Preview

Zodiac Signs In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
910 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Zodiac Signs In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club
There are a dozen Chinese zodiac signs and each of them carries its own specific characteristics. The idea is that each individual is born into a specific sign. Then, based on the sign that you’re born into, your character will reflect that of others born into that sign. Each individual sign has both good and bad traits that define them, just as we humans have both good and bad aspects to us. The zodiac signs are important in Chinese culture, as you can clearly see in Amy Tan’s novel ‘The Joy Luck Club’. I will be discussing how one character from the novel, Waverly Jong, has a personality that very well represents the Dragon Zodiac sign. The Dragon has always been known as the mightiest Zodiac sign. Although it holds multiple desirable …show more content…
For instance, they are often arrogant and quick to criticize. As mentioned before, Jing-Mei Woo was actually childhood family friends with Waverly. Jing states in the twelfth chapter that Waverly was constantly arrogant towards Jing’s financial status and since childhood Waverly would embarrass her or put her down. Waverly’s own mother, Lindo Jong, says in chapter fifteen how Waverly acted ashamed of her own mother and always told others fake stories to mock her mother’s origin. Now, there are five different types of the Dragon. The one that Waverly fits into the best is the Wood Dragon. The Wood Dragon isn’t good at strong relationships. This is clear since Waverly’s childhood friends don’t like her, she divorced her high school sweetheart and she has trouble communicating with her mother. Wood Dragons also want a long relationship but are very picky in choosing a spouse. Waverly wants her bond with Rich to last but she desperately wants her mother to like him first. Waverly’s mother criticized Waverly’s first husband and that quickly ended their marriage. Also, those who are Dragons are unfulfilled and tempered. You can see these traits in Waverly even as a child. Her temper caused her to quit chess just to get to her mother. Then, once she returned, she had lost all of her talent. Losing such a huge part of her caused Waverly to feel unfulfilled and ashamed of herself. She felt so

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan themes are intricately developed by different literary devices used by the author. Amy Tan uses metaphors to symbolize larger ideas and to show the preserved culture of the mothers used to assist their daughters on their journey through life, which better help develop themes within the book. These metaphors vary from: trying to teach a lesson, to holding family close, to preserving meaningful artifacts from their ancestors.…

    • 77 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Grendal and the Zodiac

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Zodiac signs in Grendel Have you ever wondered why you act the way you do? Well you may be surprised that it may have to do with your Zodiac sign, Twelve astrological signs each with their own meanings and origins. John Gardner, when writing the novel “Grendel” decided to incorporate these twelve symbols into the story of Grendel the Demon and his Twelve year war against man, with one symbol being present in each chapter, in forms of imagery, the characters featured in each chapter and the events in the chapter. Three symbols that represent major plot points in Grendel include the Taurus, Gemini and Leo.…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Amy Tan portrays Lindo Jong, mother of Waverly Jong, as a brave, intelligent woman who uses her wit in order to get out of a restrained marriage. She shows an unwavering loyalty to her family as she sacrifices her, “life to keep [her] parents promise,” (42). Lindo deals with the harassment from her in-laws, as well as the childlike nature of her husband. She eventually receives abuse from her own daughter when she doesn’t fit the expectations of both Waverly and the society. Even through all these obstructions in her life, by being loyal, courageous, intelligent, and strong, she shows all the characteristics of the Chinese zodiac animal, the horse. In the Chinese culture, the horse symbolizes power and grace, as well as strength and freedom,…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In The Heat Of The Night

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages

    **Do the traits show the character’s dynamic personality (how they were at the beginning versus the end, for example)?…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Joy Luck Club Symbols

