she would have clapped her hangs – hurray!-as if this were good news. But now she wants to be Chinese, it is so fashionable” (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)

A Pair of Tickets (267-288)

Suyuan Woo – left twin babies on the side of the road, they are now adults and Jing-Mei and her father are traveling to China to meet them for the first time.

Daughter Jing-Mei Woo

“But today I realize I’ve never really known what is means to be Chinese. I am thirty-six years old. My mother is dead and I am on a train, carrying with me her dreams of coming home. I am going to China.” (268)

“Together we look like our mother. Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long-cherished wish.”(288)

Reading Notes A, Week 14, The Joy Luck Club

Magpies 215-241

An-Mei Hsu - Mother left, raised by grandmother, Uncle, Aunt, Grandmother died

Daughter- Rose Hsu Jordan (divorce from Ted)

Rose told her mother, An-Mei her marriage was falling apart, Rose did not speak to her mother about her issues, but would talk to a psychiatrist, with tears of shame.

“She cried, “No choice! No choice!” She does not know. If she doesn’t speak, she is making a choice. If she doesn’t try she can lose her chance forever. 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)

In this chapter An-Mei tells a story about when she made a choice to leave her uncles house and follow her mother. Her mother was happy as they traveled home but once they reached her home as the third wife of an older man, she changed. An-Mei learned that her mother had no power or respect as the third wife and she actually gave birth to a son that the first wife claimed as her own. The second wife pretended suicide so she was treated well. An-Mei’s mother could no longer handle the suffering she had so she poisioned herself with opium. “…she whispered to me that she would rather kill her own weak spirit so she could give me a stronger one.”(240)

Waiting Between the Trees

Ying-ying St. Clair – quiet, husband died.

Daughter - Lena St. Clair – unhappy marriage,  quite, nice house, split everything 50/50

“This is the guest bedroom,” Lena said in her proud American way. I smiled. But to Chinese ways of thinking, the guest bedroom is the best bedroom, where she and her husband sleep. I do not tell her this.” (242)