File One
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Suyuan Woo and Jing Mei
Furthermore, Jing-mei,
who earlier resents her mother’s determination from calling her a Chinese
Shirley temple to forcing her to play the piano, now refuses not only to play
anymore, but also decides not to listen to her mother “And then I decided. I didn’t
have to do what my mother said anymore. I wasn’t her slave. This wasn’t China.
I had listened to her before and look what happened” (JLC 141). Jing-mei has
the impression that since she lives in America, not in China, she is free to
choose what she wants to be. Thus, Jing-mei rejects the Chinese culture which
is bound by strict traditions. She also believes that she is not Chinese at all
and this annoys Suyuan greatly. The ensuing struggle between Suyuan and
Jing-mei demonstrates how stubborn Jing-mei is, that is to say, her strong will
not to bend to her mother’s wish continues:
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Jing-mei : I’ ll never
be the kind of daughter you want me to be!
Suyuan: only two kinds
of daughters, she 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. (JLC 142)
Here, when Suyuan
requests Jing-mei to be “obedient” which does not conform to the American
culture, Jing-mei is filled with rage declaring that “then I wish I wasn’t your
daughter… then I wish I’d never been born!... I wish I were dead! Like them”
(JLC 142). The pronoun “them” refers to her half-sisters whom her mother left
in China, and Jing-mei does not know what has happened to them. This is a method
of protecting herself because writing these words makes Jing-mei not only feel
a sense of freedom, but also asserts her desire to hurt her mother as much as
her mother hurts her.
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A few years ago, when
Suyuan gave Jing-mei the piano as a thirtieth birthday gift, Jing-mei regarded
it as “a sign of forgiveness [on Suyuan’s part]” (JLC 143). This gift is
significant because it gives Jing-mei the opportunity to try playing the piano
again, and it signifies the power of Suyuan’s love for Jing-mei. After Suyuan’s
death, Jing-mei tries to play “Pleading Child” the same piece that she had
played earlier so poorly at the recital when she was a child. Now she plays it
easily and discovers that Schumann’s music is composed of two parts “Pleading
Child” and “Perfectly Contented”. As she plays the two pieces together, she
realizes for the first time that they are “two halves of the same song” (JLC
144), and she suddenly understands that mother and daughter need each other to
make a whole piece like the complementary halves of the same song.
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Tan uses Schumann’s
music as a metaphor “to highlight the relationship between mother and daughter.
This relationship encompasses, like Schumann’s music, two phases of the human
experience. At times, these phases may appear to be contradictory, but, in
fact, they are really two natural and complementary stages of life” (Shen 14).
This perfectly is the case with Suyuan and Jing-mei. Initially, the struggle
between Suyuan and Jing-mei is brought out at the beginning of the “Two Kinds”
chapter, but at the end of this chapter, their relationships become better.
Interestingly, Jing-mei begins to see her mother in a new light. She has
developed from a “Pleading Child” to a “Perfectly Contented,” although she is
American, she is also Chinese. Therefore, she claims her Chinese heritage by
obeying her mother who wants her to be successful in her life. As a
consequence, Jing-mei articulates the fact that she loves belatedly the piano
too much because it reminds her of her mother
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By learning her mother’s
tragic story, Jing-mei becomes better equipped to restore her relationship with
her mother. During this trip, her father explains the meaning of both her name
and her mother’s name. Concerning her name, “Jing” means “pure essence”, “mei”
means “younger sister”. Suyuan’s name means “long -cherished wish”. Now,
Jing-mei comes to understand her mother’s wish is to be “the younger sister who
was supposed to be the essence of the others” as her full name means. What Tan
here means by ‘others’ is Jing-mei’s other two sisters. After learning the
connotation of these names, she feels sorrowful “I feed myself with the old grief,
wondering how disappointed my mother must have been” (JLC 281).
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Now, with a new
consciousness, Jing-mei begins to see her mother in a new light. That is to say
that Jing-mei finds her Chinese identity and renewed sense of her dead mother
through two situations, one is physical and the second is emotional. Tan can
explain the emotional situation when Jing-mei meets her Chinese half-sisters:
And then I see
her. Her short hair. Her small body and now I see her again, two of her waving…
As soon as I get beyond the gate, we run toward each other, all three of us
embracing all hesitations and expectations forgotten.
“Mama, Mama,” we all
murmur, as if she is among us… I look at their face again and I 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, it can finally be let go.
(JLC 287-88)
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Further, when
Jing-mei arrives in China, she feels that she is “becoming Chinese” (JLC 267).
