Joy Luck Club

In the novel Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, it’s clear to see that throughout the story that the daughters and mothers have different views on everyday things and love. Their generations have a big thing to do with how they all think differently and how they handle the situation. The time difference and also where they grew up is a big factor that contributes to the different perspectives they have.

The generations differ in their ideas on life, love and family because each mother experienced something different and something that their daughters wouldn’t really go through. Most of the mothers just see things as black and white and really think that the judgment of the town is what makes the name for them. They all have that strong willed personality where they won’t change for no one.

 For example, Suyuan Woo doesn’t really like to focus on her hardships and the past, now that she’s dead her daughter Jing-mei (June) Woo really has to fix what was broken and make things right again. I think that Suyuan was like this because of the life she lived. She had to not worry about herself and worry about her two daughters she had in China and think about the life she had to leave for them. With her leaving her daughters and other decisions she made, she doesn’t like to look back on them. June is now taking her mothers place and making things right and doing the opposite of her mother by focusing on her past and fixing it.

Each difference manifests itself by showing how the different generations react to what the situation brings them. For example, Waverly Jong is the star of the family and is the one that gives the family their name. Her mother pushes her and pushes her to make sure the family name is high up. In America having a bug family name and winning chess matches really isn’t such a big deal. This differs from Lindo Jong’s perspective because in her times family names and high ranking is always important.

For marriage and divorce Lena and Ying-ying see things way differently. Lena doesn’t really want to help her marriage and just wants to let it go. Ying-ying feels that a marriage should last forever and if there are problems then Lena should fix it. They both have different views because in Chinese culture there is no such thing as divorce, but in American culture there is. Ying-ying’s generation sees it as an everlasting promise while Lena’s generation sees it as a problem that can either fall apart or magically be mended.