Written by M.N.
Picture below: Author with her book
Information
Author: Amy Tan / Genre: Fiction / Published: 1989
Summary
Written from four different perspectives, the Joy Luck Club originated from a Chinese woman who lived in a time of war. To combat the suffering, the woman creates the Joy Luck Club which was made up of four of her best friends from all over China who all met up in the same refugee city. After their harsh times, the women immigrate to America where they establish families while continuing on the legacy of the Joy Luck Club. From there, the stories of the mothers and their daughters are told.
Woo Family
Jing-Mei Woo’s mother, Suyuan was the one who created the Joy Luck Club. Jing-Mei’s childhood consisted of her listening to her mother’s stories. However, after immigrating to the U.S. and giving birth to Jing-Mei, Suyuan dies and Jing-Mei has to take up her mother’s position as the fourth corner of the Joy Luck Club.
Throughout the book, Jing-Mei constantly reflects on her mother’s hopes- to achieve the American Dream many immigrants believed was possible. However, Jing-Mei was never able to please her mother and only realizes this fact after her mother’s death. The generational gap between mother and daughter makes Jing-Mei realize the differing perspectives between her and her mother. Because of this, Jing-Mei journeys to China to fulfill her mother’s long-cherished wish- to tell her Chinese sisters their mother’s story and to learn more about her culture.
Hsu Family
The story begins in China with An-Mei’s mother becoming a concubine, separating her from her daughter. However, when they meet again and An-Mei runs away with her mother to live with her, she realizes the harsh life her mother had been forced into. Living day-to-day in fear and as a ghost, An-Mei struggled to stay with her ailing mother. After years of hardship, it was then that she was able to gain a voice and learn to fight against her attackers. Years later in San Francisco when An-Mei has established a family, her fully-grown daughter Rose Hsu struggles with her marriage. Always conflicted and feeling as if there is a heavy fog on her, Rose turns to her mother where she is able to find herself and the path of her marriage. This story talks of the sacrifices An-Mei’s mother made for her daughter and how it stripped her of her identity. It also stresses the importance of a mother’s guidance and experience despite the different settings Rose and An-Mei grew up in.
Jong Family
The theme of fulfilling one’s wishes is prevalent in this part of the story as Lindo Jong accepts her parents’ wish to marry a man. This represents the gender roles women were forced into, marrying at an early age to gain a name and inheritance. Meanwhile, Lindo’s daughter Waverly hosts none of these features Lindo has such as self-sacrifice and endurement for family. Born with natural talent in chess-playing, Waverly takes for granted her life in San Francisco and often scoffs at her mother’s words. In the end, Waverly is able to connect with her culture by traveling to China for her honeymoon, thus establishing a greater relationship with her mother.
St. Clair Family
Ying-Ying St. Clair claims that as an early child, she was not able to find her identity. She compares herself to a shadow who has no opinion and wanders aimlessly without a purpose. This form of despair is common in many immigrant families when they move to a different country as they are culturally lost. In America, Ying-Ying feels even more lost, however, she also begins to see similarities of hopelessness between her and her daughter. Both of them are born in the year of the tiger and Ying-Ying claims that once she finds her chi, she will be able to help her daughter, Lena find herself.
Joy Luck Club tells the story of Chinese immigrants coming to the U.S. in pursuit of opportunity and the American Dream. It establishes the dynamic between immigrant parents and their second-generation children and how they view their culture and history differently. While the mothers and their daughters struggle with their own problems and often disagree with each other, they find solace in one another after connecting with their Chinese background. Joy Luck Club stresses the themes of mother-daughter relationships, tradition, immigration, fate, self-sacrifice, female roles, and so many more recurring topics that associate with today.
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