Earlier, she remembers her full rejection of anything Chinese. This is related
to the personality development theory which suggests that teenagers behave in a
way that is characterized as totalism. This means that there is “a setting of
absolute boundaries in one’s values, beliefs and interpersonal relationships”
(qtd in Ryckman 186). During her adolescence, Jing-mei believes that anything
American is better. Jing-mei’s cynical remark concerning anything Chinese is
evident in “A Pair of Tickets” chapter. When Suyuan tells Jing-mei “[Chinese] is
in your blood,” Jing-mei seems to be more upset to have heard these words from
her mother.
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[A] warewolf, a mutant
tag of DNA suddenly triggered, replicating itself insidiously into a syndrome,
a cluster of telltale Chinese behaviors, all those things my mother did to
embarrass me—haggling with store owners, pecking her mouth with a toothpick in
public, being color-blind to the fact that lemon yellow and pale pink are not
good combinations for winter clothes.
(JLC 267)
Jing-mei views both her
mother and the Chinese things that her mother does as ugly and backward. It is
clear that Jing-mei believes that Chinese values are of a lower standard
compared to American values.
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Tan uses symbols merely
to indicate how daughters’ deep attachment to their mothers is, and also to
disclose the Chinese culture that is passed from mothers to daughters. This
gets reflected in the “Best Quality” chapter in which Jing-mei explains to the
reader why Suyuan does give her the jade pendant and the underlying
connotation. For Jing-mei, the Chinese New Year is an unhappy occasion. To
celebrate the Chinese New Year, Suyuan has invited eight people to join her
family for crab dinner. Suyuan’s family includes Canning, Jing-mei and herself.
The eight people are Lindo, Tin Jong, Vincent, Lisa; Vincent’s girlfriend,
Waverly, Rich, Shoshana, and Mr.Chong. So, the attendants become eleven. While
Suyuan has accompanied Jing-mei to the market to buy crabs, Suyuan has
carefully selected the feistiest crabs explaining to Jing-mei that they are of
best quality. When she poked to find the liveliest crabs, she found one losing
a limb. She refused to take it for “a missing leg is a bad sign on Chinese New
Year” (JLC 200). After a long discussion, the fishmonger gives Suyuan the
mutilated crab for free. Suyuan has not counted Shoshana, so she has bought
only ten crabs. When she sees the extra person, she decides to cook the
eleventh crab.
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During dinner, Waverly
and Jing-mei begin to dispute about business agreement. Waverly criticizes
Jing-mei’s hairdresser, calling him gay and warning he probably has AIDS.
Jing-mei retaliates Waverly mentioning that her work or firm has not paid her
for a freelance advertising sales pitch she has done for them. Waverly retorts
that her quality of work is unacceptable. Knowing that Jing-mei has been
humiliated intensely by Waverly, Suyuan gives Jing-mei the jade pendant and
tells her that it represents the importance of life. Jing-mei thinks that her
mother’s present is to comfort her partly, but Suyuan asserts that this is not
the reason.
slide 13
At this moment, Suyuan
begins to recognize the fundamental differences between Jing-mei’s and
Waverly’s personalities and motivations. These differences are demonstrated
clearly when Waverly and everyone on the table have picked the best crabs,
except Suyuan and Jing-mei. On the contrary, Jing-mei has picked the bad crab
in order to give her mother a better one as Suyuan expects “only you pick that
crab. Nobody else take it. I already know this. Everybody else wants best
quality. You thinking different” (JLC 208). Suyuan sees this virtue as a kind
of generosity and selflessness. Therefore, Suyuan gives her the necklace, which
is of the best quality, and makes Jing-mei recognize her own worth. Suyuan is
proud of Jing-mei because she has inherited the same traits of modesty and
selflessness from her, like the pendant. As a result, Suyuan does not value
Waverly and makes a metaphorical connection between Waverly and the crab “She
is like this crab… always walking sideways, moving crooked” (JLC 208). Suyuan
advises Jing-mei not to listen to Waverly and to move in a different direction
“You can move your legs go the other way” (JLC 208). That is to say that Suyuan
wants Jing-mei to think for herself and value herself.
slide 14 - rec 11
According to Tan, the
pendant has different interpretations in the novel. As Jing-mei observes that
at first she does not like wearing the pendant because it signifies the
cultural differences between Suyuan and Jing-mei “To me, the whole effect
looked wrong: too large, too green, too garishly ornate” (JLC 197). She remarks
that the other Chinese people who are wearing similar pendants do know the
meaning “it’s as though we were all sworn to the same secret covenant, so
secret we don’t even know what we belong to” (JLC 198). Then, she wonders if
the pendant has a specific meaning and thus asks whether the aunties or the
Chinese friends can read the pendant. She acknowledges that if they interpret
its meaning, it will be different from what her mother intends. Only after
Suyuan’s death, Jing-mei has come to realize its meaning “I wore this on my
skin, so when you put it on your skin, then you know my meaning. This is your
life’s importance” (JLC 208). Here, Suyuan believes that the pendant will not
only transfer the Chinese culture but also the love from mother to daughter.
