Joy Luck Club Analysis

Register to read the introduction… American's are often considered to be selfish, unappreciative, and unaware of the vast resources available to them. In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, Tan gives an objective account of Asian assimilation in to American culture. Tan renders the native-born Asian American daughters in a stereotypical manner regarding their lack of appreciation for their opportunities and the lack of respect or interest they exhibit regarding the tradition and cultural values of their mothers.
In America, there is a great deal of tolerance, but very little acceptance. In the beginning of The Joy Luck Club, Jing Mei Woo is an Asian American woman who is asked to travel to China to fulfill her recently deceased mother's wish for reconciliation with her lost twin daughters. Jing Mei Woo will be responsible for telling her lost sisters the story of her mother's life. Jing expresses doubt when asked to complete this task because she feels she does not really know her mother. Her aunts are shocked by this …show more content…
At this point Jing realizes their fear. "In me, they see their own daughters, just as ignorant, just as unmindful of all the truths and hopes they have brought to America. They see daughters who grow impatient when their mothers talk in Chinese, who think they are stupid when they explain things in broken English" (Tan 40). Tan is demonstrating the stereotypical native born American's inability to understand the sacrifices and the courage that one must have to immigrate to this country. The daughters lack of knowledge and appreciation for all the hopes and opportunity their mothers wished to bestow on them is a running theme throughout the novel. She goes on to explain, "they see that joy and luck do not mean the same thing to their daughters, that to these closed American-born minds ‘joy luck' is not a word, it does not exist" (Tan 41). Amy Tan writes as if there is a lack of purity and hope in Americans that is greatly instilled in Chinese tradition. In the section entitled "the Red Candle," Lindo disapproves of her daughter Waverly's ideas about promise. She says, "I once sacrificed my life to keep my parent's promise. This means nothing to you, because to you promises mean nothing. A daughter can promise to …show more content…
I do not believe she is unfair or satirical in her judgments and that she does provide a range to her characters which makes them real and relatable. They are not written as extreme characters but rather as a real and tangible type of people who are overwhelmed by and born in to the American way of life yet still connected and rooted in Chinese traditions. Tan presents an objective and honest account of what it means to be Bicultural in America. She raises the question of whether or not it is possible to successfully embrace our future when we do not fully understand our past. There is something to be said for a culture which puts such strong emphasis on family and honor. I think this is what Amy Tan meant when she said the daughters should be mindful of the "truths and hopes they brought to America" (Tan 40). The hopes being understanding and acceptance, that could perhaps bring a tomorrow of more equality; one where the "American Dream" will not just apply to people with blonde hair and blue eyes. To fulfill some hope in the life of yourself or another, can this not be called happiness? The dream is realizing that in America, we have the resources to make an honest difference. The "American dream" is a dream with deceit that does not live long. But the personal dreams of pure and hopeful hearts are filled with truth and live forever. They are, in fact, the only thing we truly leave