ipl-logo

The Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan

1578 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Struggles that immigrants face in the u.s ESSAY

In our world, families and communities seek to preserve and expand their cultures. However, when one is introduced to a new perspective, it may become a struggle to maintain those original standards. Some of those cultural conceptions relate to success, relationships, and beliefs. In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, Chinese author Amy Tan defines these ideals through the lives of four Chinese immigrant mothers and their four American-born daughters. The novel focuses on the ongoing difficulties for each individual experiencing Americanization and the struggle to maintain cultural standards. She focuses on characters such as Lindo Jong, Wavery Jong, and Jing-Mei Woo to portray her beliefs. Amy Tan induces the reader by portraying specific cultural …show more content…

In her novel, Tan portrays this ideal through the relationships between mother and daughter. Waverly reflects on how her mother brags about her and displays her successes to everyone: “My mother would proudly walk with me.” Due to this Wavery felt bothered and asked, “Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess” (97)? In the section “Rules of the Game” by Wavery Jong, she discusses her new interest in chess. When her mother learns about this, she isn’t satisfied with Waverly winning until she loses fewer chess pieces. Waverly learned to lose less, and as a result, her mother starts to brag about her daughter everywhere she went. This shows how important success is to Lino Jong who has grown in Chinese culture. Amy Tan makes sure to recognize the difference between Lindo Jong and Wavery Jong and their opinions on success, to express how Americanization can make it difficult for Lindo to keep Waverly connected to Chinese culture.. Lindo Jong struggles to encourage Waverly to maintain Chinese beliefs on success. While her mother strives to develop Waverly into a successful, young woman, Waverly feels embarrassed and controlled by her mother. Tan also displays how success is so crucial in Chinese culture that mothers compete with each other. “She brings home too many trophy,” lamented Auntie Lindo that Sunday. “All day she play chess. All day I have no time to do nothing but dust off her winnings” said Auntie Lindo with a sigh to my mother. And my mother squared her shoulders and bragged: “Our problem worser than yours. If we ask Jing-mei wash dish, she hear nothing but music. It’s like you can’t stop this natural talent” (75). This comparison allows the reader to understand more about the importance of success in Asian culture. Amy Tan recognizes this important trait of Asian American culture and

Show More
Related

Waverly Jong Quotes With Page Numbers

426 Words | 2 Pages

Play it onto the discard pile. (b)Analyze: At the beginning of this story, the narrator, Waverly Jong, explains how her mother taught her the art of invisible strength when she was six years old, saying that it is a strategy for winning arguments, respect, and chess game. (a)Recall: When Waverly fears that she will lose a chess match and shame the family, Mrs. Jong says, "Is shame you fall down nobody push you. " Under the humor of her syntax, however, her words are powerful and biting - that is, Waverly has no one to blame for her failure but herself.

Read More

Waverly In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

238 Words | 1 Pages

This quote from the text stands out to me because it shows that Waverly’s mom cares more about herself than her community. Every Saturday, Waverly and her mom would go to the market. Not to purchase anything, but for Waverly’s mom to show off her daughter who became a national chess champion. Instead of focusing on how her family felt about Waverly’s sudden success and helping them cope with Waverly’s busy schedule, the mother chose to flaunt Waverly and boast about her accomplishments.

Read More

Waverly Jong's 'Rules Of The Game'

825 Words | 4 Pages

In “Rules of the Game,” the author directs her focus on the strained relationship between an immigrant mother and her daughter born in America but of intense Chinese background. The narrator, Waverly Jong describes her encounter at the marketplace with her mom; who taught her the art of invincible strength. She explains how her mother termed it as a strategy for winning arguments, respect from others stating that the strongest wind never meets the eye. This lesson proves pivotal in Jong’s spectacular chess expeditions that saw her crowned national champion as well as defined the latter`s relationship with her mother, whom she often saw as an opponent. Jong becomes entrapped in her conflicting environments, forcing her to adjust accordingly to both her physical and social environment.

Read More

Rules Of The Game By Amy Tan Theme

927 Words | 4 Pages

After a long journey and many games, she began to win lots of tournaments against people of all ages. Then, her mother introduced Waverly to the world by showing her off and this made Waverly upset. Waverly proceeded to run away and lost track of her surroundings. When she returned, her family was ashamed of her, displaying no announced resolution. The theme of the short story, “Rules of The Game” by Amy Tan is that the journey is what matters.

Read More

Joy Luck Club Essay: Lindo Jong's Invisible Strength

647 Words | 3 Pages

She credits her success to her mother’s lesson of the power of invisible strength. She recounts how “my mother taught me the art of invisible strength. It was a strategy for winning arguments, respect from others, and eventually, though neither of us knew it at the time, chess games.” (p. 89) Waverly goes on to have a lucrative career as an attorney, while her mother 's power over her gradually wanes reminiscent of the Taitai’s power over Lindo.

