Joy Luck 2 Essay, Research Paper

The Joy Luck Club successfully intertwines culture and mends generation gaps. By using different methods of uniting the characters in the book, Amy Tan shows the characteristics of relationships between mothers and daughters. Through life and death, Suyuan Woo and Jing-mei Woo learn to understand each other. In life they learn the differences about each other. When Suyuan dies, Jing-mei is forced to finally understand where her mother came from and why she saw things differently. Jing-mei finally learns how strong of a person her mother was and how important her Chinese heritage is. Through separation and reunion, relationships are also formed. An-mei Hsu helps her daughter, Rose Hsu Jordan, to become a stronger person by telling her story from when she was a young girl. An-mei was separated from her mother when she was young because her mother was a disgrace to the family. When her mother came home for the grandmother s funeral, An-mei left with her mother. It was through this reunion that An-mei learned how to stand up for herself and be a stronger person. If they had not reunited, An-mei would have been brought up like a traditionally obedient Chinese girl. She then would not have been able to pass on her strength to her daughter. Through uncertainty and assurance, bonds are also formed between people. Lena St. Clair has always been unsure of her mother s ways. But it is through this uncertainty that Lena finally understands her mother. All of Lena s life her mother, Ying-ying, has always been able to know when things were going to happen before they actually did. Her father tried to reassure Lena by putting words into her mother s mouth. Somewhere inside, Lena knew exactly what her mother was saying even though she could not always understand the words. Through all the uncertainty that Lena felt about her mother, she began to understand everything about where her mother came from. Throughout this book, Amy Tan has done a wonderful job in portraying the differences of people from different cultures and generations and how they can be overcome.