The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan Flashcards
‘They must wonder how someone like me can take my mother’s place. A friend once told me that my mother and I were alike, that we had the same wispy hand gestures, the same girlish laugh and sideways look. When I shyly told my mother this, she seemed insulted and said, “You don’t even know little percent of me! How can you be me?” And she’s right. How can I be my mother at Joy Luck?’
Characters: Jing-mei “June” Woo (speaker), Suyuan Woo
Themes: Mother-daughter relationships
Analysis: In this passage, we’re introduced to one of the novel’s key characters, June. June is the daughter of Suyuan, a woman who, along with some of her Chinese friends, participated in a weekly gathering called the Joy Luck club. Suyuan has died recently, and June has been asked to attend the Joy Luck Club in her mother’s place. June is understandably upset, although, right now she seems more upset about having to take her mother’s place–both at the Joy Luck Club and, in some ways, in life–than she is about the fact of her mother’s passing. As June prepares to join the Joy Luck Club, it occurs to her that she barely knows anything about her mother. Her mother immigrated to the United States long ago, and June knows nothing about her mother’s former life in China–thus making it impossible to ever “replace” her. As a member of the Joy Luck Club,
however, she’ll learn about her mother from old friends.
Not know your own mother? How can you say? Your
mother is in your bones!
Characters: Jing-mei “June” Woo, Suyuan Woo
Themes: Mother-daughter relationships, Immigration and language and miscommunication
Analysis: At the end of this chapter, June’s mother’s friends, the members of the Joy Luck Club, are outraged that June claims to know so little about her own mother–June is an American citizen, and her knowledge of her mother is limited to their experiences in America. June knows little to nothing about her mother’s life back in China, and she shows little interest in learning about it. The function of the Joy Luck Club, we begin to see, isn’t just to play games–it’s also to preserve the memories of the past; i.e., of life in China. In such a way, Tan lays out the basic structure of the novel: June will learn about her mother from the other members of the Joy Luck club, and gain new respect for her mother and her mother’s culture.
I once sacrificed my life to keep my parents’ promise. This means nothing to you, because to you promises mean nothing. A daughter can promise to come to dinner, but if she has a headache, if she has a traffic jam, if she wants to watch a favorite movie on TV, she no longer has a promise.
Characters: Lindo Jong (speaker), Waverly Jong
Themes: Mother-daughter relationships, sacrifice, sexism and power
Analysis: The passage begins on an aggressive note: the parent, Lindo Jong, speaks about her child, Waverley Jong. Lindo thinks of herself as being a faithful, respectful daughter–i.e., one who honors her promises to her parents at all costs. Lindo’s own daughter, by contrast, is flighty and unpredictable– sometimes she keeps her promises, and sometimes she doesn’t. According to Lindo, anything is wrong with Waverley (a headache, for example), Waverly breaks her word. Lindo’s tone is clearly frustrated: she weighs her daughter’s loyalty to her against her own loyalty to her own parents, and concludes that Waverly is somehow an inferior daughter. Lindo’s speech shows the strengths, but also the limits, of the mother-daughter relationship. Daughters show incredible loyalty to their parents, and vice-versa, but sometimes, such loyalty can fade away, or be placed behind other priorities–and perhaps it’s irrational for a parent to demand total loyalty of her daughter.
I had no choice, now or later. That was how backward
families in the country were. We were always the last to give up stupid old-fashioned customs. In other cities already, a man could choose his own wife, with his parents’ permission of course. But we were cut off from this new type of thought. You never heard if ideas were better in another city, only if they were worse.
Characters: Lindo Jong (speaker)
Themes: Mother-daughter relationships, storytelling and tradition, sexism and power
Analysis: In this story, Lindo tells us about her betrothal. It may be surprising for some readers to hear that Lindo was betrothed to another man, Tyan-Yu, when she was only two years old. In her part of China at the time, Lindo explains, betrothals and marriages were usually determined by Zodiac signs, rather than love between two adults. Lindo acknowledges that there were many more forward-thinking communities in China where adults could choose their partners (but only men, never women). However, in Lindo’s community, the old-fashioned Zodiac method was still popular. Lindo’s comments are important because they clarify the fact that Chinese culture isn’t one monolithic object: China encompasses an incredible variety of traditions and cultures, and it’s wrong to lump them all together, as so many Americans do.
