Joy Luck Club
Returning to One’s Roots and Understanding Chinese Culture in The Joy Luck Club
Cultural divides are difficult to overcome in storytelling because understanding another culture is a not an easy task. However, in The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan does a wonderful job of making the Chinese culture comprehensible for the American reader. With a culture that is exceedingly different from American way of life, Tan presents both cultures side by side in order to draw attention to their differences and benefits. She acknowledges the materialistic American mind that is focused on the present and contrasts it with the Chinese mindset, which focuses on the past and future. After presenting both cultures, the book documents the daughters’ return to both their …show more content…
However, as each girl returns to her Chinese heritage and mindset, the reader can easily slip into this mindset as well to better understand the feelings and actions in the story. This return to one’s heritage is the focus of the book and is outlined most prominently in the section “American Translation.” Through the “American Translation” parable and the characters Rose Hsu and Jing-Mei Woo, Tan identifies both the Chinese and the American ways of life and conveys the strength and sense of belonging that can be found in the Chinese tradition as these two girls return to the ways of their mothers.
As Amy Tan sets the scene for the “American Translation” section, she gives the reader a parable that encapsulates the difference between the American and the Chinese viewpoint. In …show more content…
Each daughter starts out as an Americanized girl with their sights focused on the present and the individual, which is unattached to origin or family. This creates a fast paced life full of change and uncertainty. However, as they grow older, they begin to understand their mothers and their traditional Chinese views. Returning to this heritage gives them a true sense of belonging amongst a society where they are considered to be outsiders and struggle to find a steady place. Rose finds a firm foundation on which to stand in her heritage, which strengthens her. Jing-Mei discovers a connection with her mother as she truly accepts her Chinese heritage, which causes her to both look to the past and to the future. It is with this newfound attitude that Jing-Mei goes to meet her sisters and upon meeting them, she realizes just how deep her Chinese roots go as she states, “And now I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood” (Tan 331). Although they do not look like her mother, Jing-Mei feels a connection to them and realizes her heritage goes past looks and to the blood connection they have. She is overcome with emotion because she has found the ultimate sense of belonging. She has discovered that her life’s
Cultural divides are difficult to overcome in storytelling because understanding another culture is a not an easy task. However, in The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan does a wonderful job of making the Chinese culture comprehensible for the American reader. With a culture that is exceedingly different from American way of life, Tan presents both cultures side by side in order to draw attention to their differences and benefits. She acknowledges the materialistic American mind that is focused on the present and contrasts it with the Chinese mindset, which focuses on the past and future. After presenting both cultures, the book documents the daughters’ return to both their …show more content…
However, as each girl returns to her Chinese heritage and mindset, the reader can easily slip into this mindset as well to better understand the feelings and actions in the story. This return to one’s heritage is the focus of the book and is outlined most prominently in the section “American Translation.” Through the “American Translation” parable and the characters Rose Hsu and Jing-Mei Woo, Tan identifies both the Chinese and the American ways of life and conveys the strength and sense of belonging that can be found in the Chinese tradition as these two girls return to the ways of their mothers.
As Amy Tan sets the scene for the “American Translation” section, she gives the reader a parable that encapsulates the difference between the American and the Chinese viewpoint. In …show more content…
Each daughter starts out as an Americanized girl with their sights focused on the present and the individual, which is unattached to origin or family. This creates a fast paced life full of change and uncertainty. However, as they grow older, they begin to understand their mothers and their traditional Chinese views. Returning to this heritage gives them a true sense of belonging amongst a society where they are considered to be outsiders and struggle to find a steady place. Rose finds a firm foundation on which to stand in her heritage, which strengthens her. Jing-Mei discovers a connection with her mother as she truly accepts her Chinese heritage, which causes her to both look to the past and to the future. It is with this newfound attitude that Jing-Mei goes to meet her sisters and upon meeting them, she realizes just how deep her Chinese roots go as she states, “And now I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood” (Tan 331). Although they do not look like her mother, Jing-Mei feels a connection to them and realizes her heritage goes past looks and to the blood connection they have. She is overcome with emotion because she has found the ultimate sense of belonging. She has discovered that her life’s