Mother Daughter Relationships - Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tans The Joy Luck Club :: Joy Luck Club Essays

Mothers and Daughters in Joy caboodle Club Amy Tans novel, The Joy Luck Club, explores the relationships and experiences of four Chinese mothers and four Chinese-American daughters. The difference in upbringing of those women innate(p) during the showtime quarter of this century in China, and their daughters born in California, is undeniable. From the low gear of the novel, you hear Suyuan Woo tell the story of The Joy Luck Club, a group started by some Chinese women during World War II, where we feasted, we laughed, we vie games, lost and won, we told the best stories. And each week, we could hope to be lucky. That hope was our totally joy. (p. 12) Really, this was their only joy. The mothers grew up during perilous times in China. They all were taught to impulse nothing, to swallow other peoples misery, to eat their own bitterness. (p. 241) Though not m each a(prenominal) of them grew up terribly poor, they all had a certain respect for their elders, and for sustenance its elf. These Chinese mothers were all taught to be honorable, to the point of sacrificing their own lives to cumber any family members promise. Instead of their daughters, who can promise to come to dinner, but if she wants to watch a favorite movie on TV, she no longer has a promise (p. 42), To Chinese people, fourteen carats isnt real gold . . . my bracelets must be xxiv carats, pure inside and out. (p. 42) Towards the end of the book, there is a definite barrier between the differences of the two generations. Lindo Jong, whose daughter, Waverly, doesnt even know four Chinese words, describes the sleep together difference and incompatibility of the two worlds she tried to connect for her daughter, American share and Chinese character. She explains that there is no lasting shame in being born in America, and that as a minority you are the first in line for scholarships. Most importantly, she notes that In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else g ives you. (p. 289) Living in America, it was easy for Waverly to accept American circumstances, to grow up as any other American citizen. As a Chinese mother, though, she also wanted her daughter to learn the sizeableness of Chinese character. She tried to teach her Chinese-American daughter How to obey parents and listen to your mothers mind.