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
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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