Character Analysis: The Joy Luck Club

(Prompt 3) People run around like well-oiled machines. Their brains compute the actions they take, and their bodies follow the courses they chart. What happens, though, when there’s a glitch in the system? How can we stand firm against what’s inside our own minds and hearts? My mother taught me how to be strong, just as An-Mei Hsu’s mother does in The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. For me, it was a bump in the process that caused my thoughts to loop around aimlessly, repeating one part over and over again like a broken record. These little repetitions are commonly called compulsions or obsessions. They dominated my childhood, until some unwanted prodding from my mother helped me break free. The breaking point came in second grade. I vividly …show more content…
She did not really get to meet her mother until she was nine years old and her grandmother died. Her mom had left in disgrace years before after becoming a rich merchant’s fourth concubine. When her mother returned for An-Mei’s grandma’s final days, she was met with open hostility and was flung from the house as soon as the funeral was over. The mom wanted nothing more than to be with her children, but An-Mei’s uncle warned her that she must not leave, or else she’ll live in dishonor forever. She bravely decided to follow her mother, and it was probably the most difficult thing she’d ever done. She had to leave her little brother behind in anguish. As she flew from her uncle’s house, she remembered a story her mother had told her the night before about crying over a pond. In her mother’s story, the turtle ate up her tears, and the birds laughed at her. She said, “...it is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else’s joy. And that is why you must learn to swallow your tears.” (217) An-Mei was inspired to keep hope, and remained calm during the difficult