The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan portrays four Chinese immigrant women who gathered regularly to share secrets, memories, and experiences in their lives. Through their stories, the author describes the mothers’ challenges of raising Chinese daughters in America and the frustration of the daughters growing up in different cultures. By telling stories from the perspectives of four mothers and daughters, the author shows how different cultures, beliefs, and values can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts between the two generations. While Chinese mothers demand obedience from their daughters and set high expectations, daughters seek independence and want to live more like Americans.

“‘Only two kinds of daughters,’ she [the mother] shouted in Chinese. ‘Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!’

‘Then I wish I wasn’t your daughter. I wish you weren’t my mother,’ I [the daughter] shouted” (Tan 142).

Quarrels like this appear throughout the book. Mothers despair over their daughters, and daughters are exasperated by their mothers. However, this book is not just about the conflicts; it is also about the deep connections and bonds between mothers and daughters. One daughter (the main character) comes to understand that while she is American, deep inside she is her mother’s daughter—a Chinese daughter.

“And now I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood” (Tan 288).

In this novel, Amy Tan uses beautiful, honest language to express each woman’s true, inside feelings, while perfectly blending sorrow, laughter, fear, and irony into a touching work of fiction that readers will have a hard time putting down. Heartwarming and bittersweet, this is a novel for mothers, daughters, and those who love them.

Joanne