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jing-mei (June) Woo, the character, is a symbol herself of Westernization of Chinese-Americans. Once she travels to China to visit her deceased mother, she realizes what Chinese culture is all about and what she has been culturally unaware of all this time. Jing-mei and the other daughters always identified themselves as Americans, but often doubted whether or not they should be speaking the Chinese language to keep their cultural identity alive within themselves. Additionally, Jing-mei is representative of Chinese and American comparisons in culture. The mothers in this novel maintained high expectations of their daughters, emphasizing filial obedience and giving constructive criticism all the time. These experiences clashed with American virtues of free speech and free will. After her visit to China, Jing-mei resolves the missing cultural values of herself and the Joy Luck Club and…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Joy Luck Club, by the Chinese-American author Amy Tan, deals with many different themes. However, the idea from this novel that piqued my interest the most was how the story dealt with the language and cultural barriers that exist between generations in families that have immigrated to the United States. The book deals with four Chinese women who moved to the United States in hopes of finding better lives for their children, and it deals with each of their daughters who have grown up in America, yet were raised by their mothers' traditional Chinese cultural standards. The Joy Luck Club alternates back and forth each chapter, with one of the mothers telling an anecdote of her past and next one of the daughters speaking from her point of…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rabbit People born under the sign of the rabbit are gentle, sensitive, compassionate, amiable, modest and merciful, and have strong memory. They like to communicate with others in a humorous manner. They cannot bear dull life, so they are good at creating romantic or interesting spice. They are soft-spoken and welcoming, being fond of peaceful love life. They hate arguing with capacity of converting an enemy into a friend. They are homebody and hospitable, and like house fitting-up. They can work with speed and…

    • 1959 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    12 Signs Of The Zodiac

    • 246 Words
    • 1 Page

    There are twelve signs in the zodiac, one for each month. These signs are: Aries (3/21-4/19), Taurus (4/20-5/20), Gemini (5/21-6/20), Cancer (6/21-7/22), Leo (7/23-8/22), Virgo (8/23-9/22), Libra (9/23-10/22), Scorpio (10/23-11/21), Sagittarius (11/22-12/21), Capricorn (12/22-1/19), Aquarius (1/20-2/18), and Pisces (2/19-3/20). Each sign has a ruling planet or two, and some signs share a planetary ruler. For example, Taurus & Libra are both ruled by Venus, while Gemini and Virgo are ruled by Mercury. But, even though the two signs share a ruling planet, they are not exactly the same, nor would they be compatible. For example, Although Aries and Scorpio are both ruled by mars (Scorpio is also ruled by Pluto), Aries are much more feisty and not…

    • 246 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The western and Chinese Dragon The ancient Chinese created a 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac which is represented by 12 different animals. They are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, pig. Dragon is the 5th in this cycle, but the most popular, and the only mythical creature.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The 12 Chinese Zodiac Sign

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The 12 Chinese Zodiac Sign(sheng xiao生肖) Introduction The year of your birth does not just indicate your age! According to the Chinese system of Astrology, the year of birth indicates a certain phase or aspect of a sixty-year cycle of time. Three systems are used for counting and classifying the years: The ten Heavenly Stems, the twelve Earthly Branches and the twelve Animals.…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Horoscopes and Astrology

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Everyone has an astrological sign. There are 12 in all. They are called the "signs of the zodiac". The 12 signs are called : Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Each sign represents a set of human characteristics. They deal with certain area of a person's life, such as marriage, health, work, travel, and death.…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Begin the journey of your coming life by reading future possibilities of your animal sign.…

    • 1611 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Breakfast Club

    • 369 Words
    • 1 Page

    1. Claire, the princess is stereotyped as materialistic, caring for how others see her, comes from a good family, conceited, doesn’t break the rules. The jock, Andrew, can’t think for himself, athletic (Wrestling), lives to expectations of his dad. The brain Ryan, involved in math club, physics club, gets good grades, innocent, weak against bullies. The basket case comes from a bad family therefore she wants to run away. She is also ignored because of her weird habits, she’s quiet, and has bad hygiene. Bender, the bully is sarcastic, careless, bad family, likes to challenge authority (teachers and his dad), constantly angry, does drugs and makes every one feel like they're insignificant.…

    • 369 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Typical Gemini

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gemini is the butterfly of the zodiac (some butterflies are smaller and nimbler than others, but they all fly). Of course there are Geminis who have become skilled at some particular study, art or profession. But even they must find variety within their chosen field.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cognitive Culture

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Other correlating factors of the five elements Along with these generating and overcoming forces, the five elements of the Chinese Zodiac are also correlated with direction, color, season, body parts, tastes, and senses. Wood, for example correlates to the direction East, the season of Spring, the color blue or green, the taste of sour, the sense of sight, and the body parts gall bladder, liver and ring finger. The other four elements likewise have their own correlations.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays