The Joy Luck Club: Relationship Between Mother And Daughter
In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan explores the different mother-daughter relationships between the characters, 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.
The book is organized into four sections, two devoted to the mothers and two devoted to the ...
Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers
|
since it describes the heritage of the mothers in China, a legacy that they wished to bestow on their daughters, as the little story in the beginning signifies. For many years, the mothers did not tell their daughters their stories until they were sure that their wayward offspring would listen, and by then, it is almost too late to make them understand their heritage that their mothers left behind, long ago, when they left China.
The second and third sections are about the daughters' lives, and the vignettes in each section trace their personality growth and development. Through the eyes of the daughters, we can also see the continuation of the mothers' stories, how they learned to cope in America. In these sections, Amy Tan explores the difficulties in growing up as a Chinese-American and the problems assimilating into modern society. The Chinese-American daughters try their best to become "Americanized," at the same time casting off their heritage while their mothers watch on, ...
Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.
Already a member? Login
|
different from theirs, and we couldn't really relate. This assimilation problem isn't as severe as it may sound (after all, some of my Asian friends seemed to fit in just fine--maybe it's just me?), but it's still there, and Amy Tan does an excellent job of portraying it through her characters.
The second section of the book is named The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates because in this section, the problem of communication and lack of understanding between mothers and daughters is emphasized. This section is rife with mother-daughter conflicts, as the story in the beginning foreshadows. The third section is ironically named American Translation because when the mothers give advice regarding ...
Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library.
Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports,
and research papers in 2 minutes or less.
|
CITE THIS PAGE:
The Joy Luck Club: Relationship Between Mother And Daughter. (2004, June 23). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Joy-Luck-Club-Relationship-Between-Mother/9984
"The Joy Luck Club: Relationship Between Mother And Daughter." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 23 Jun. 2004. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Joy-Luck-Club-Relationship-Between-Mother/9984>
"The Joy Luck Club: Relationship Between Mother And Daughter." Essayworld.com. June 23, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Joy-Luck-Club-Relationship-Between-Mother/9984.
"The Joy Luck Club: Relationship Between Mother And Daughter." Essayworld.com. June 23, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Joy-Luck-Club-Relationship-Between-Mother/9984.
|
Save
Report