Finally, the jade pendant is a symbol of the importance of passing down the
Chinese culture from Suyuan to Jing-mei.
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Besides, Tan uses
food to represent the loving bond between mother and daughter. This is evident
when Waverly criticizes Jing-mei’s writing style, and Suyuan responds with a
subtle insult “June not sophisticate like you. Must be born this way.” From
Suyuan’s remark, Jing-mei feels humiliated and betrayed, but the following lines
prove the contrary as she realizes “I could hear my mother eating an orange
slice. She was the only person I knew who crunched oranges, making it sound as
if she were eating crisp apples instead. The sound of it was worse than
gnashing teeth” (JLC 206). Gnashing her teeth signifies Suyuan’s anger as Hsiao
puts it and continues saying: “She has no choice but to transform her anger
into crunching” (209-10).
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Tan uses the mah jong
game to depict numerous and diverse ideas. Crucial to analyzing theme and
structure of the novel, is to define briefly what the mah jong game is and how
Tan uses it successfully as both simile and symbolic devices. Mah jong is a
popular Chinese game which involves four players just as the novel involves
four mothers. It is Ronald Emerick who gives the reader an overview about the
structure of the mah jong game “A complete game of mah jong requires at least
sixteen hands: four rounds, each consisting of four hands and each hand
representing one of the four players- or one of the four winds” (55). It is
obvious that the novel is structured somewhat like the mah jong game. It is
divided into four sections, each section consisting of four parts and each part
representing one of the four mothers or one of the four daughters (Emerick 55).
slide 17
The structure of
the novel reflects the generational gap between mothers and daughters as Walter
Shear points out “Tan organizes her material in terms of a generational
contrast by segregating stories of mothers and their daughters” (17). In the
first and the last sections, the four mothers tell about their lives in
pre-1949 China, except for Suyuan who has died and her stories are narrated by
Jing-mei. The second and the third sections include the four daughters who tell
their stories of growing up in America and their marriage problems. In the
first chapter, “the Joy Luck Club,” Suyuan explains to Jing-mei the difference
between the Jewish version of mah jong and the Chinese mah jong “Jewish mah
jong, they watch only for their own tile, play only with their eyes… Chinese
mah jong, you must play using your head, very tricky” (JLC 33). The difference
lies in the fact that the Chinese game is characterized by strategy. Thus, Tan
makes a comparison between the four players and the four daughters that is
demonstrated by Emerick “the four daughters, like four players in a mah jong
game, must learn to combine strategy and luck if they hope to succeed in the
game of life. Specifically, they must learn the joy luck philosophy of the four
experienced mah jong players of the novel, their mothers” (60-61). The
importance of the game itself, on the part of the mothers, is to teach their
daughters how to succeed in their lives by adopting a strategy just as each
player must devise it for winning. The main target of the game is similar to
the main target of the four mothers who want their daughters to be successful
in their lives. Moreover, the mothers want their daughters to see the world
through their Chinese eyes. To conclude, the mah jong game “symbolizes a link
between mothers and daughters, a cultural bridge between the past and the
present, a tradition that can be transferred from one generation to the next”
(Emerick 60).
slide 18
The four mothers occupy
a specific position, Suyuan is in the East, An-mei represents the South, Lindo
occupies the West, and Ying-ying sits in the North. As Anthony Christie
reflects, “The four sides of the mah jong table symbolize the four points of
the compass and four seasons” (46-47). The East represents spring, the South
represents summer; the West represents autumn; and the North represents winter.
Jing-mei sits in her mother’s place on the east side “where things begin… the
direction from which the sun rises, where the wind comes from” (JLC 33). Tan uses
the East to symbolize China in which the four mothers have lived, and also to
represent Jing-mei. It is appropriate for Jing-mei to sit on the east side
since the novel ends with her momentous trip to China. Accepting her mother’s
role in the mah jong game indicates that it is a first step toward
understanding her mother at the end of the novel and also makes a connection
between her mother’s generation and her own.
