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Isolation In Amy Tan's In The Joy Luck

778 Words4 Pages

In this day and age, everyone, regardless of age, will admit to the feeling of being an “outsider”. In accordance with that, Orson Scott Card’s definition of an outsider relates to a person isolating themselves to a particular group or a person not within a boundary. Moreover, outcasts see situations more clearly and have a stronger sense in self. Personally I do not agree. Although physical separation can lead to being an outsider, the lack of self- confidence is the true cause of isolation.
Based on my definition of an outsider, Rachel Watson from Girl on the Train symbolizes this label. Rachel clearly described her feeling of isolation through her statement, “I was trespassing. That's what it felt like this morning, because it's their territory now, it's Tom and Anna's and Scott and Megan's. I'm the outsider. I don't belong there, and yet everything is so familiar to me.” (Hawkins P. 28) Seeing these people so often strengthened how lonely Rachel truly felt, …show more content…

Throughout the novel, Jing Mei explains her rocky relationship and lack of affection with her high demanding Chinese mother. She was ashamed and embarrassed of her heritage, and the "funny Chinese dresses with stiff stand-up collars and blooming branches of embroidered silk sewn over their breasts." She believed that the Joy Luck Club was a "shameful Chinese custom, like the secret gathering of the Ku Klux Klan or the tom-tom dances of TV Indians preparing for war." In addition, she constantly compared herself to Waverly, without recognizing her own talent. June’s lack of belief in herself led to her feeling alienated from the Chinese mothers and daughter in the Joy Luck Club. However, when June accepted the Joy Luck Club's generous gift of $1200, she took a first step toward fully discovering, accepting, and appreciating her culture, as well as

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In Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, many cultural differences exist between the characters, creating complications in their relationships. An example of a cultural difference is between An-mei’s Chinese values and traditions and those of Christianity. The collision of these Chinese and Christian faiths profoundly influences An-Mei's character by causing her to doubt both faiths and resulting in her daughter Rose's inability to control her own choices. An-mei’s exposure to Chinese culture and the Christian faith results in an intermixing of both ideals which eventually leads to a cultural collision. An-mei is exposed to the traditional Chinese values of filial piety, wisdom, deference, and honesty through her grandmother.

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Isolation is “the state of being in a place or situation that is separate from others” (Britannica Dictionary.com). Some view isolation to be positive, others view it as negative. Some wish to be alone, while others fear it. Everyone has a different perception on this topic due to experiences and influence. These different perceptions are seen t from the experiences of many.

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There have been several pieces of literature that we have read this semester that use the topic of outsiders but one work shone the brightest. Sherman Alexie’s essay, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” employed the topic of outsiders through his sharing personal experiences with himself as an outsider in his community. His writing is the model example of the use of outsiders because of Alexie talking about how his parents raised him, his childhood experiences in school, and adult

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Throughout the novel The Joy Luck Club, Jing-Mei Woo struggles with her sense of identity and belonging in a community as she is often embarrassed of her heritage, and prefers to live her life in the shadows. However, at the end of the book, Jin-mei finds peace when she seeks her roots and sisters in China. She finally finds her inner Chinese that she described is “in your blood waiting to be let go” (Tan 306). This shows that although immigrants of the time period often struggled with self identity, deep down they wanted to find acceptance in their

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