The mother-daughter relationships in
Mother-Daughter relationships are very delicate, one false move by either mother or daughter, and the relationship could be ruined.The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, a novel of vignettes of past memories, explores the lives of eight women – four mothers and their daughetrs.Each woman reveals her tragedies and hardships in life, and with each other.The stories involve the culture differences between the Chinese and Americans, and the large generation gap that divides the mother-daughter relationships.The relationship between the two generations is struggling, and without an understanding it will be broken.The presnce of the ofur elements bring an unconcious healing of the daughters’ relationships with their culture and mothers.
Earth, the nurturing of life, is one of the key elements in The Joy Luck Club.In the Virtual Library, Dan Bowers stated, “The mothers watch as their daughters grow, feeling the desire to protect them, to teach them (1).”The mothers want to help and nurture their daughters, but the daughters are so distant, in culture and age, it is hard for the mothers to relate to their offspring.For example, when Suyuan Woo pushed her daughter June to be a pianist, Suyuan simply wanted June to excel at something and to go somewhere.Suyuan invited all of her friends from the Joy Luck Club to June’s piano recital, and June failed miserably.June told her mother…”You want me to be someone I’m not, I wish I was never your daughter (Joy Luck 155).” For the following years, Suyuan let June do whatever she wanted, never telling her what to do, and June noticed this.”What June yearned for was to lead an independent, modern and American life (CLC 92),” which she received.June missed her mother’s nurturing, and because of this neglect, June failed many times, and even dropped out of college.After Suyuan’s death and the meeting of her newly found half-sisters, June looked bac…
the joy luck club
In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, the characters Suyuan and Jing-Mei Woo have a mother-daughter relationship
confused with scattered conflict, but ultimately composed of deep love and commitment for one another. Because of drastic
differences in the environments in which they were raised and in their life experiences, these two women have some opposing
ideas and beliefs. This, and their lack of communication are responsible for many of the problems they face in their relationship.
These conflicts are only resolved when June learns about her mother’s past. The way that their relationship develops, and the
conflicts June and Suyuan face, reveal some of the themes that Amy Tan intends for the readers to learn. These themes concern
such topics as finding our life’s importance, making choices, and understanding ourselves and our families.
Most of the conflicts that June and her mother face are based on misunderstandings and negligence concerning each other’s
feelings and beliefs. June does not understand or even fully know her mother because she does not know about her tragic past
and the pain she still feels from the memory of it. Because Suyuan lost two daughters in China, and her entire family was killed
in the war, she leaves this place behind her and places all of her hopes in America and her family there. She wants the very best
f or her daughter June. Even her name, Suyuan, meaning “long-cherished wish,” speaks of this hope for Jing-Mei, meaning “the
pure, essential, best quality younger sister.” Suyuan tells her daughter June that she can be anything she wants to be, and that
she has great talent. Atfirst June is excited and dreams about what she will become: “In all my imaginings, I was filled with a
sense that I would soon become perfect. My mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach. I would never
feel the n eed to sulk for anything.” (p. 143) Suyuan pushes June to be successful i…