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The Joy Luck Club Symbolism Analysis

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Tan’s narrative style involves giving the symbols and allusions in all her novels. She emphasizes the symbols such as food, dreams, orchids, silence, ink, fate and paintings to carry the weightage of the themes in all her novels. In case of The Joy Luck Club, the symbols and allusions are interwoven with food, dreams and Chinese language. Through these devices, Tan explores the layers of palimpsest that is her text, her narrative of the immigrant experience in America, her exploration of the bond between mother and daughter. A crucially important symbol in the novel is the Joy luck Club with its mah-jong table as a center piece that links past and present and codifies place and identity for club members. During the war years in Japanese-occupied …show more content…

Orchids can live without being taken care of all the time. Similarly, Ruth lived without the love and nurture from her mother and this is why Ruth and the orchid have resemblances. Also flowers in general represent sadness to LuLing because flowers are at funerals and LuLing had to suffer through many loved ones dying. Also for much of LuLing's life she had to be strong and live without the help and love of others to get her through many tough situations in her life. Lastly Ruth tries really hard to be independent and doesn't accept the help she needs from others because just like orchids need water Ruth ends up needing the help she had denied. Also, Tan shows ‘silence’ as a symbol in The Bonesetter's Daughter because after Precious Auntie's incident she is unable to speak and leads a life in silence. Also for a week each year Ruth loses her voice for an unknown reason. Finally, when Ruth breaks her arm on the playground she is given the love and affection she wants from her mother. Ruth is afraid that if she starts talking she will lose the care she wants. Silence also contributes to the lack of communication which was evident throughout the novel. Another symbol which is effectively used by Tan in The Bonesetter's Daughter is ‘ink’ because the ink making represents LuLing's childhood because that is what she spends most of her time doing. The

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Kai Foote Martinez Sophomore Honors English 25 January 2023 The Sacrifices That Come with Love in The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan ’s novel The Joy Luck Club is about the hardships of relationships with different cultural beliefs and expectations and how they influence people. There are numerous examples of the hardships and sacrifices that mothers make for their children; these sacrifices teach and influence all the daughters to help them have a better understanding of the world and their expectations.

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In the short story, “ The Possibility of Evil” author Shirley Jackson uses several symbols in her story. The symbols were used to tell her story about an old lady named Ms. Strangeworth. Three main symbols used through the story where her roses, the letters, and Ms. Strangeworth herself. In the beginning of the story the author tells us about how important the roses were to Ms. Strangeworth. The roses were passed down from generation to generation, she inherited them.

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In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson uses several symbols to tell her story about Miss Strangeworth. One symbol Shirley uses in the short story is Miss Strangeworth’s roses. She devotes herself to the roses more than anything and will take care of them, letting no one take any and keeping them beautiful. They endure more meaning than just plain flowers, they consist of memories, they hold a place ever since Miss Strangeworth’s grandfather built the house she currently lives in. The roses persisted of the care by Miss Strangeworth’s grandmother, mother, and now by her.

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According to Roman Jakobson, “In poetic language, in which the sign as such takes on an autonomous value, this sound symbolism becomes an actual factor and creates a sort of accompaniment to the signified literature.” This quote portrays the meaning that symbolism is the poetic and creative use of elements, such as objects and words to portray the critical details and intrinsic meaning in a piece of literature. In essence, think of yourself a pristine art gallery and you are observing an inspiring, captivating, beautiful portrait, and you see an impeccable phoenix. Although, you capture this perspective someone else may interpret the portrayal of hope and immortality. Moreover, the story Pink and Say, authored by Patricia Polacco offers a superfluity of examples of symbolism that completely adds a definition of meaning to the text in terms of the main characters and plot.

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“The Hero’s Journey” is term for a narrative style that was identified by scholar Joseph Campbell. The narrative pattern would depict a character’s heroic journey, and categorize the character’s experiences into three large sections: departure, which contained the hero’s call to adventure, fulfillment, which consisted of the hero’s initiation, trials, and transformation, and finally the return. The novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan investigates the relationship and actions of four Chinese women and their daughters. The character Lindo Jong’s youth in China exemplifies the three part heroic journey in how she leaves the familiar aspects in her life, faces trials in the home of her betrothed, ..... Departure:

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Thesis Statement about theme of literary work- In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, expressions of love and hatred are shown in multiple mother-daughter relationships resulting in negative impacts such as pain, bitterness, and regret because of their differing opinions. Support Point #1- Suyuan Woo guiltily leaves her twin daughters on the ground in China as she walks away in tears.

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Tan expresses the life experiences of Chinese immigrants to the United States and attempts to depict the relationship of a mother and daughter through her significant piece of writing ‘The Joy Club’. Therefore, all these authors somehow portrayed their early struggles and their view point towards life from their literary

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Between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry was under armed guard and behind barbed wire living on the

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The symbols in The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson have figurative meanings to them that depict their role in the story. The flowers symbolize as a loved being for Miss Strangeworth since she takes care of them dearly and protects them from the wickedness in her town. The envelopes symbolize Miss Strangeworth wickedness spreading her cruelty and hurting other people. Miss Strangeworth pretends to be a kind person, but when no one is watching her she depicts the cruelty inside of her showing the possibility of evil inside of everybody. Artists and the writers make these symbols to provide lore and create an expansive world.

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As Bender would say "screws fall out all of the time, the world is an imperfect place. " This quote is said when Bender decides to close the door and takes the screw out of it. I think this quote is very powerful because it is true. The world is not a perfect place and I think people except it to be. John Bender has a very powerful and eye opening part in this movie.

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‘“Not know your own mother?” cries Auntie An-mei with disbelief. “How can you say? Your mother is in your bones!”’(Tan 40). The Joy Luck Club has recurring messages throughout the book, including: marriage and divorce, culture and beliefs, and mother and daughter relationships.

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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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This also state that by eating the peach you get memories of great moments and not so great moments. I think the author is trying to represent that life is how you make it. In total the author Li-Young Lee, uses symbolism to point out the happiness and the sadness that comes from simple things. By using repetition and symbolism, Li-Young Lee the author of “ From Blossoms” shows that the end of something can lead to joy and happiness through memories.

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Bi, Zijian Thu. 3/5/2015 English 2B Ms. Freeland 2° WHEN THE DREAM COMES TRUE What is your American Dream? “The Joy Luck Club”, a novel by Amy Tan, talks about how four mother-daughter pairs have fulfilled their American Dreams. Suyuan and Jing-mei was one of the mother-daughter pair who wants to fulfill their dreams in America.

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“Communication is the key to a successful relationship, attentiveness, and consistency. Without it, there is no relationship,” (Bleau). The Joy Luck Club is a novel written by Amy Tan. Set in the twentieth century, this novel depicts the life of four Chinese immigrant women escaping their past and their American-grown daughters. The novel reveals the mothers’ hardship-filled past and motivations alongside with the daughters’ inner conflicts and struggles.

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