Suyuan and Jing-mei Suyuan is the founder of the Joy Luck Club and mother of Jing-mei. Suyuan can be considered a competitor throughout the novel. Throughout her life we see many cases in which Suyuan is not afraid to let her opinion be heard. Suyuan on multiple occasions lets others know of their faults. She criticizes the cooking of the other women in the novel, as well as describing the weakness in her friends and …show more content…
She refuses to take any accountability or make any key decisions. Rose finally asserts herself, when her mother is proven right that her husband had been cheating on her. We see how rose becomes a competitor, she makes her demands and needs know to her husband Ted. It seems that by the end of her story, Rose has found herself. This transformation happens quickly; her mom’s advice had finally sunk in. Rose has an avoiding relationship with her mother. When Rose knows that her mother will try to convince her to do something, Rose attempts to avoid her mother. When her mother gives her the advice to stand up for herself, Rose just gets off the phone. In their relationship, An-mei sees the problems that Rose faces and wants to help, but Rose pushes her away. By the end we do see a change in their relationship, in her mind Rose sees her mother as helping her shape the direction of her …show more content…
Waverly is very similar to her mother in many ways from her competitive nature to the way she demonstrates her independence and often tells her mother that she does not need her advice. I would consider her like her mother a competitor, She is not afraid to voice her opinion and we see her yell at her mother on one occasion that ultimately caused her mother to leave her alone for a while. However she secretly seeks for her mother’s approval.
Ying-ying and Lena Yin-ying is interesting in the fact that she can predict her future and the future of her family. Like most mothers in the novel, she has gone through some difficulties. Having a language barrier with her husband, being submissive and not valuing her life at all. We see her transform into a ghost basically. The main problem with Ying-ying’s passivity is that she’s set a bad example for her daughter.
Lena is Ying-yings daughter, and like her mother is very passive and is also heading to a tragic life. Ying-ying hopes that by telling Lena about her own life, she can prevent Lena from having an equally sad future. However we see that as both of these characters are avoiders its hard for Ying-ying to convince her