File Two
slide 3 - rec 1
Overview of the Personality Development Theory
The personality development theory is explored by Erik Homburger Erikson. Understanding Erikson’s own story of personal development facilitates and illuminates an understanding of the development of his psychology. Erikson’s theory ''is a reflection of his background, a background that included art, extensive travels, experiences with a variety of cultures, and a lifelong search for his own identity'' (Feist 244).
Overview of the Personality Development Theory
The personality development theory is explored by Erik Homburger Erikson. Understanding Erikson’s own story of personal development facilitates and illuminates an understanding of the development of his psychology. Erikson’s theory ''is a reflection of his background, a background that included art, extensive travels, experiences with a variety of cultures, and a lifelong search for his own identity'' (Feist 244).
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Erikson was influenced by Sigmund Freud to a great extent. He acknowledged that his contribution was simply an extension of Freudian theory as Hjelle and Ziegler state, Erikson “has persistently maintained that his own contributions, to the understanding of human development, are nothing more than a systematic extension of Freud’s conceptions of psychosexual development in light of current social, anthropological and biological data” (116). Erikson says that he intended his theory of personality in order to offer a new ''way of looking at things'' (1963: 403). Erikson’s major theoretical formulations are concerned with the growth of the self. Erikson differs from Freud in several respects or points. The first is that he emphasizes the ego rather than the Id. He actually describes the ego as the autonomous structure of the personality. This kind of approach is called ego psychology because it shows humans as more rational and logical in decision-making when dealing with problems.
Erikson was influenced by Sigmund Freud to a great extent. He acknowledged that his contribution was simply an extension of Freudian theory as Hjelle and Ziegler state, Erikson “has persistently maintained that his own contributions, to the understanding of human development, are nothing more than a systematic extension of Freud’s conceptions of psychosexual development in light of current social, anthropological and biological data” (116). Erikson says that he intended his theory of personality in order to offer a new ''way of looking at things'' (1963: 403). Erikson’s major theoretical formulations are concerned with the growth of the self. Erikson differs from Freud in several respects or points. The first is that he emphasizes the ego rather than the Id. He actually describes the ego as the autonomous structure of the personality. This kind of approach is called ego psychology because it shows humans as more rational and logical in decision-making when dealing with problems.
slide 5 - rec 3
Secondly, unlike Freud who focuses on psychosocial stages beyond childhood, Erikson stresses more the social and historical influences. Elvis Gwangwava writes: ''Erikson arrives at this theory after a thorough research of people living in different cultures to show how the ego’s development is inextricably bound up with the changing nature of social institutions and value systems '' (9).
Thirdly, Erikson’s theory of ego development starts from infancy to adolescence, and eventually old age. He suggests that at each stage, there is a specific psychosocial struggle that contributes in the formation of personality. From adolescence on, that struggle takes the form of an identity crisis—a turning point in one’s life that may either strengthen or weaken personality. Freud, on the other hand, focuses on the genital stage which extends from puberty to death. Despite this difference, there is some correspondence between the two theorists- with respect to the first five stages of life.
Secondly, unlike Freud who focuses on psychosocial stages beyond childhood, Erikson stresses more the social and historical influences. Elvis Gwangwava writes: ''Erikson arrives at this theory after a thorough research of people living in different cultures to show how the ego’s development is inextricably bound up with the changing nature of social institutions and value systems '' (9).
Thirdly, Erikson’s theory of ego development starts from infancy to adolescence, and eventually old age. He suggests that at each stage, there is a specific psychosocial struggle that contributes in the formation of personality. From adolescence on, that struggle takes the form of an identity crisis—a turning point in one’s life that may either strengthen or weaken personality. Freud, on the other hand, focuses on the genital stage which extends from puberty to death. Despite this difference, there is some correspondence between the two theorists- with respect to the first five stages of life.
slide 6 - rec 4
Ego Psychology
One of Erikson’s chief contributions to personality theory is his emphasis on ego rather than Id functions. According to him, the ego is the center of personality and is responsible for a unified sense of self. It consists of three interrelated facets: the body ego, the ego ideal, and ego identity. Major changes in ego can take place at any stage, but they are most likely to occur during adolescence.
Ego Psychology
One of Erikson’s chief contributions to personality theory is his emphasis on ego rather than Id functions. According to him, the ego is the center of personality and is responsible for a unified sense of self. It consists of three interrelated facets: the body ego, the ego ideal, and ego identity. Major changes in ego can take place at any stage, but they are most likely to occur during adolescence.
