Transformation In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

The book Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is primarily about the transformation the women, their lives, and their relationships undergo in the book. While maintaining one’s culture being difficult when migrating to another country was present throughout the book it was most certainly not the overall theme of the book itself. There are those who may argue otherwise due to certain parts in the book.

The Families featured in the book, specifically the women, go through various ordeals resulting in selfgrowth. Lindo becomes self-assured in the third chapter changing so she doesn’t lose herself in her loveless first marriage. “I never believed , my family found the same girl” (Tan 83) is how Ying-Ying describes her innerchange. In chapter 6th, Ying-Ying

Clair families develop differently, subsequently the relationships which they choose to hold are transformed. The quote “... except for the ending, which gradually grew darker, casting long shadows into her life and eventually into mine.” (Tan 7) from the first chapter demonstrates just this. In Scar, An-mei explains that she came to love her mother thereby transforming their relationship with that change. In the fifth chapter of the book, told through Waverley’s point of view there is a change in her relationship with her mother as she begins to adapt to her newfound talent at chess. In Two Kinds, Suyuan and Jing-mei’s relationship shifts when Jing-mei takes a stab at Suyuan’s past, this leading to her not persisting about Jing-mei’s piano lessons. In Four Directions there are two relationships that transform, including Rich, Waverly, and Lindo. Waverly stops viewing her mother as a constant rival she must outsmart and Lindo accepts Rich in a way. “I could finally see what was really there: an old woman...” states Waverley coming to her realization, shifting their relationship. In the 14th chapter Ying-Ying accepts her husband’s death and creates a different relationship with St. Clair, making him her new husband. Using the words: “I look at my daughter and now it is the first time I have seen it.”, to describe her newfound realization, continuing to alter their relationship further. This occurring in the 15th chapter as Lindo

The very first page demonstrates this with a short tale of a goose explaining that once she came to America she forgot what she left behind. The parable supports the opposing theme for the book. “They see daughter’s who will bear grandchildren born without any connecting hope passed from generation to generation.” In this text it is obvious that they are worried about their culture being forgotten as they extend the line of lineage. Although, they don’t attribute the reason as a result of them moving to another country. The reason behind their worry is open to interpretation because the book doesn’t outright state they’re losing their cultural roots. What is being described in the book is referring more to legacy than the mothers losing their sense of origin if anything. Another instance would be when described herself as losing herself slowly. This itself keep in mind was a transformation. Also saying she kept her true nature hidden these can be used to support the losing you culture topic. Yet, one must take into consideration that it does not mention the fact that this occurred due to her immigrating to America. It was more a result and decision of her life-experiences that this came to be. There is a moment in the book when Ying-Ying St Clair refers to her daughter as American rather than Chinese once again supporting