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Relationship Between Jing Mei And Suyuan

979 Words4 Pages

Mother and daughter relationships aren’t always perfect. Most of the time, they see things from different perspectives. This could be caused from bad communication or being brought up differently. Amy Tan shows this through Jing-Mei and Suyuan in The Joy Luck Club. Tan is trying to prove that even though a parents and child's relationship isn’t always perfect they can still learn from each other. In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan shows numerous conflicts between Jing-Mei and Suyuan; one conflict that arises in the novel connecting Jing-Mei and Suyuan is when Suyuan wants her daughter to be a prodigy. Jing-Mei feels her mother wanted to change her, make her something she’s not. Suyuan made Jing-Mei take many tests. She could never remember all …show more content…

Suyuan had many different conflicts that shaped her differently from her daughter. When Suyuan was trying to leave China due to a war she had to make the hardest decision of her life. She had to leave her daughter’s behind in hope for the best. For years Suyuan searched for her children but, when she never found them she used Jing-Mei. Suyuan wanted Jing-Mei to be something great because she couldn’t watch her other daughters do this. Jing-Mei was Suyuan's long cherished wish, Jing-Mei says “I think about this. My mother’s long-cherished wish. Me, the younger sister who was supposed to be the essence of the other’s”(Tan 321). Jing-Mei was Suyuan's long cherished wish because she had lost so much. Suyuan stayed on Jing-Mei because she lost her other daughters so she wanted Jing-Mei to be the best. In the novel Suyuan was shaped as a strong woman. While she was, one topic brought her much pain. During an argument Jing-Mei tells her mother “‘Then I wish I’d never been born! I shouted. I wish I were dead! Like them…her face went blank, her mouth closed, her arms went slack and she backed out of the room’”(Tan 153). This topic destroyed Suyuan everytime because all she wanted was a chance to have her daughters

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453 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout her childhood life her mother, Suyuan, was continuously pushing her to be her best. Jing-Mei purposely tried to fail at everything to prover to her mother that she could never become a great and famous person. Then after a piano recital that went horridly wrong, her and her mother had an argument and their relationship was never the same. Many years later Suyuan tried to give Jing-mei the piano that she had as a child. She refused the offer, but than a year later her mother died and Jing-Mei was cleaning out her mother’s house and decided to play the piano and she was surprised that she still knew how.

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657 Words | 3 Pages

With the mother pushing her this much it makes her very strict. She doesn’t really give Jing a choice. This also made Jing feel like her mother didn’t like her the way she was. “’Why don’t you like me the way I am?’ I cried.

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207 Words | 1 Pages

Her intentions are not meant for heartbreaks, but for the well-being of her babies. Support Point # 2- Suyuan’s top priority is to educate Jing-mei as ideal daughter; however, high expectations are difficult to achieve causing problems and leading bitterness into the relationship. Support Point

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645 Words | 3 Pages

Although June never was as successful as her mother had hoped she’d be, her mother was very proud and believed that she had a good heart. June finally understood her mother’s intentions in her parenting. Suyuan wanted June to realize her internal worth, rather than monetary and academic success or fame. Suyuan had to grasp that her daughter wasn’t a traditional Asian girl with traditional goals for her life. She was June, and she was

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430 Words | 2 Pages

This passage tells of the unsuccessful journey that Suyuan and her new husband go on a search for the babies. It demonstrates how attached a family is in Chinese

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571 Words | 3 Pages

Regardless, her mother still is persistent on Jing Mei becoming a prodigy, despite her passionless performance and her family’s negative reaction. In return, Jing Mei becomes angry at her mother, and will do anything to change her mind. Screaming, “I wish I were dead! Like them.”, her mother freezes, disappointed in her daughter, and quits Jing Mei’s piano classes. On Page 28-29, Jing Mei’s perspective on the world becomes more apparent: “For unlike my mother, I didn’t believe I could be anything I wanted to be, I could only be me.”

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1177 Words | 5 Pages

One dynamic that false expectation strains is the relationship between Suyuan and her daughter Jing-Mei. In a vignette told from the perspective of the latter, Suyuan has the notion that Jing-Mei should be able to perform something at the level of a prodigy. She begins

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1369 Words | 6 Pages

At first Jing-Mei grew in her dreams and desirers to be perfect for her family; “In all of my imaginings

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1034 Words | 5 Pages

Through analyzing the stories about their lives’ hardships and experiences, it is revealed that Suyuan’s American Dream is achieved by Jing-mei by going back to her own country, retrieving her two sisters, and makes the family whole again. The story of Suyuan and Jing-mei chasing their American Dream teaches us a lesson: Never gives up your dreams casually. One day, you will be thankful for your persistence, when the dream comes

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976 Words | 4 Pages

This allows Jing-Mei to have a deeper understanding of her heritage and the experiences that her mother was put through, which proceeds to lead her to the reason why Suyuan was so hard on her and wanted Jing-Mei to try, which was the only thing she wanted from her. This allows Jing-Mei to feel more connected to her cultural identity and who she

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947 Words | 4 Pages

And then I wondered how she knew they were all dead”( Tan 311 ). Jing-Mei learned about all of her mother's past and the details involving them. Suyuan telling Jing mei some of this somehow brought them together in a

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1026 Words | 5 Pages

In The Joy Luck Club, written by Amy Tan, we are introduced to Suyuan and her daughter Jing-Mei “June” Woo. As with any relationship, there is conflict between Suyuan Woo and her daughter, as it seems that Jing-Mei doesn’t understand her mother’s Chinese culture and ambitions. In the Chinese culture, women are seen as inferior and often lack basic rights such as the right to marriage or financial holdings, thus deprived of their potential. This is why the rights in the U.S. are seen as privileges to Chinese women, among other minorities, and why Suyuan endeavored for her daughter to become a prodigy and excel in anything and everything. Yet as Jing-Mei was forced into this ideal, and the more her mother tried to enforce this idea, the further she begun to despise her mother for attempting to turn her into a “fraud”.

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937 Words | 4 Pages

However, this determination sometimes appears to be obsessive to the point of running her daughter’s life for her. Regardless, she is only trying to help, as she encourages Jing Mei by asserting “‘You can be best anything.’” (1). Because of this, it suggests that although she is very harsh on her daughter at times, it is only to make sure that Jing Mei can use her full potential and not end up losing everything like her

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1309 Words | 6 Pages

In the words of Jing-Mei in the last line of the story, “Together we look like our mother. Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long-cherished wish” (Tan 159). Throughout her life, Suyuan, their mother, held onto the hope that she would see her daughters again. In this hope, she named Jing-Mei in connection to her sisters, keeping the “long-cherished wish” that someday her daughters would reconcile and complete their family circle. The occasion that

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477 Words | 2 Pages

“For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be, I could only be me.” (Tan 24). With this statement you can see that she does not agree with her mother. Jing-Mei’s Mother was raised in Chinese culture, therefore she is very strict and demanding to Jing-Mei to do what she wants. From doing a chore, to hobbies or even Jing-Mei’s passion.

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