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

Mothers and Daughters in Joy Luck Club Amy Tans novel, The Joy Luck Club, explores the relationships and experiences of intravenous feeding Chinese mothers and four Chinese-American young womans. The difference in upbringing of those women born during the first quarter of this century in China, and their daughters born in California, is undeniable. From the beginning of the novel, you hear Suyuan appeal 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 severally 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 peoples misery, to eat their take in 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. Th ese Chinese mothers were all taught to be honorable, to the point of sacrificing their take 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 isnt 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 define between the differences of the two generations. Lindo Jong, whose daughter, Waverly, doesnt 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 striving 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 importance of Chinese character. She tried to teach her Chinese-American daughter How to obey parents and listen to your mothers mind.