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Miscommunication in Joy Luck Club - Paper

Miscommunication in Joy Luck Club

Miscommunication

The Woos

Joy Luck Club

The novel, in fact, opens with the concept of communication: Mr. Woo, June's father, believes that his wife died because she could not express herself. Unvoiced ideas, he says, can literally cause death. A few paragraphs farther on, June alludes to the problems that she and her mother had communicating: "I can never remember things I didn't understand in the first place."

Two Kinds

As with all the Joy Luck Club mothers, Suyuan believes wholeheartedly that her daughter has limitless potential, especially in America, where talent can raise an individualâ€™s status, regardless of oneâ€™s heritage. However, Jing-mei doesnâ€™t see her mother ...

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told her mother â€œI wish you wouldnâ€™t do that, telling everyone that Iâ€™m your daughterâ€. Lindoâ€™s bragging is her way of showing love and pride, though Waverly doesnâ€™t interpret the actions that way. The miscommunication in expectations leads to a rift between mother and daughter.

Four Directions

The perception of maternal disapproval is all in Waverly's mind. For example, Waverly interprets her mother's remark about Rich's freckles as an insult. Waverly responds to her mother's remark "a bit too heatedly." Clearly she is looking for a confrontation. Similarly, the Jongs do not criticize Rich's clumsy attempt to use chopsticks or his gauche gift of wine â€” only Waverly does. In the same way, Rich has no way of knowing that Mrs. Jong, by tradition, criticizes her own cooking as a way of eliciting compliments. Waverly is horrified when Rich agrees with Mrs. Jong's criticism about her famous steamed pork and preserved vegetable fish. Yet, because Waverly did not ...

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Miscommunication in Joy Luck Club. (2018, September 29). Retrieved January 17, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Miscommunication-in-Joy-Luck-Club/106840

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"Miscommunication in Joy Luck Club." Essayworld.com. September 29, 2018. Accessed January 17, 2026. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Miscommunication-in-Joy-Luck-Club/106840.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 9/29/2018 11:33:04 AM
Submitted By: nabilarespatria
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 552
Pages: 3

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