The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is an impeccable account of four mothers and their daughters that taps into the aspects of the legend. It addresses lost and found things, exposing the deceit, need to reunite, and discoveries made over time. What is fascinating is that the anecdotes are not merely reiterating olden myths but rather progressively revealing actual life occurrences of Chinese women and their daughters. The basis of the stories lies in the intricate relations between the mothers and daughters, given the dissimilar worlds in which they were raised that has caused a dynamic strain. The gradual cognizance of how much the past cannot be salvaged and the inescapable nature of the present bestows a dynamic aspect and colour to the present. The paper illustrates how what is acquired from the past generations is crucial for subsistence, essence and value of lives.
The book’s moral character
The moral centre of the anecdote is Jing-Mei, as her accounts strongly foster the plot and theme of the book. This assertion is because she eventually comprehends her mother and their Chinese heritage and travels to China to accomplish her departed mother’s dream (Tan 154). Her recognition of her true identity is pivotal in the book, as while she has amassed American ideals, she greatly regards her Chinese values. During her voyage, Jing-Mei converts from a young girl who attempts to declare her rights by challenging her mother to take her mother’s place in the club. Additionally, Jing-Mei possesses her mother’s kindness and goodness, and she is courteous to her associates and the elders. Like her mother, she believes in humble living and high rationality. At the end of the novel, it is clear that Jing-Mei lives up to the denotation of her name. She became the ‘pure essence’ of goodness and Chinese ideals that Suyuan had yearned for her.
The minor character who plays a significant role in developing the central theme
Canning Woo, Jing-Mei’s father, plays a critical role in that he asked his daughter to assume her mother’s place, Suyuan, in The Joy Luck Club. Jing-Mei’s joining the club exemplified her stance to find her true self and repossessing her relationship with her traditional cultural legacy. Therefore, Mr Woo’s proposal allowed her the opportunity to understand her mother and her roots. Besides, Canning accompanied Jing-Mei to China. She can meet her half-sisters, who her mother abandoned as she absconded to the U.S. Through this experience, Jing-Mei can see that Canning is joyful at home, which is unlike how he is in the U.S. Canning was influential in steering Jing-Mei to link with Suyuan’s friends whereby she learns a lot about her past is left in awe. The bottom line is that Mr. woo was key in her daughter’s discovery of her Chinese legacy.
How the novel examines a key thematic topic
The Joy Luck Club highlights the consistent conflict in the different heritages of China and America. The characters express apprehension in their capacities to reunite their American surroundings with their Chinese heritage. Truly, this need for resolution is the key purpose of Jing-Mei’s voyage to China. When first journeying to the U.S., the mothers want their children to speak proper English and thrive. Yet, by conforming to the American culture, the daughters lose their Chinese identity and tradition as they encounter challenges understanding their language (Mambrol 1). It is also important to add that while the daughters are hereditarily Chinese, except for Lena, who is half Chinese, they recognize and experience a sense of belonging in contemporary American society. Lena, Rose and Waverly have European spouses and suitors, and they deem most of their mothers’ principles and preferences ludicrous and antiquated. Attempts of escaping their Chinese identities characterized the daughters’ childhoods. To illustrate, Lena treaded with her eyes wide open so that they appear European like (Tan 54). However, as the daughters mature, they start sensing that their identities are inadequate and curious about their Chinese background. It becomes evident that possibly, there is nothing such as a pure state of being Chinese or American as people are blends of their partialities. However, for migrants and their relatives, the disparities within this mix evoke richness and pain.
How the structure of the novel support its message
The book is organized with a nearly classical equilibrium that is usually likened to the four sides of a mah-jong board. The stories alternate simultaneously such that there are four daughter stories and four mother tales, then another round in a similar sequence which peaks with their visit to China to discover things that have been lost. The novel encompasses a lot of storytelling. Given that the discrepancies between the Chinese and American ideologies are elevated by misinterpretation in translation, the mothers employ storytelling to navigate the hindrances and interact with their daughters. The stories have an educational underpinning as they warn against particular mistakes whilst advising reference to past successes. Case in point, Ying Ying’s decision to notify Lena of her past is driven by the need to shun her from the fatalism and passivity that Ying endured. Besides, the stories were somewhat a means to control one’s fate. The novel intent of the meeting was to establish a haven to foster discourse. Plagued by adversity and pain, they decided to plan their lives moving forward (Mambrol 1). Therefore, the stories intended to encourage a particular sense of liberation.