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5-Adolescene: Identity versus Role Confusion/Fidelity
Adolescence is a stage that runs from roughly 12 or 13 years to about 20 years of age. This is the stage which Erikson presents more elaborately than any other stage of development because of his theoretical interest in adolescence and the problems accompanying it. The adolescent is no longer a child and is not an adult either. At this stage, the adolescent asks him / herself the question ''who am I? '' or more elaborately ''what should or could be my role in life and what roles would I like to develop into?'' (Pennington 102). During adolescence, young people are exploring their independence and developing a sense of self.
5-Adolescene: Identity versus Role Confusion/Fidelity
Adolescence is a stage that runs from roughly 12 or 13 years to about 20 years of age. This is the stage which Erikson presents more elaborately than any other stage of development because of his theoretical interest in adolescence and the problems accompanying it. The adolescent is no longer a child and is not an adult either. At this stage, the adolescent asks him / herself the question ''who am I? '' or more elaborately ''what should or could be my role in life and what roles would I like to develop into?'' (Pennington 102). During adolescence, young people are exploring their independence and developing a sense of self.
slide 8
Identity is defined both positively and negatively. Positively, it consists of the things we are, the things we want to become and the things we are supposed to become. Negatively, it consists of the things which we do not want to be. For Erikson, the basic patterns of identity must emerge from two sources: ''(1) adolescents’ affirmation or repudiation of childhood identifications, and (2) their historical and social contexts'' (Feist 257). Young people reject the standards of their elders, preferring instead the values of a peer group.
Identity is defined both positively and negatively. Positively, it consists of the things we are, the things we want to become and the things we are supposed to become. Negatively, it consists of the things which we do not want to be. For Erikson, the basic patterns of identity must emerge from two sources: ''(1) adolescents’ affirmation or repudiation of childhood identifications, and (2) their historical and social contexts'' (Feist 257). Young people reject the standards of their elders, preferring instead the values of a peer group.
slide 9
Also, the society in which adolescents live plays an influential role in shaping their identities. Here, Erikson emphasizes the ego identity which means knowing who you are and how you assimilate into the rest of society.
Also, the society in which adolescents live plays an influential role in shaping their identities. Here, Erikson emphasizes the ego identity which means knowing who you are and how you assimilate into the rest of society.
slide 10 - rec 6
During adolescence, life gets more complicated when adolescents attempt to find out their own identities and struggle with social interactions. It is common to experience an identity crisis at this stage where a moratorium occurs. A moratorium is a period between childhood and adulthood, in which people are exploring alternative identities without having yet made a commitment. During this period, individuals attempt to solve special problems. If these problems are not solved properly, role or identity confusion emerges. Feist defines it as ''a sense of time urgency, a lack of concentration on required tasks, and a rejection of family or community standards'' (258). Identity confusion is the absence of identity where people cannot see who they are clearly.
During adolescence, life gets more complicated when adolescents attempt to find out their own identities and struggle with social interactions. It is common to experience an identity crisis at this stage where a moratorium occurs. A moratorium is a period between childhood and adulthood, in which people are exploring alternative identities without having yet made a commitment. During this period, individuals attempt to solve special problems. If these problems are not solved properly, role or identity confusion emerges. Feist defines it as ''a sense of time urgency, a lack of concentration on required tasks, and a rejection of family or community standards'' (258). Identity confusion is the absence of identity where people cannot see who they are clearly.
