Mothers And Daughters In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

The bonds between a mother and daughter are something not easily replicated. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, follows the relationships of four women and their daughters. While they all face different situations, it all boils down to the importance of family support.

All four of the Chinese-born mothers left China and set out for America with high hopes for themselves and their children's’ futures.They want to give their daughters what they didn’t have growing up. “‘In America I will have a daughter just like me. But over there nobody will say her worth is measured by the loudness of her husband’s belch. Over there nobody will look down at her because I will make her speak only perfect American English. And over there she will always be too full to swallow any sorrow!’”

“If she doesn’t speak, she is making a choice. If she doesn’t try, she could lose her chance forever. I know this, because I was raised the Chinese way … And even though I taught my daughter the opposite, still she came out the same way! … All of us are like stairs, one step after another, going up and down, but all going
You throw stones in and they sink into the darkness and dissolve … I think this to myself even though I love my daughter. She and I have shared the same body. There is a part of her mind that is part of mine. But when she was born, she sprang from me like a slippery fish, and has been swimming away ever since. All her life, I have watched her as though from another shore.” Even though Ying-Ying was only trying to help her daughter, Lena, her words of wisdom were rejected. Often times a child will think that their parents don’t know any better than they do and that brings them to ignore their offered