How Does Amy Tan Use Jewelry In The Joy Luck Club

The oldest piece of jewelry discovered dates back 150,000 years (ArtNet News), proving its undying influence on cultures throughout the world. Over time, jewelry has served various purposes, for instance, to signify status, to demonstrate religious devotion, as a demonstration of wealth, and most commonly: the enhancement of natural beauty. However, no matter the country or time period, jewelry holds a sort of significance for the owner, as seen through the history behind the piece. The Joy Luck Club, a novel written by Amy Tan, describes the generational struggle between Chinese-American immigrant parents and their daughters as they attempt to preserve their cultural identity in the face of adapting to American society. Tan uses jewelry in

From Jesus Christ dying on the cross to the gifts of the ornamental comb and the gold watch chain in The Gift of the Magi, love’s best expression is through altruistic sacrifice. In The Joy Luck Club, jewelry is used as a sacrifice as an indication of familial love. An-mei receives a string of pearls from Second Mother, who uses her beauty and status as a way to manipulate those beneath her. She does the same thing with the pearl necklace. An-mei becomes awestruck by the pearls, yet her mother sees right through Second Mother’s cheap tricks and reveals to An-mei that the pearls are fake. This disappointment doesn’t last long when An-mei’s mother gives her a ring. An-mei describes the ring as “a heavy ring of watery blue sapphire, with a star in its center so pure that I never ceased to look at that ring with wonder” (Tan 261). This gift shows An-mei’s mother’s sacrifice because the ring held immense value and An-mei was just a little girl. She wanted An-mei to know that real jewelry given from the heart is worth more than any other gift could be. Later, An-mei uses this precious gift as a sacrifice in order to save her son Bing’s life. She tells her daughter, Rose, that throwing the ring into the water in which Bing drowned, “would make the Coiling Dragon forgetful of Bing.” (136) An-mei sacrifices the ring without hesitation, doing whatever it takes to get her son back. This act holds incredible significance due to the fact that the ring was given to her by her mother who died when she was still very young. The sacrifice that An-mei made for her son shows that she looks past the worldly value of the gemstone ring and realizes that her son’s life means more to her than a piece of