ipl-logo

The Joy Luck Club Identity Essay

976 Words4 Pages

The Joy Luck Club, a novel written by Amy Tan explores the relationships between Chinese immigrant mothers and their American born daughters. This novel responds with the exploration of identity, culture, and the strugles with assimilation. Amy Tan’s novel takes the reader on a journey through the lives of four Chinese immigrant women and their daughters, who struggle to become more knowledgeable of their culture because they are used to the American way of life, unlike their mothers. Because of Jing-Mei’s (June’s) interaction with her mother’s different cultural ideology, she was sent on a path of self-discovery, highlighting the issues of mothers and daughters with “cultural differences.” .
(FIRST BODY DRAFT): In the novel The Joy Luck …show more content…

Jing-Mei's journey is a reflection of the struggles many first-generation Chinese-Americans face in reconciling their Chinese identity with their American identity. Jing-Mei’s mother Suyuan Woo was an immigrant who had lost her two daughters during the war and was never able to reconcile with her loss. Because Suyuan Woo wanted to to replace her lost children, she presuured Jing-Mei to become a prodigy. After her mothers death Jing-Mei saw a side of her mother that she had never seen before, this lead Jing-Mei on her journey to discovering who she is in the novel. Eventually, Jing-Mei learns about her mothers struggles that she had back in China, which helped Jing-Mei understand her mother cultural ideologies and expectations. In the novel Jing-Mei stated “ I had never realized how Chineese I was until I heard these women speak” (Tan --). This statement showed the relization for Jing-Mei that she is becoming more connected with her Chineese heritage than she had initially been. This epiphany for June started off her cultural exploration that continued throughout the novel which better help find herself. Lastly, Jing-Mei stated “ I understood my mother much better, and I felt closer to her, knowing we shared this bond of culture and history” (Tan--). Saying this Jing-Mei is admitting that her trip to China helps her understand her mothers background and her experiences, which brings them closer together. 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

Show More
Related
870 Words | 4 Pages

Jing-Mei has this mother who lost her husband and twins back in China and is now trying very hard to get a fresh and better start on her new life with her child. Now this could mean many different things to different people, but

Read More
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

Read More
1013 Words | 5 Pages

As Jing-mei’s mother is telling her that she has to go play piano, the reader can imagine how she gets more and more angry as her daughter disregards what she is saying. Finally, the narrator emphasizes to the reader how the relationship between Jing-mei and her mother deteriorates more and more as time

Read More
1066 Words | 5 Pages

This disagreement quickly became a source of resentment and anger for both of them, but Jing-Mei and her mother were unable to resolve this conflict because of their different backgrounds and experiences. The story showcases how relationships between mothers and daughters can be strained because of differences in culture and a lack of communication. One of the difficulties between Jing-Mei and her mother is their different cultural backgrounds, which is supported by two points from the story. Firstly, Jing-Mei and her mother both disagreed on the opportunities that existed in America. According to Singer, Amy Tan uses “two entirely

Read More
429 Words | 2 Pages

“After losing everything in China…She never looked back with regret. ”(Chunk 1 ¶3). Jing-Mei’s mother is a Chinese immigrant with the typical ‘everything is better in America’ mindset. Jing-Mei, being raised in America, had more of an American mindset. “You want me to be someone i’m not…I’ll never be the daughter you want me to be!”

Read More
561 Words | 3 Pages

Jing Mei’s mother pushes her to be something that she

Read More
571 Words | 3 Pages

After Jing Mei’s cultural experiences, and her mother’s contrasted beliefs of Jing Mei’s musical power, Jing Mei feels more culturally and musically independent, as well as

Read More
531 Words | 3 Pages

My mother and father would adore me.” However this creates great tension between mother and daughter as Jing-mei is privileged to have always known the safety of the American culture and so with the constant disappointment on her mother’s face after every raised hope and failed expectation she undauntedly begins to resent her own identity because she doesn’t understand her mother’s dream for her/their future. Who is Jing-mei? Chinese? American?

Read More
419 Words | 2 Pages

Although she was born in America and is mixed with both cultures she has to meet both Chinese and American expectations. Evidence that demonstrates this central idea can be found when it says,“And after seeing my mother’s disappointed face once again, something inside of me began to die. I hated the tests, the raised hopes and failed expectations.” (Tan 134). This quote uses the literary device of narrator’s reaction to the event and develops the central idea because Jing-mei states that she hates tests and she always raises her hopes and always fails her mother's expectations.

Read More
1101 Words | 5 Pages

Especially Jing-Mei because she was having the harder time understanding her mother, until after Suyuan’s death. For example, when Jing-Mei is on her way to China, she starts to feel her DNA changing and recalls her mother saying she will unlock her Chinese-self some day. As Jing-Mei describes, “And I think, my mother was right. I am becoming Chinese” (Tan 304). This shows that Jing-Mei is beginning to come to an understanding with her mother.

Read More
862 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the story, Jing-mei’s feeling toward her mother change in critical ways. As a young child, Jing-mei wants constant attention from her mother, going so far as agreeing to become a child prodigy. In the story, Jing-mei commented, “In fact, in the beginning, I was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so” (Tan 221). This was before her mother becomes highly adamant about wanting her child to become a prodigy. As time went on, she wanted Jing-mei to become the epitome of a child star.

Read More
656 Words | 3 Pages

personal satisfaction. Jing-Mei struggles with the difficulty of choosing between her desires and her mother’s. Throughout the short story, she wants to live up to her mother’s expectations, but she is unhappy because she is being involuntarily forced into tasks. This brings up the idea for Jing-Mei to assert her independence to find her own path. She realizes that all this hard work she’s been doing is getting her nowhere, and decides that she is done following her mom’s instructions mindlessly.

Read More
1225 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the entire novel, the mothers and daughters face inner struggles, family conflict, and societal collision. The divergence of cultures produces tension and miscommunication, which effectively causes the collision of American morals, beliefs, and priorities with Chinese culture which

Read More
937 Words | 4 Pages

Jing Mei, while portrayed as an obedient child, is only willing to listen to her mother to a certain extent. Throughout the story, it is consistently hinted that Jing Mei would eventually explode against her mother as an attempt to free herself from her mother’s chains. In addition, after the fiasco at the piano recital, she eventually derives further from her mother’s wishes as she “didn 't get straight A...didn 't become class president...didn 't get into Stanford...dropped out of college.” (54). On the flip side, Jing Mei’s mother is a stereotypical Chinese parent who is fully determined to ensure her daughter’s success in a new environment.

Read More
1309 Words | 6 Pages

This peculiarly specific list showed that as a first-generation American, she was constantly scrutinizing the small actions that her mother demonstrated, and she was embarrassed, although it is not likely anyone else ever noticed. However, as she got older, Jing-Mei realized the fact that she was “becoming Chinese.” She still did not truly understand her mother or the beauty of Chinese culture, but her acceptance was the first step of the long excursion of

Read More

More about The Joy Luck Club Identity Essay

Related Topics

Open Document