Joy Luck Club Essay, Research Paper

“Hey, Sabrina, are you Japanese or Chinese?” I asked. Her reply, as it seems to be for a

lot of minority groups, is, “Neither, I’m Chinese-American.” So, besides her American

accent and a hyphenated ending on her answer to the SAT questionnaire about her

ethnic background, what’s the difference? In Amy Tan’s enjoyable novel, The Joy Luck

Club, about the relationships and experiences of four Chinese mothers and four

Chinese-American daughters, I found out the answer to this question. The difference in

upbringing of those women born during the first quarter of this century in China, and

their daughters born in the American atmosphere of California, is a difference that

doesn’t exactly take a scientist to see.

From the beginning 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 played games, lost and won, we told the best stories. And each week,

we could hope to be lucky. That hope was our only joy.” (p. 12) Really, this was their

only joy. The mothers grew up during perilous times in China. They all were taught “to

desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, to eat [their] own bitterness.” (p.

241) Though not many of them grew up terribly poor, they all had a certain respect for

their elders, and for life itself. These Chinese mothers were all taught to be honorable,

to the point of sacrificing their own lives to keep 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 isn’t real gold . . . [my bracelets] must be twenty-four carats, pure

inside and out.” (p. 42)

Towards the end of the book, there is a definite line between the differences of the

two generations. Lindo Jong, whose daughter, Waverly, doesn’t even know four Chinese

words, describes the complete difference and incompatibility of the two worlds she

tried to connect for her daughter, American circumstances 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 gives 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 importance of

Chinese character. She tried to teach her Chinese-American daughter “How to obey

parents and listen to your mother’s mind. How not to show your own thoughts, to put

your feelings behind your face so you can take advantage of hidden opportunities . . .

How to know your own worth and polish it, never flashing it around like a cheap ring.”

(p. 289) The American-born daughters never grasp on to these traits, and as the book

shows, they became completely different from their purely Chinese parents. They never

gain a sense of real respect for their elders, or for their Chinese background, and in the

end are completely different from what their parents planned them to be.

By the stories and information given by each individual in The Joy Luck Club, it is clear

to me just how different a Chinese-American person is from their parents or older

relatives. I find that the fascinating trials and experiences that these Chinese mothers

went through are a testament to their enduring nature, and constant devotion to their

elders. Their daughters, on the other hand, show that pure Chinese blood can be

changed completely through just one generation. They have become American not only

in their speech, but in their thoughts, actions and lifestyles. This novel has not only

given great insight into the Chinese way of thinking and living, but it has shown the

great contrast that occurs from generation to generation, in the passing on of ideas

and traditions.

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