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Waverly's Relationship In The Joy Luck Club

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In the novel The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan tells the story of four Chinese mothers who immigrated to America in hopes of living the “American dream”. Through reading about each relationship, one can see how culture, personalities, and history can play a part in their bond with their daughters, positively and negatively. For example, Lindo and her daughter Waverly Jong have traits that contribute to their unhealthy mother-daughter relationship that is filled with conflict. When it comes to sharing her opinion, Lindo can be quite honest but at the same time wants Waverly to admire her. While Waverly is often irritable and sensitive and sees Lindo as an opponent, constantly trying to attack her. These different personality traits mixed with Lindo’s …show more content…

She wanted to raise Waverly with Chinese circumstances, which means not always serving out tons of compliments and love every time she sees her. It means teaching her to respect authority, just like her own mother had done. One day Waverly seeks Lindo’s approval on a new jacket Rich bought her. This is part of her plan to force Lindo to accept her and Rich are developing a serious relationship by living together and buying each other fancy gifts. She also wants Rich to win Lindo over and seems to think showing Lindo an expensive jacket he gave her will do just that. Instead, Lindo decides to give Waverly her real opinion on the jacket and says, “this is not so good. It is just leftover strips. And the fur is too short, no long hairs” (169). Waverly is shocked that her mother would say so about a gift and although Lindo was talking about the jacket, it seems Waverly took the comment as if it was directed at Rich. This is a time when Lindo’s will to have an honest relationship with her daughter can stop her from forming a loving one. When it comes to approving a husband for Waverly, it is evident Lindo cares more about his character than his gifts. This means he must have a good job, well manners, and take care of Waverly and her daughter Shoshana. Lindo should see in this present that it is a symbol of how much Rich loves her daughter and shows he takes good care of

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However, this was not done in Waverly’s favor. Waverly felt as if the attention was unnecessary, and that her mom was very selfish to use Waverly’s fame to improve the impression that other people had of her. The mother put all the focus on herself, as

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She credits her success to her mother’s lesson of the power of invisible strength. She recounts how “my mother taught me the art of invisible strength. It was a strategy for winning arguments, respect from others, and eventually, though neither of us knew it at the time, chess games.” (p. 89) Waverly goes on to have a lucrative career as an attorney, while her mother 's power over her gradually wanes reminiscent of the Taitai’s power over Lindo.

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In Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, many cultural differences exist between the characters, creating complications in their relationships. An example of a cultural difference is between An-mei’s Chinese values and traditions and those of Christianity. The collision of these Chinese and Christian faiths profoundly influences An-Mei's character by causing her to doubt both faiths and resulting in her daughter Rose's inability to control her own choices. An-mei’s exposure to Chinese culture and the Christian faith results in an intermixing of both ideals which eventually leads to a cultural collision. An-mei is exposed to the traditional Chinese values of filial piety, wisdom, deference, and honesty through her grandmother.

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‘Is luck,’ she whispered” (96). This shows that Lindo really cares for Waverly and wants only the best for her. A bit later in the story, we see that Lindo is really having trouble expressing this desire for Waverly. After some of Waverly’s matches, Lindo tells her to “win more [pieces],

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“This my daughter Wave-ly Jong,” she said to whoever looked her way. One day, after we left a shop I said under my breath, “I wish you wouldn’t do that, telling everybody I’m your daughter,’” (Tan). What Waverly means by this is when her mother goes everywhere saying that Waverly is her daughter, Waverly feels ashamed. She feels ashamed because Waverly was taught to always be humble and never to boast, yet then her own mother boasts about her.

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However, she makes a pledge to herself, which she resolves to keep with equal zeal. Lindo’s lesson in balancing duty to one’s parents and responsibility to oneself also links her to her daughter who must learn to revere their heritage and elders without becoming passive, and without giving up their desires and aspirations. Waverly states, “ I was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength. It was a strategy for winning arguments, respect from others, and eventually .. chess games. At home, she said, “Wise guy, he does not go

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And she was the queen, able to move in all directions, relentless in her pursuit, always able to find my weakest spots” (Tan 199). She feels as if her mother is purposely trying to pick her apart. Waverly wants to be able to be in control or in charge but at the same time seeks her mother's approval. This can be seen when she tries to make her fiance, Rich, look go so that Lindo will like him because she is afraid of what she will say about him. The author writes “And even if I recognized her strategy, her sneak attack, I was afraid that some unseen speck of truth would fly into my eye, blur what I was seeing and transform him from the divine man I thought he was into someone quite mundane, mortally wounded with tiresome habits and irritating imperfections” (Tan 191).

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When Waverly gets annoyed that Lindo manipulated her, Lindo talks about their ancestors and says, “We are a smart people, very strong, tricky, and famous for winning wars” (182). Waverly goes on to manipulate the conversation in the way she wants to, to show Waverly that she should embrace Lindo as part of Waverly’s life. Her deviousness is shown through her verbal attacks, and she does not care how foolish she makes Waverly feel, because she gets what she

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Mrs. Lindo is narrow- minded in the aspect that she did not understand American culture as Waverly did. Mrs. Lindo keeps her Chinese ways of honor and respect. She makes her sons do Waverly's chores to make time for Waverly to practice. She said, “Meimei play, squeeze all her brains out for win chess. You play, worth squeeze towel" (Tan 505).

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