Read More

Similarities Between Waverly And Mrs. Jong In Amy Tan's Rules Of The Game

443 Words | 2 Pages

‘Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess.’” (Tan 241). This shows that her mother is very proud of Waverly and

Read More

Character Analysis: The Bean Trees By Barbara Kingsolver

1615 Words | 7 Pages

One day, Waverly’s mother took interest in her passion for chess so she decides she would go and see her play. “My mother joined the crowd during the outdoor exhibition games. She sat proudly on the bench, telling my admirers with proper Chinese humility” (Tan, “Rules of the Game”). Waverly’s mother is finally supporting Waverlys dream of playing chess after much persuasion. Likewise in a similar scene, an old man suggested that Waverly’s mother allow her to play with him.

Read More

Compare And Contrast Tan And Hurston

1409 Words | 6 Pages

For instance, her famous novel ‘The Joy Luck Club’ depicts the Chinese mother and her American daughter relationship where they go through various circumstances trying to understand each other including the evolvement that comes in their relationships as the daughters know more about their mother’s life stories. Secondly, Tan considers the theme of identity in terms of Chinese immigrants and their life experiences as an immigrant in the United States. She reveals how the children born to the immigrants strive in an environment which is a mixture of American and Chinese influence. Moreover, Tan is found to have explored identity issues through her fictive creations and tackled the issue of authorial identity (Becnel, 2010). Similarly, romantic love is another subject included in the literary artworks of Amy Tan which considers the relationships and romance an important aspect of human’s life.

Read More

Waverly Jong's 'Rules Of The Game'

725 Words | 3 Pages

Never let egotistical emotions control family life. Waverly Jong’s, short story, Rules of the Game, entails a review of her life from age seven to the time she’s nine, showing her notorious upbringing in the chess world, and also the boundaries of life. The author’s message about relationship is that there always must be a sense of family and togetherness. Examples of this are when Waverly and her brothers play chess together for the first time, also when Waverly starts to become good at chess her mother comes and watches her on the weekends. Lastly, although Waverly was exempt from many things in her life, her mother never exempt her from joining her at the markets on Saturday.

Read More

Waverly Jong In Amy Tan's The Rules Of The Game

352 Words | 2 Pages

(MINOR 1 FOR MAJOR A) In the story, she would consistently dedicate her time and effort in the game of chess. As a result, at age nine, she was a national chess champion. In addition, Waverly would spend countless of hours trying to discover and learn new strategic ways/techniques always to win the game. For instance, Waverly stated, “I went to school, then directly

Read More

The Joy Luck Club Cultural Analysis

521 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Joy Luck Club Character Analysis Essay

760 Words | 4 Pages

Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club is an amazing representation of what Chinese immigrants and their families face. The broad spectrum of the mothers’ and daughters’ stories all connect back to a couple of constantly recurring patterns. These patterns are used to show that how the mothers and daughters were so differently raised affected their relationships with each other, for better and for worse. To begin with, the ever-present pattern of disconnect between the two groups of women is used to show how drastically differently they were raised.

Read More

Joy Luck Club Mother Daughter Relationship

1177 Words | 5 Pages

Mother knows best. And yet so many daughters in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club feel slighted by what the matriarchal figures in their lives have in mind for them, or rather, what they believe their mothers have in mind for them. A perfect storm of expectation, true and false, about love, about success, about being Chinese. The souring of mother-daughter relationships in The Joy Luck Club stem from unrealistic or ill conceived expectations that both parties hold for the other.

Read More

Theme Of Rules Of The Game By Amy Tan

746 Words | 3 Pages

“‘Check,’ I said, as the wind roared with laughter. The wind died down to little puffs, my own breath.” Amy Tan’s short story, Rules of the Game, is about a talented Chinese-American girl, Waverly Place Jong, who aspires to become a champion in chess. As the story progresses, she builds up experience and becomes close to fulfilling her dream with help from her mother she takes for granted. At the end of the story, Waverly gets annoyed at her and runs away from her, only to figure out the action is her loss.

Read More

Abbreviations In Pinker's Article Mind Over Mass Media

735 Words | 3 Pages

The older generation’s complaints about advances in technology have become just as commonplace as technology itself. They claim that the increased use of technology to communicate is damaging grammatical and social abilities in their children and grandchildren. This, however, is not backed by a significant amount of evidence, and there is more evidence of technology’s benefits. Of course, moderation is key to reaping these benefits, but technology is a very useful communication tool when used in the right time and place. Therefore, the benefits of technology on communication skills far outweighs any drawbacks.

Read More

More about The Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan

Related Topics

Open Document