Theme Of Silence In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

China to San Francisco, mothers to daughters, mistakes to opportunities. Suyuan Woo, Jing-mei Woo, An-mei Hsu, Rose Hsu Jordan, Lindo Jong, Waverly Jong, Ying-Ying St.Clair, and Lena St. Clair. The Joy Luck Club. In the novel, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, four mothers, and daughters tell their individual stories and how they all came to be The Joy Luck Club together. One specific family, the St. Clairs struggled with the danger of silence. Because Ying Ying St. Clair’s past collides with Lena’s present, the reader sees Lena change from being the voice of the family to being voiceless in her own marriage, highlighting the dangers of silence. Lena's parents, Ying-Ying and Clifford St.Clair, have an interesting marriage where Lena is the translator. Ying-Yings's primary language is Chinese while Clifford’s is English which causes miscommunication. Throughout Lena's childhood, she helped translate for both parents even through the worst moments. When Ying-Ying became pregnant Lena had to carry the burden of the baby's death.

One specific family stuck out, who lived the next wall over This family made Lena question her family's dynamic. Lena had several sleepless nights where she would explain how she “lay back against my pillow, my heart pounding at what I had just witnessed with my ears and imagination.” (Tan 114). Each night Lena would hear shouting and banging and creating a messy family in her mind. Lena wasn’t familiar with this family dynamic due to her family’s communication being scarce. Until one day Lena met this family and saw their troubles and how it strengthened their love for one another. When Lena got older she looked back on how she, “..used to wonder which was worse, our side or theirs.” (118). The family through the wall and Lena’s family had many differences in how they interacted. Lena began to compare the shouting to the silence and debate which was