The Joy Luck Club Cultural Analysis

In today’s world, immigration is extremely important and continues to be highly controversial. Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club, is the daughter of Asian immigrants. Chinese immigrants, especially during her childhood, felt a severe sense of displacement. Her father immigrated to the United States in 1947 and her mother, in 1949. After her parents immigrated, she grew up with American and Chinese cultural influences. Tan learned that culture can be passed on and appreciated throughout generations. Culture can be forgotten at first but not lost forever. Tan expresses this theme in her book. The theme is conveyed in the mother daughter relationships between Lindo Jong and Waverly Jong, An-mei Hsu and Rose Hsu Jordan, and Suyuan Woo and Jing-mei Woo. In the book, four mothers bring their four daughters to the United States. Their daughters become greatly influenced by the American culture. During that time, the mothers struggle with passing on their Chinese culture. The mothers are disappointed with their daughter’s …show more content…
Both parenting and surroundings affect one’s culture. Cultural appreciation and preservation is tremendously important and no matter how forgotten culture may become, it may be found again. The mothers in the book are disappointed in the way that their daughters led their American lives, much like Tan’s mother was when she learned that she(Tan) changed her undergrad from Pre-Med to English. The mothers in The Joy Luck Club passed on their Chinese cultures in order for their daughters to better their lives. The mothers are disappointed in their daughters for not embracing the Chinese culture while the daughters aren’t open to the cultures their mothers are teaching. They all eventually learn to appreciate the culture given to them. Experiences that the mothers went through in China do not have to be re-lived by the daughters, but rather remembered and taught to the future generation for cultural