In The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, the two settings of America and China act to contrast the two very different cultures that the mothers and daughters in the novel have and further develop the theme of the difficulties of cultural translation . The two settings also show the reader the message that we may not always know and understand the stories of those we love, but attempting to understand can potentially bring us closer to our family. The separation of each story by chapters, told through different voices, helps to further show the separation of different beliefs and emphasize the difference in values both American and Chinese cultures hold dear.
Throughout the novel the setting alternates between scenes from the past in differing countries- …show more content…
It switches between a mother’s stories and the daughter’s, which relates back to each mother-daughter relationship. Through these stories we can tell that the two generations had very different childhoods and from this we can assume this is why they don’t understand each other. In the chapter The Red Candle, Lindo Jong tells the story of how she was forced to marry a boy who she didn’t love, and who didn’t love her. Waverly, her daughter, was married once and her mother constantly showed her only the negative aspects of her husband, causing her marriage to fall apart and end. This shows reason for resentment and a difficulty in their relationship. Because the novel is organized in the form of individual chapters, we get to hear each mother and daughter’s story separately, from their own point of view. This makes it slightly difficult to know how each person felt about the other situations they were involved in, because not all parties gave their opinion. With the fractured lives and opinions of each woman, similar to how the novel is formatted, we can understand why it is the relationships have failed to become healthy and open. Another example of how the divided form of the novel portrays these relationships is the beginning and end. It starts off with Jing-mei feeling uneasy about telling her mother’s story to her sisters, and it ends with her meeting them and realizing the qualities of their mother they all share. This shows
Throughout the novel the setting alternates between scenes from the past in differing countries- …show more content…
It switches between a mother’s stories and the daughter’s, which relates back to each mother-daughter relationship. Through these stories we can tell that the two generations had very different childhoods and from this we can assume this is why they don’t understand each other. In the chapter The Red Candle, Lindo Jong tells the story of how she was forced to marry a boy who she didn’t love, and who didn’t love her. Waverly, her daughter, was married once and her mother constantly showed her only the negative aspects of her husband, causing her marriage to fall apart and end. This shows reason for resentment and a difficulty in their relationship. Because the novel is organized in the form of individual chapters, we get to hear each mother and daughter’s story separately, from their own point of view. This makes it slightly difficult to know how each person felt about the other situations they were involved in, because not all parties gave their opinion. With the fractured lives and opinions of each woman, similar to how the novel is formatted, we can understand why it is the relationships have failed to become healthy and open. Another example of how the divided form of the novel portrays these relationships is the beginning and end. It starts off with Jing-mei feeling uneasy about telling her mother’s story to her sisters, and it ends with her meeting them and realizing the qualities of their mother they all share. This shows