slide 11 - rec 7
The occurrence of role confusion is most prominent in Jing-mei, who is of American-Chinese parentage. Her mother, Suyuan, is a native Chinese who migrates to America whereas her father, Canning, is American. Her mixed heritage causes Jing-mei some woe as she is more inclined towards the American culture and is rather unappreciative of her Chinese roots. This is apparent in the “Joy Luck Club” chapter in three different situations. Firstly, when Jing-mei has been asked to replace her recently deceased mother in The Joy Luck Club, she feels insufficient “how can I be my mother at Joy Luck” (JLC 27). From Jing-mei’s standpoint, the purpose of taking her mother’s place is to keep a live a memory of her mother’s past in her own present. Later, when Jing-mei takes her mother’s place, she is not comfortable from the old aunties who are “dressed up in funny Chinese dresses with stiff stand-up collars and blooming branches of embroidered silk sewn over their breasts. These clothes were too fancy for real Chinese people, I thought, and too strange for American parties” (JLC 28). The strange clothes are a symbol of Jing-mei’s being ashamed of the Chinese heritage
The occurrence of role confusion is most prominent in Jing-mei, who is of American-Chinese parentage. Her mother, Suyuan, is a native Chinese who migrates to America whereas her father, Canning, is American. Her mixed heritage causes Jing-mei some woe as she is more inclined towards the American culture and is rather unappreciative of her Chinese roots. This is apparent in the “Joy Luck Club” chapter in three different situations. Firstly, when Jing-mei has been asked to replace her recently deceased mother in The Joy Luck Club, she feels insufficient “how can I be my mother at Joy Luck” (JLC 27). From Jing-mei’s standpoint, the purpose of taking her mother’s place is to keep a live a memory of her mother’s past in her own present. Later, when Jing-mei takes her mother’s place, she is not comfortable from the old aunties who are “dressed up in funny Chinese dresses with stiff stand-up collars and blooming branches of embroidered silk sewn over their breasts. These clothes were too fancy for real Chinese people, I thought, and too strange for American parties” (JLC 28). The strange clothes are a symbol of Jing-mei’s being ashamed of the Chinese heritage
slide 12 - rec 8
Secondly, feeling out of place when she listens to the conversation among the aunties who “speak in their special language, half in broken English, half in their own Chinese dialect” (JLC 34). Jing-mei is frustrated and embarrassed greatly because of their inability to speak proper English. The last situation stems from Jing-mei who imagines the Joy Luck Club as “a shameful Chinese custom, like the secret gathering of the Ku Klux Klan or the tom-tom dances of TV Indians preparing for war”( JLC 28). As a consequence, the mothers desire to teach their daughters the philosophy of joy luck as a way of maintaining a linkage between two generations and two cultures. As Jing-mei notes the importance of the meaning of the “joy luck” on the part of the aunties at the end of the chapter entitled “the Joy Luck Club”: “They see that joy and luck do not mean the same to their daughters, that to these closed American- born minds “joy luck” is not a word, it does not exist” (JLC 41). According to their daughters, The Joy Luck Club signifies a meaning quite different from the original meaning that their mothers mean. They may have grown ignorant of the philosophy of joy luck without their mothers’ influence during their childhood.
Secondly, feeling out of place when she listens to the conversation among the aunties who “speak in their special language, half in broken English, half in their own Chinese dialect” (JLC 34). Jing-mei is frustrated and embarrassed greatly because of their inability to speak proper English. The last situation stems from Jing-mei who imagines the Joy Luck Club as “a shameful Chinese custom, like the secret gathering of the Ku Klux Klan or the tom-tom dances of TV Indians preparing for war”( JLC 28). As a consequence, the mothers desire to teach their daughters the philosophy of joy luck as a way of maintaining a linkage between two generations and two cultures. As Jing-mei notes the importance of the meaning of the “joy luck” on the part of the aunties at the end of the chapter entitled “the Joy Luck Club”: “They see that joy and luck do not mean the same to their daughters, that to these closed American- born minds “joy luck” is not a word, it does not exist” (JLC 41). According to their daughters, The Joy Luck Club signifies a meaning quite different from the original meaning that their mothers mean. They may have grown ignorant of the philosophy of joy luck without their mothers’ influence during their childhood.
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When she was young, Jing-mei Woo used to see her mother as cruel and controlling as she mistakenly interprets her mother’s love and guidance as a form of contemptuous interference. This is evidently reflected in “Two Kinds” chapter in which Jing-mei describes her childhood as “full of pain and resentment linked to having never become the prodigy that her mother desired her to be” (Ward, Mannheimer and Freidberg 42). Like the other mothers who want the best for their daughters, Suyuan has high expectations for her daughter because she idealistically “believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America” (JLC 132). Compared to Lindo Jong, who is bragging about Waverly’s prowess in chess, Suyuan wants to brag about Jing-mei’s talent in order to find her daughter’s hidden inner talents. As a result, she projects her desires on Jing-mei by making continuous efforts to mould her into a musical prodigy and to look and dance like Chinese Shirley Temple. When Jing–mei fails to achieve what her mother wants, Suyuan says “Not the best. Because you not trying” (JLC 136).
When she was young, Jing-mei Woo used to see her mother as cruel and controlling as she mistakenly interprets her mother’s love and guidance as a form of contemptuous interference. This is evidently reflected in “Two Kinds” chapter in which Jing-mei describes her childhood as “full of pain and resentment linked to having never become the prodigy that her mother desired her to be” (Ward, Mannheimer and Freidberg 42). Like the other mothers who want the best for their daughters, Suyuan has high expectations for her daughter because she idealistically “believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America” (JLC 132). Compared to Lindo Jong, who is bragging about Waverly’s prowess in chess, Suyuan wants to brag about Jing-mei’s talent in order to find her daughter’s hidden inner talents. As a result, she projects her desires on Jing-mei by making continuous efforts to mould her into a musical prodigy and to look and dance like Chinese Shirley Temple. When Jing–mei fails to achieve what her mother wants, Suyuan says “Not the best. Because you not trying” (JLC 136).
