Conflicts In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

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Everybody goes through major conflicts. It’s a part of life. It could be as small as what clothes you should wear today, or it could be as big as what college you should go to. Conflicts can arise from anything. In The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, many of the characters go through internal and external conflicts that greatly affect their life. Eventually, they resolve that conflict. For example, the relationship between Lindo Jong and Waverly Jong has some conflicts that go along with it. They suffer from cultural differences, like how Waverly is Americanized and doesn’t want to pitch in to Chinese cultures. They suffer from pride and confidence. Like how Lindo shows off how great Waverly is at chess. They also suffer from “invisible strength.” …show more content…
When Waverly was born, Lindo wanted her to have an American name. So she named her Waverly. “We lived on Waverly Place” (90). From this quote you can conclude that she was named after the town she lived in. All Lindo wanted from the start was for her daughter to live a nice American life. But, when Waverly started forgetting about her Chinese traditions, Lindo knew that her expectations were not exceeding. “Even if you put on their clothes, even if you take off your makeup and hide your famous jewelry, they know” (253). This quote shows how Lindo Jong believes that her daughter Waverly is two-faced. By two-faced she means that Waverly almost switches between being American and being Chinese depending on who she is with. She believes that when she goes to China people would mistake her for being born in China. In reality, Waverly is too Americanized to be mistaken for Chinese. Waverly and her mother also have moments where their culture prevents them from having conversations. Like when they are at the fiancée’s house and Waverly believes her mother doesn’t like Rich because he is …show more content…
In the book, Waverly lived her childhood as a fantastic chess player. She knew she was good, and her mother knew so too. In fact, her mother knew a little too well. She had lots of pride for her daughter. She would go around and talk about all the awards she won. Waverly did not like being part of her mother’s conversations. She was also a little embarrassed to be with her. At one point Waverly even ran away from her because she was tired of being the center of attention. When she came back and realized that her mother didn’t care, Waverly’s relationship with her mother changed from positive to negative. The way this conflict was solved was not, in any way, positive. Waverly ended up quitting chess and her mother stopped acknowledging her talents. Eventually Waverly got bad at playing chess and that was the end of her skill. The mother was related to the queen piece of chess because she was able to move everywhere and she had her freedom. Waverly was related to the pawn because she was unable to move and she was being trapped by her mother. This is a way to symbolize how the relationship between mother and daughter really

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