As discussed in the previous chapter, cultural and language barrier have caused serious obstacles for the mothers and daughters. Not being able to see and think from each other’s perspective blocks the path to effective communication which result in silence between them. The focus of this chapter is to analysis in details of Jing-mei’s change after her mother’s death and her trip to China to meet her lost sisters, which symbolizes that her split identity is healed and her relationship with her mother is reconciled as well. The mother-daughter relationships between the other mothers and daughters in The Joy Luck Club will also be studied
When Jing-mei is young, she is the same as the other three daughters - an outsider of their mothers’ world. She laughs at her mother’s “fractured English” and she “[grows] impatient” when her mother speaks Chinese (40). She does not understand the concept and meaning of Joy Luck Club either. In Jing-mei’s understanding, ‘joy luck’ is not a word, it does not exist”; instead, she thinks it is “a shameful Chinese custom, like the secret gathering of the Ku Klux Klan or the tom-tom dances of TV Indians preparing for war” (40, 28). This preconceived picture shows the limitation of Jing-mei’s knowledge of her mother and her history, therefore, she can only relate the Joy Luck Club to pessimistic or aggressive traditions. Moreover, Jing-mei also takes Suyuan’s criticisms as “her Chinese superstitions, beliefs that conveniently fit the circumstances”