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To figure out the meaning of Suyuan’s ‘not trying,’ Ward, Mannheimer and Freidberg who remark that “prodigy is really one’s will, one’s desire to succeed … Jing-mei muses that perhaps she never gave herself a chance at the piano because she never devoted her will to trying” (44). This is what Suyaun intends; Jing-mei does not try hard enough. Thus, Jing-mei confesses that she is not a genius just to spite her mother on many different occasions. Firstly, Suyuan’s cruel treatment towards Jing-mei makes her more rebellious and more disobedient and this gets reflected when Jing-mei protests “why do not you like me the way I am? I am not a genius!” and Suyuan slaps her saying “who ask you be genius? Only ask you be your best. For your sake… So ungrateful” (JLC 136).
To figure out the meaning of Suyuan’s ‘not trying,’ Ward, Mannheimer and Freidberg who remark that “prodigy is really one’s will, one’s desire to succeed … Jing-mei muses that perhaps she never gave herself a chance at the piano because she never devoted her will to trying” (44). This is what Suyaun intends; Jing-mei does not try hard enough. Thus, Jing-mei confesses that she is not a genius just to spite her mother on many different occasions. Firstly, Suyuan’s cruel treatment towards Jing-mei makes her more rebellious and more disobedient and this gets reflected when Jing-mei protests “why do not you like me the way I am? I am not a genius!” and Suyuan slaps her saying “who ask you be genius? Only ask you be your best. For your sake… So ungrateful” (JLC 136).
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Secondly, the dispute between Suyuan and Jing-mei continues after seeing a nine-year-old Chinese girl playing the piano on the Ed Sullivan Show. Suyuan forces Jing-mei to take piano lessons through their neighbor, a retired piano teacher named Mr. Chong. She makes a great sacrifice on the hope of finding a better life for her daughter (Jing-mei). As payment, she does housecleaning for Mr. Chong in order to give Jing-mei free piano lessons. Initially, Jing-mei is reluctant to start piano lessons but after she discovers that he is deaf, “a fact which was generally unknown, she gladly continued her lessons, realizing that she could easily fool Mr. Chong for he could not hear her. Jing-mei deliberately played, but Mr. Chong applauded and praised her playing instead of correcting her” (Guo 39).
Secondly, the dispute between Suyuan and Jing-mei continues after seeing a nine-year-old Chinese girl playing the piano on the Ed Sullivan Show. Suyuan forces Jing-mei to take piano lessons through their neighbor, a retired piano teacher named Mr. Chong. She makes a great sacrifice on the hope of finding a better life for her daughter (Jing-mei). As payment, she does housecleaning for Mr. Chong in order to give Jing-mei free piano lessons. Initially, Jing-mei is reluctant to start piano lessons but after she discovers that he is deaf, “a fact which was generally unknown, she gladly continued her lessons, realizing that she could easily fool Mr. Chong for he could not hear her. Jing-mei deliberately played, but Mr. Chong applauded and praised her playing instead of correcting her” (Guo 39).
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Later, Jing-mei participates in a talent contest by Mr. Chong and her mother in which she plays “pleading child” from Schumann’s scenes from childhood (JLC 138). Jing-mei is determined not to practice seriously in order to thwart her mother’s aspiration. As expected, her performance at a recital proves how badly she is playing except for Mr. Chong who has clapped loudly. So, she felt the embarrassment she has caused to her family “I felt the shame of my mother and father as they sat stiffly throughout the rest of the show” (JLC 140). In spite of Jing-mei’s failure that disappointed her mother and left her wordless “a quiet, blank look that said she had lost everything” (JLC 140), she never has to play again. After her failure on stage, Jing-mei believes that this would “put a stop to her foolish pride” (JLC 138). Like Waverly, Jing-mei has a big fight with Suyuan and this is due to her boasting of Jing-mei’s talent to other mothers, especially Lindo Jong.
