Trauma In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

Trauma is a real thing that happens to everyone. Whether it be physical or mental. In The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Rose Hsu has some traumatic events happen to her. One with her brother Bing and one with her ex-husband Ted. Because of Rose Hsu’s interaction with Bing and Ted, she became more conscious and assertive of her surroundings. Showing how her mothers culture has influenced her throughout her decisions and her view on different things. When Rose Hsu was 14 years old her mom put her in charge of watching her brother at the ocean. While Rose was supposed to be watching him lots of things started happening on the beach behind her, “Someone has thrown sand in Luke’s face… and thrown himself on top of Mark, thrashing and kicking. My mother shouts for me to stop them”(Tan 133). But while all of this is happening no one is watching Bing. And right as Rose turns to look at Bing, “his feet are already in the air, in a moment of balance, before he splashes into the sea and disappears”(Tan 133). Rose felt that it was all her fault for his death

They eventually got married and lived together. “Over the years, Ted decided where we went on vacation. He decided what new furniture we should buy… but we knew the question would boil down to me saying “‘Ted, youdecide”(Tan 126). Rose was always too shy to answer so she would just let Ted decide. She started showing emotions of being more timid and shy about making decisions so Ted eventually just started making them without talking to her. Eventually Rose realized she needed to get out of her relationship with Ted and divorced him. Her emotions immediately changed after she decided to do that, “Now I felt nothing, no fear, no anger”(Tan 218). And it was all because she asserted her ground to Ted. She had finally busted out of her shell and felt more confident about the things she