The Joy Luck Club Cultural Analysis

Culture is one of the key elements in Amy Tan’s the Joy Luck Club. The mothers talk about the Chinese culture and tell the lives of their daughters. The daughters were born and raised in the United States, which makes the American culture overtake their Chinese heritage. Although both the American and the Chinese cultures are presented in the Joy Luck Club, the amount of Chinese cultural elements is greater than of the American, because Tan wants her readers to gain a deep understanding of the Chinese culture. The most important cultural elements in the Joy Luck Club are the idea of language, the belief, and the lifestyle. Amy Tan use these elements in order to inform the reader about the Chinese culture and understand how the characters act in the ways they do in the story. …show more content…
In JLC, there is two versions of Chinese spoken: Cantonese and Mandarin, which the mothers spoke. English was spoken by the daughters. The different languages created a misunderstanding and mistrust between the mothers and daughters. Although language is a barrier, it is also a bridge that helps the daughters connect back to their culture. Language barriers is just another way of demonstrating hostility between the mother’s and daughter’s cultural differences. The different versions of Chinese makes it special to China because it is where it originated and where it is most spoken. The way of life in a country shows the person’s even the country’s personality as well. In China, An-Mei was taught the “Chinese Way” and to not desire anything. In America, the daughters disobey their mothers, finds a job, and get divorced. This shows Chinese pride and also American laziness. This relates back to the novel because it shows that the mothers can not raise their children the way they were because of a different