I saw what seemed to be the prodigy side of me – because I had never seen that face before. I looked at my reflection, blinking so I could see more clearly. The girl staring back at me was angry, powerful. This girl and I were the same. I had new thoughts, willful thoughts, or rather thoughts filled with lots of won’ts. I won’t let her change me, I promised to myself. I won’t be what I’m not.
Characters: Jing-mei “June” Woo (speaker),
Suyuan Woo
Themes: Mother-daughter relationships, Immigration and language and miscommunication
Analysis: In this passage, we see the tragedy emerging between June and her mother, Suyuan. Suyuan desperately wants her daughter June to be a child prodigy of some kind–and so she works hard to find something that June is good at. Suyuan seems motivated by a more abstract sense of socially-approved success than she is by love for her child as an individual. As a result, June finds herself growing alienated from her mother: she begins to hate herself, and hate her mother for forcing her to try to many different activities. The passage is tragic because it shows a divide growing between mother and daughter, even when both have good intentions. June thinks of her mother as manipulating her for selfish reasons. This assessment is probably a little harsh, but it’s also totally justifiable and admirable for June to want to assert her individuality and grow into her own person. At the same time, even if Suyuan pushes her daughter too hard to succeed, she wants the best for her child, and undertakes great sacrifices on her own part to give June access to resources she herself never had.
Maybe I never really gave myself a fair chance. I did pick up the basics pretty quickly, and I might have become a good pianist at that young age. But I was so determined not to try, not to be anybody different that I learned to play only the most ear-splitting preludes, the most discordant hymns.
Characters: Jing-mei “June” Woo (speaker),
Themes: Fate and autonomy
Analysis:In this passage, Suyuan thinks she’s found something that June can succeed at: piano playing. Suyuan arranges for June to receive piano lessons, working extra hard and spending a lot of her own money to do so. June, who by this point dislikes her mother for forcing her to try so many different activities, rebels by deliberately playing the piano badly. In retrospect, June comes to realize that she could have been a successful piano player, but because she wanted to rebels against her mother, she devoted her energy to playing poorly. The passage shows the limitations of Suyuan’s approach to child-rearing. Suyuan wants her child to succeed, but because she’s too forceful and aggressive in her motivation techniques, June works to not succeed. The tragedy is that at the same time that June is asserting herself, she is also ignoring her mother’s sacrifice of work and money, and squandering the resources Suyuan has made available to her.
“You want me to be someone that I’m not!” I sobbed. “I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be… I wish I wasn’t your daughter. I wish you weren’t my mother,” I shouted. As I said these things I got scared. It felt… as if this awful side of me had surfaced at last… And that’s when I remembered the babies she had lost in China, the ones we never talked about. “I wish I’d never been born!” I shouted. “I wish I were dead! Like
them.” It was as if I had said the magic words Alakazam!—and her face went blank.
Characters: Jing-mei “June” Woo (speaker), Suyuan Woo
Themes: Mother daughter relationships
Analysis: In this passage, June rebels against her mother and takes things too far. Suyuan wants her daughter to succeed at playing the piano–an activity that June doesn’t particularly enjoy. June resents her mother for pushing her so hard to succeed, and as a result, she lashes out. In this scene, June yells at her mother that she hates playing the piano, and hates her mother, too. Furthermore, she claims that she wishes she’d never been born–she wishes she’d died, like the two daughters Suyuan has “lost” in China. Suyuan is so hurt by June’s outburst that she backs off and never mentions the piano again. In all, the passage shows that the conflict between Suyuan and June is a two-way street, even if Suyuan “started it.” After this, June feels guilty for pushing her mother away. For her part, Suyuan, Tan suggests, isn’t just a stereotypical overbearing parent–she too has feelings of guilt and great loss, related to her two other daughters.
