How Does Amy Tan Use Fear In The Joy Luck Club Essay

Do you know the way fear works in your body? What chemicals are released? How it affects you physically? When you feel fear your amygdala responds like an alarm bell to the body. It alerts the hypothalamus, which sends a message to your pituitary gland to “wake up” your pituitary gland then sends corticotrophin to your adrenal gland which in favor releases adrenaline the action hormone, and cortisol which tells your heart to send more blood to your limbs, and away from your heart preparing your fight or flight response. In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan identifies the good and bad of using fear as a parental tool to control children. She demonstrates the destructive and productive sides of fear. Fear can be destructive by causing anxiety and mental

In the story, An-Mei has been badly burned in an accident perpetuated by Popo and An-Mei’s mother. While Popo is trying to give An-Mei motivation to heal and come back from “the other world” she says “Your dying clothes are very plain.”. . . “Our Morning time for you will be very short.”. . . “Even your mother has used up her last tears and left. If you do not get well soon, she will forget you.”. . . “I came hurrying back from the other world to find my mother.” (39) Popo is using fear to help bring her granddaughter back from the brink of death because she cares about her and she doesn't want to lose An-Mei. This can symbolize that the use of fear as a way to control children isn't always negative and can be a positive tool for parents/guardians in the right situations. Popo's actions can further be proved as a positive thing in the story when An-Mei tells us “Next to my bed sat Popo. She would pour cool water over my neck”. . . “until my breathing became soft and I could fall asleep.”(40) After An-Mei got out of the hospital and woke up Popo took care of her made sure she could sleep and that the burn on her neck would heal correctly. This proves Popo's love for An-Mei and how her intention was not to make An-Mei feel bad but to help her

Fear can be used to relieve an adult's emotions instead of to cause a positive effect on a child. In the book, An-Mei’s brother just laughed at a picture of a dead man falling to the ground at his funeral and his aunt reacted like this “ My brother laughed and auntie slapped him”. . . “And when my brother shouted that Auntie was a talking chicken without a head, she pushed my brother against the gate and spat on his face. “You throw strong words at me, but you are nothing,’” (35) The child's aunt is using a fear of pain in an attempt to control the actions of the young boy. The boy's actions were out of line but such a harsh punishment was not needed. Using fear as a parenting tactic can be abusive, especially when making the child fear a physical