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Individualism In Lino Jung's The Joy Luck Club

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In The Joy Luck Club, Lindo Jong encounters the biggest cultural conflict out of all the mothers. While she is still proud of her Chinese heritage, she recognises her own American characteristics after being treated as a foreigner when she returned to China. To her horror, Lindo realises that she has sacrificed much of her Chinese traits after staying in America. Lindo’s actions mirror Chinese beliefs, with the way she submits her happiness for the sake of filial obligations and how she based success on her family. In contrast, Lindo’s self-empowered attitude and competitive spirit reflect American beliefs of individualism. Therefore, despite some of her traits, Lindo 's mindset and reactions reflect American beliefs to a large extent.

Firstly, Lindo is proactive in bringing about important …show more content…

Instead of being a passive figure, she takes action in The Red Candle to escape her oppressive marriage. On the morning of the Festival of Pure Brightness, she wakes the house up and tells Huang Tai Tai about a dream she had the last night. Taking advantage of the fact that Huang Tai Tai is a superstitious person, she weaves a story of how their ancestors will “begin the cycle of destruction” and kill Tyan-yu if they stayed in their marriage. In addition, Lindo intelligently uses information she gleaned in the past. For instance, she recalls how she blew out the red candle and they “extracted her (the matchmaker’s servant) terrible confession” that the candle was extinguished to lend credence to her story. Moreover, she is very observant, utilising a servant girl’s pregnancy to aid her in building her story. According to Lindo, “I had watched her stomach grow rounder and her face become longer with fear and worry.” Furthermore, she uses superstitions and traditional thinking to her own benefit, rather than let them trap her. By enacting such a complex plan to get out of her awful life, Lindo has full agency over her future. This is

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As seen by the mothers’ and daughters’ behavior towards each other in The Joy Luck Club, it is difficult to preserve one’s culture when one is exposed to a new environment or country. With a difference of two distinct generations between them, the four main pairs often come across cultural collisions. Other than facing the age gap, these mothers and daughters also have to deal with a language and communication barrier. Already, at the beginning of the story, Jing-Mei Woo is able to understand how the mothers of the “Joy Luck Club” are displeased with their daughter’s rejection of their Chinese culture. She speaks to herself, admitting that “they are frightened.

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