The minute our train leaves the Hong Kong border and enters Shenzhen, China, I feel different. I can feel the skin on my forehead tingling, my blood rushing through a new course, my bones aching with a familiar old pain. And I think, My mother was right. I am becoming Chinese.
Characters: Jing-mei “June” Woo (speaker), Suyuan Woo
Themes: Mother daughter relationships, tradition and storytelling, fate and autonomy
Analysis: In this passage, June is coming back to her mother’s home in China. June was always opposed to returning to China–she thought of herself as an American, without any particular connection to Chinese culture, in spite of her heritage. But after Suyuan’s death, June decides to return to China to learn about her mother’s life and find out about her long-lost daughters. The passage depicts an almost supernatural connection, not just between mother and daughter but between person and country. As June passes into China, she feels herself becoming Chinese. In spite of her American citizenship, June intuitively senses that she knows China–something in the environment triggers her. Here, as in other parts of the book, Tan conveys the extent of the relationship between a person and her background–try as she might, June can’t escape her Chinese heritage.
“You don’t understand,” I protested. “What I don’t understand?” she said. And then I whispered, “They’ll think I’m responsible, that she died because I didn’t appreciate her.” And Auntie Lindo looked satisfied and sad at the same time, as if this were true and I had finally realized it.
Characters: Jing-mei “June” Woo (speaker), Suyuan Woo
Themes: Mother daughter relationships, sacrifice, immigration and language and miscommunication
Analysis: In this passage, June talks to her mother’s friend, Lindo. June is preparing to reunite with her long-lost sisters–the girls whom Suyuan left back in China when she came to America. June feels guilty about her mother’s death, and the thought of having to appear before her long-lost sisters makes her feel even guiltier; she imagines that her sisters will blame her for her mother’s death. June voices her anxieties to Lindo, and Lindo seems to look satisfied, as if June is only just realizing the truth. Has June “killed” her mother through neglect? It would be wrong to say so, and Tan leaves open the possibility that Lindo doesn’t truly agree with June’s suggestion–perhaps June is only projecting her own guilt onto Lindo’s face (and Lindo also looks “sad” here, whether because she thinks this suggestion is false or because she thinks it’s tragically true). It really is the case, however, that June has turned her back on Suyuan, being unnecessarily harsh with her mother; as a result, Suyuan’s life has been sad and lonely. June feels guilty about seeing her sisters because they never had the opportunity to even meet their mother, much less be frustrated by and unappreciative of her.
I look at their faces again and see no trace of my mother in them. Yet they still look familiar. And now I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood. After all these years, I can finally be let go
Characters: Jing-mei “June” Woo (speaker),
Suyuan Woo, Wang Chwun Yu, Wang Chwun Hwa
Themes: Mother daughter relationships, storytelling and tradition
Analysis: At the end of the novel, June finally reunites with her longlost siblings. As she does so, she feels that she’s also accomplished a task she’s been attempting for many years. June has been interested in tracking down her siblings, and yet she’s always felt a sense of incompleteness, both because of her strained relationship with her mother and because of her ignorance of and disconnection from her own culture. By traveling to China and finding her halfsisters, June honors her mother’s memory, both respecting her mother’s heritage and completing the task that Suyuan herself was never able to do. The passage is both the culmination of the entire book and the beginning of the rest of June’s life. June has always felt that her Chinese heritage is a millstone around her neck–she wishes she could break free of it. Here, in the instant that June is finally most in touch with her Chinese “roots,” she can finally move on with her life. And yet at the same time, she seems to have no desire to abandon her Chinese heritage anymore: she’s just getting to know her sisters. In all, the passage sums up one of the key themes of the novel: heritage, like a mother or daughter, can be freeing and imprisoning, often at the same time.
