The Joy Luck Club Comparative Essay
A Comparative Study of Initiation Theme Between The Color Purple and The Joy Luck Club
Abstract
The Color Purple (1982) and The Joy Luck Club (1989) are two distinguished works of American minority literature. Under a comparative study, these two books tend to enjoy a similar initiation mode. First of all, the women in the two books similarly face the difficulties sparked by the confusion of cultural identity, the racial discrimination, and the sexual discrimination. Second, the novels develop in accordance with an almost same story line, which starts with the loss of identity, advances with self-quest, and ends with self-awareness. Last but not least, the theme of seeking for ethnic roots is also distinct in the two works.
【Key Words】initiation …show more content…
This book consists of sixteen stories told by four immigrant families, focusing on their identity crisis and the conflicts between Chinese mother and the daughters raised in America. After Mordeeai Mareu, the pioneer of initiation study，the research of initiation story has been altered and expanded in many aspects. Generally, in initiation novels, the protagonist experience a period of agony or fierce changes, which can be conceived as the spark of his future awakening. Specifically, the misery experience can be various discriminations, a witness of a scary scene, and the loss of beloved family members, to name but a few. In The Color Purple and The Joy Luck Club, the protagonist similarly suffers from the pressure of cultural conflict, racial discrimination and the sexual discrimination. Those three elements together form their loss of identity, generating the confusion in their …show more content…
There is a plot describing the young daughter buy food materials with her mother in Chinatown, and among the food materials are duck foot, turtle and frogs. Moreover, there is a hand-written sign informing the tourists, “ within this store, is all for good, not for pet” (Tan 91). The misunderstanding of food culture is only the tip of the iceberg of foreigners’ misunderstanding of China and Chinese values. The sharp cultural conflicts between the East and the West confuse the young girls as well as disappoint thousands of immigrants who share the same origin with her. To make a summary, in The Color Purple, the black women, represented by Celie, live under the pressure of racialism, sexual discrimination and cultural conflicts, while similarly, in The Joy Luck Club, the young generation also get involved in those discriminations and cultural losses. It seems that American dreams mainly belongs to the WAPS, since the minority groups are alienated and marginalized. Accordingly, these growth backgrounds are destined to influence their views towards the world and the development of
Abstract
The Color Purple (1982) and The Joy Luck Club (1989) are two distinguished works of American minority literature. Under a comparative study, these two books tend to enjoy a similar initiation mode. First of all, the women in the two books similarly face the difficulties sparked by the confusion of cultural identity, the racial discrimination, and the sexual discrimination. Second, the novels develop in accordance with an almost same story line, which starts with the loss of identity, advances with self-quest, and ends with self-awareness. Last but not least, the theme of seeking for ethnic roots is also distinct in the two works.
【Key Words】initiation …show more content…
This book consists of sixteen stories told by four immigrant families, focusing on their identity crisis and the conflicts between Chinese mother and the daughters raised in America. After Mordeeai Mareu, the pioneer of initiation study，the research of initiation story has been altered and expanded in many aspects. Generally, in initiation novels, the protagonist experience a period of agony or fierce changes, which can be conceived as the spark of his future awakening. Specifically, the misery experience can be various discriminations, a witness of a scary scene, and the loss of beloved family members, to name but a few. In The Color Purple and The Joy Luck Club, the protagonist similarly suffers from the pressure of cultural conflict, racial discrimination and the sexual discrimination. Those three elements together form their loss of identity, generating the confusion in their …show more content…
There is a plot describing the young daughter buy food materials with her mother in Chinatown, and among the food materials are duck foot, turtle and frogs. Moreover, there is a hand-written sign informing the tourists, “ within this store, is all for good, not for pet” (Tan 91). The misunderstanding of food culture is only the tip of the iceberg of foreigners’ misunderstanding of China and Chinese values. The sharp cultural conflicts between the East and the West confuse the young girls as well as disappoint thousands of immigrants who share the same origin with her. To make a summary, in The Color Purple, the black women, represented by Celie, live under the pressure of racialism, sexual discrimination and cultural conflicts, while similarly, in The Joy Luck Club, the young generation also get involved in those discriminations and cultural losses. It seems that American dreams mainly belongs to the WAPS, since the minority groups are alienated and marginalized. Accordingly, these growth backgrounds are destined to influence their views towards the world and the development of