The Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan

In all cultures, children are taught to respect their parents. Chinese culture is no different. However, in the Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, An-Mei Hsu grows up in her Aunt’s house and is raised by her Aunt and her grandma, Popo. Under her guardians, An-Mei is taught to not even speak of her mother, so, when her mother shows up at the house when An-Mei is 9, An-Mei is unaware of how to treat her mother. She was taught that her mother was a disgrace to the family. But when her mother is standing right in front of her, how is she supposed to treat her like that? An-Mei eventually leaves her toxic childhood home with her mother after Popo dies and begins to learn that the disgraceful thing her mother had supposedly done, was not the truth at all.

And I wanted to shout to the clock and make its meaningless noise be silent, but I did not” (270). In Wu Tsing’s house, there was a cuckoo clock that went off every hour and after Ghost’s death, An-Mei was fragile and easily annoyed. Reconnecting to what Ghost told her about the turtle, An-Mei does not cry at first about her mother's death and attempts to stay strong like her mother wanted her to. After Ghost’s death, An-Mei wanted to carry on her mother’s strength throughout her life and make it an influence in Rose’s life. In the days after Ghost’s death, An-Mei remained at Wu Tsing’s house because she wanted to get revenge, “And then I recalled to her story about the little turtle, his warning not to cry. And I wanted to shout to her that it was no use.” (270). “I can see the truth, too. I am strong too. . .Because we both knew this: that on the third day after someone dies, the soul comes back to settle scores. . . And on that day I had learned to shout.” (271-272). On the third day, Wu Tsing is dressed in his nicest mourning outfits so as to not be revenged by Ghost’s soul and An-Mei. However, on this day, the Hsu family got their revenge for Ghost being taken advantage of by Second Wife and Wu Tsing. An-Mei becomes strong on this day and uses her voice.

When An-Mei grows up and has her own family, she lives by the strength her mother lived with. An-Mei uses her quiet strength passed down from her mother as she faces accepting the death of her youngest son Bing. Many years after Bing’s disappearance at sea, Rose checks her mother’s bible and on the page of names of people who have died, she finds her little brother’s name. However, the ink is not permanent. Rose instead finds Bing’s name written, “ lightly, in erasable pencil” (140). By not writing in permanent ink, An-Mei shows that she still has hope that her son is still alive but is also ready to accept his death if evidence is found, this shows An-Mei living with her mother’s strength. While An-Mei lives her life with her mother’s strength, she raises Rose on the same strength but it isn’t until Rose was an adult that she fully brings out this strength that was passed down to her through Chinese generations. Rose decides, through her mother’s words, “She said that if I listened to her, later I would know what she knew: where true words came from, always from up high, above everything else” (205) . . . “‘I’ve already found a place,’ . . . ‘Here.’ . . . “He folded his arms across his chest, squinted his eyes, examining my face as if he knew it would crack at any moment. That expression of his used to terrify me. . .Now I felt nothing, no fear, no anger” (218). At this