How the novel examines complex ideas about the human condition or American society
The book exhibits instances of conflicting beliefs between the U.S. and the Chinese. Yet neither is inferior nor superior to the other (Xiangliu 55). First, the imaginations of the mothers are not surpassed by revery as they can comprehend the racism and sexism that they encounter. This sentiment means that the mothers’ recollection still regards the interconnecting struggles they shoulder both in the U.S. and in China. In this sense, the book allows the readers to comprehend the writings familiarly not only in the retrospect of psychodynamic pressures between the Chinese mothers and their Americanized daughters in different ancestral contexts but also in the existing historic, cultural and socio-economic truths of a hybrid diaspora culture in the U.S. Furthermore, Tan portrays each woman’s resistance, strong-mindedness and ambitions (Wan 3). The book captures the different characters’ isolation, misfortune, and suffering in this connection. Each woman had to overcome their trials, and the offspring had to overcome their guilt and bitterness, while the mothers had to disregard the notion that their daughters view them as outsiders. The book reunites the mother-daughter efforts to embody stances that are ingrained in their entwined needs for mutual respect and individuality.
The novel as a “Great American Novel.”
For several reasons, the Joy Luck Club can be deemed a Great American Novel. First, it displays the struggles of emigrants in American society and their efforts to balance their legacy away from home. The novel gives a voice to the anecdotes formerly not recognized in the U.S. and demonstrates how migrant stories are multi-dimensional, resounding, and timely. Immigrant tales tell of dreams, valour, sacrifice and honour as they play a part in adding to the greatness of America. In addition, the novel acts as a remembrance that the offspring of migrants are occasionally at fault as they solely view one facet of their guardians and not their past. The stories exemplify a means that people link in incomprehensible ways to enable them to feel less secluded, especially in a new setting (“We Can’t Tal About ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Without Talking About ‘The Joy Luck Club” 1). The novel can heal as people are eased from emotion and pain through speaking about pain. Storytelling can be deemed an act of endurance, which enabled the characters to cope in the U.S. and reconcile with their heritages.
The influences that drive a complex character in the work
Through examining the complexity of the account and reminiscence in the novel, it becomes apparent that varied influences have been utilized in the text. First, there is the idea of the narrative creation of memory. The sense of what has occurred is necessitated not in actual circumstances but in meaningful occurrences of past experiences as depicted in the novel. The experiences are rather constructed and engendered in much a similar manner that narrative shapes (Wan 4). Identity, akin to implicated self-account and definition, is certainly stimulated from memory. Besides, the social-psychological mechanism is prominent. How the characters perceived themselves prompted a host of interrelated self-identity experiences that enlighten related ideals and principles in a psychologically beneficial way. The novel understanding of the social-psychology mechanism of memory gave meaning to specific events.
The symbols that create meaning in the book
The novel is endowed with rich symbols that add meaning to the text. It is imperative to note Suyuan’s pendant, which she denoted as her “life’s importance”. With time, the emblematic sense of the ornament transformed. Initially, Jing-Mei perceived the adornment to be unsophisticated as it epitomized an ethnic divide between her and Suyuan (Tan 112). Upon her mother’s demise, Jing-Mei viewed it as a sign of Suyuan’s concern and love.
Furthermore, the red candle that Lindo possessed was also crucial. When she marries, she lights a red candle with her spouse. The bride and groom’s names are ingrained on each end of the candle. The candle typifies marriage within the Chinese culture as it personifies the ancient principles and customs surrounding matrimony. Finally, there is Lena’s vase which symbolizes her marriage. The instability of the marriage was seen to stem from Harold’s, Lena’s husband’s, failure to be supportive in his vow.
In conclusion, by highlighting the mother-daughter struggle in a context of contradictory culture, the Joy Luck Club offers novel insights and distinctions on classic themes of family bequest and relations. Whether good or bad, it is the females who assume and carry the ambitions of the former generation. Tan’s comprehension of her character’s contradiction about their backgrounds offers a multifaceted tapestry that modifies how people understand themselves and the world that surpasses topicality.
Works Cited
“We Can’t Tal About ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Without Talking About ‘The Joy Luck Club.” Repeller.Com, 2018,repeller.com/impact-of-the-joy-luck-club.
Chen Xiangliu. “Differences Between Chinese And Western Ethics Based On The Joy Luck Club.” Topics In Education, Culture and Social Development, 2018. 1(1) : 54-56.
Mambrol, Nasrullah. “Critical Analysis of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club.” Literariness.Org, 2020, literainess.org/2020/10/04/critical-analysis-of-amy-tans-the-joy-luck-club/amp.
Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Putnam’s, 1989
Wan, Yongkun. “On Chinese Cultural Symbols in the Joy Luck Club.” 8th International Conference on Social Network, Communication and Education (SNCE 2018). Atlantis Press, 2018.
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