Do you know your price? The Joy Luck Club

Essai , 2012 , 9 Pages

Philologie Anglaise - Littérature

"The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan portrays four Chinese women who migrated from China to the United States, still filled with the pain of the past and traditional Chinese culture. The interlocked stories in the book follow the development of the influence of the women's experience on their respective daughters, who are born in the United States.

Due to some traumatic experiences, the mothers could not and cannot freely and independently live their lives, so in the United States, where equality between male and female can be found, they put all their hopes on their daughters, hoping that they can be crafted into bright persons in the future under their mothers’ nursing. The daughters are thus to shine and thrive in the booming country, rather unlike the ancient Chinese women, who must be subservient to men.

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"The Joy Luck Club" describes the four Chinese women immigrate from China to the

United States, their blood is streaming with the pain of the past and traditional

Chinese culture, portraying the formation of the influence on the four daughters who

are born in the United States. Since the traumatic experiences, the mothers cannot

practise the meaning of life, so in the United States, where equality between male and

female can be found, they put all the hopes on their daughters, hoping that they can be

crafted as a bright person in the future under mothers' nursing; the daughters can thus

shine as dazzling as a diamond in the booming country, not rather like the ancient

Chinese women, who must be subservient to men.

I Suyuan Woo and Jing-mei `June' Woo

Suyuan is full of remorse for abandoning her twin children, so she puts all the hope

and love on her third daughter ­ June. This hope makes June choky ­ thinking her

ordinary without talent and intelligence. Her every performance makes people

disappointed and always thinks every single hope from Suyuan harms, as she cannot

meet Suyuan's expectation.

Does June really let Suyuan down? Perhaps, it is due to Suyuan's uncontrolled

psychology. June has long disappointed Suyuan, through the long journey of tracing

the twins, she has an unexpected discovery ­ she cannot give the twin up so as to

make a wish that Suyuan lives happily. June bears the triple hope and love; she returns

to China to give the "feather of the swan"

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back to her twin sisters with mother's hope,

love and blessing. She wises, she has finally fulfilled her mother's wish.

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"The Joy Luck Club" Amy Tan Oxford Bookworms Library, Pg. 1

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II An-mei Hsu and Rose Hsu Jordan

The so-called hardships, wherewith mother's death, An-mei not only helps to secure

her mother's deserved fame and gain, but she also clearly declares that she knows

how to shout for the unfair fate, making her voice heard by all the people.

When her daughter Rose grows up in the United States and gets all love from her

husband by being a competent wife, her spirit gradually dies away. Thereupon, the

maintenance between the couples disappear without a trace. Yet, Rose makes a cake

that she will never taste, but to redeem her husband's heart. If marriage is built based

on love, equality and respect, using a cake to deliver her love, implies that her love is

inadequately beautiful; how can Rose ask for a complete love?

III Lindo Jong and Waverly Jong

Lindo has never forgotten who she is. She starts a new life in the United States, to

help herself disengage from the shackles of traditional marriage. A woman who is able

to use her wisdom to break loose of the tragic fate is full of vim, vitality and strength.

Lindo's daughter, Waverly, inherits her tenacious vitality, no matter "chess", marriage

or confrontation with Lindo, Waverly puts up her determination. Only with Lindo's

silent opposition, it makes Waverly intangibly suspects her choice.

In addition to the mother-daughter relationship, Lindo and Waverly compete diamond

cut diamond; every "chess" game has to end. Regardless of who the winner is, they

still have to mutually understand each other's feelings and choices, so as to truly live

out their selfhoods and retrieve own happiness.

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IV Ying-ying St Clair and Lena St Clair

Comparing with strong-will Lindo, Ying-ying has a sharp contrast. Though, Ying-ying

starts a new life in United States, as with Lindo, the suffering that her husband brings

is lingering. When her daughter, Lena's "marriage is falling apart"

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, she acts panicky

as what Ying-ying does.

To Ying-ying, the past is an established fact that is indelible. But to Lena, it is never

too late to change now. Ying-ying chooses to use silence ­ the sound of the

fragmentation of a broken "vase" to regain Lena back.

Traumatic experience

The four mothers have painful memories that have seriously harmed them in China

years ago; on the contrary, they temper their lives to be more determined in

apperceiving the values of being a female, so as to submit their daughters into their

footsteps ­ being oppressed by men, and the daughters will be emancipated at an

appropriate time, giving them the full meaning of life. Due to the realization of the

psychological deterioration, the mothers are able to penetrate what a complete person

is, and try to teach their daughters to become a disengaged person.

Repression

Markedly, in the ancient China, the status of women means nothing, they only act as a

tool for reproduction to meet the community's norms; the ancient China, adopts a

double standard of morality for men and women that women bear more moral

shackles.

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"The Joy Luck Club" Amy Tan Oxford Bookworms Library, Pg. 68

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The repression of ancient Chinese women is immoral, but people generally accept this

ideology. In "The Joy Luck Club", concubinage can be found: a girl is forced to marry

her husband with only six or seven but born to have male chauvinism, and starts her

early motherhood. Facing with these pressures, how should a woman respond? She is

told to be submissive and paralyze their eyes to escape from the reality.

Compensation effect and Empathy

The early hardships of the mothers, which come from their husbands, social

oppression and inferiority, are always woeful and lingering nightmares. But time is

not staying; the loss of ideality is difficult to be practised on the rigid body. The

mothers transfer their expectations subconsciously. The daughters have become the

epitomes of them. The daughters are urged to learn from an early age, hoping them to

become a useful person, not to be slavishly dependent ­ the daughters bring home the

bacon in "chess" and "piano" competitions, indicates the wisdom of women is never

worse than men, women still have a bright future, so the mother's humiliation and low

self-esteem are ultimately compensated with daughters' success.

Reverse role and Intellectuality

Reasonably, the traumatic experiences of the mothers are painful, they will only hurt

everlastingly if they keep dredging up those experiences. In particular, living in a

place with freedom and equality ­ the United States underscores the ancient Chinese

between the good and bad. If the process of growing up is a happy experience,

naturally it links the present and the past; if that is unfortunate, it must be bleached. In

"The Joy Luck Club", the way the mothers adopt to solve the cognitive conflict is a

reverse effect, they use opposite manner to deal with negative emotions (not showing

their hatred facially), to maintain the integrity of oneself. In addition, for the

• Auteur: Andrea Fung (Auteur)
• Année de publication: 2012
• Pages: 9
• N° de catalogue: V375625
• ISBN (ebook): 9783668531796
• ISBN (Livre): 9783668531802
• Langue: anglais
• mots-clé: Literature, Cultural translation, Feminism, Immigrant identity, Sexism