Later, Jing-mei participates in a talent contest by Mr. Chong and her mother in which she plays “pleading child” from Schumann’s scenes from childhood (JLC 138). Jing-mei is determined not to practice seriously in order to thwart her mother’s aspiration. As expected, her performance at a recital proves how badly she is playing except for Mr. Chong who has clapped loudly. So, she felt the embarrassment she has caused to her family “I felt the shame of my mother and father as they sat stiffly throughout the rest of the show” (JLC 140). In spite of Jing-mei’s failure that disappointed her mother and left her wordless “a quiet, blank look that said she had lost everything” (JLC 140), she never has to play again. After her failure on stage, Jing-mei believes that this would “put a stop to her foolish pride” (JLC 138). Like Waverly, Jing-mei has a big fight with Suyuan and this is due to her boasting of Jing-mei’s talent to other mothers, especially Lindo Jong.
File Three
File Four
The scene suddenly changes, when Mr. Rory comments that Waverly looks like her mother. Lindo notices Waverly’s discomfort, for she does not want to look so Chinese: “‘the same cheeks.’ [Waverly] says. She points to mine and then pokes her cheeks. She sucks them outside in to look like a starved person” (JLC 256).
Although Lindo is aware of Waverly’s negative response, she is moved by their resemblance to her own mother back in China: “the same happiness, the same sadness, the same good fortune, the same faults. I am seeing myself and my mother, back in China, when I was a young girl” (JLC 256). She is reminded of her childhood in China, when she and her own mother had the same form of identification. It is Lindo’s sense of ethnic identity, which enables her to close the bridge between past and present and between different cultures (Heung 600-01). The mothers’ relationships with their own mothers have influenced the lives of their daughter. Finally, Lindo decides to tell her story of the past to her daughter Waverly “It’s too late to change you, but I’m telling you this because I worry about your baby. I worry that someday she will […] forget she had a grandmother” (JLC 49).
File Five
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Popo, An-mei’s mother and An-mei Hsu
An-mei’s mother is the main object in An-mei’s life because she is the only parent present. The story of An-mei Hsu revolves around the lives of four women which includes the grandmother (Popo), An-mei’s mother (unnamed), the daughter (An-mei), and the granddaughter (Rose Hsu Jordan).
Although An-mei has a mother; it is Popo (her grandmother) who raises her according to the traditional Chinese way as An-mei confesses later “I was raised the Chinese way: I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, to eat my own bitterness” (JLC 215).
It is important to relate An-mei’s childhood from 1923 in Ningbo, China in order to comprehend fully the drastic relationship between mother and daughter, especially between Popo and An-mei’s mother, and how this affects An-mei’s character development.
Popo, An-mei’s mother and An-mei Hsu
An-mei’s mother is the main object in An-mei’s life because she is the only parent present. The story of An-mei Hsu revolves around the lives of four women which includes the grandmother (Popo), An-mei’s mother (unnamed), the daughter (An-mei), and the granddaughter (Rose Hsu Jordan).
Although An-mei has a mother; it is Popo (her grandmother) who raises her according to the traditional Chinese way as An-mei confesses later “I was raised the Chinese way: I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, to eat my own bitterness” (JLC 215).
It is important to relate An-mei’s childhood from 1923 in Ningbo, China in order to comprehend fully the drastic relationship between mother and daughter, especially between Popo and An-mei’s mother, and how this affects An-mei’s character development.
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The relationship between Popo (the grandmother) and An-mei (the granddaughter) can only be described as loving but cruel and harsh. Popo loves An-mei and tries to teach her the traditional Chinese way of upbringing of how girls have “to be silent and listen to [their] elders” (JLC 217).
Therefore, she unintentionally tells An-mei frightening stories about disobedient girls and what happens to them; for instance, “when you lose your face… it is like dropping your necklace down a well. The only way you can get it back is to fall in after it” (JLC 44).
Here, this story, which An-mei does not understand, refers to her own mother. Popo also tells An-mei that her mother is a ghost. The ghost does not mean that her mother is literally dead, but “In those days, a ghost was anything we were forbidden to talk about” (JLC 42).
The relationship between Popo (the grandmother) and An-mei (the granddaughter) can only be described as loving but cruel and harsh. Popo loves An-mei and tries to teach her the traditional Chinese way of upbringing of how girls have “to be silent and listen to [their] elders” (JLC 217).
Therefore, she unintentionally tells An-mei frightening stories about disobedient girls and what happens to them; for instance, “when you lose your face… it is like dropping your necklace down a well. The only way you can get it back is to fall in after it” (JLC 44).
Here, this story, which An-mei does not understand, refers to her own mother. Popo also tells An-mei that her mother is a ghost. The ghost does not mean that her mother is literally dead, but “In those days, a ghost was anything we were forbidden to talk about” (JLC 42).
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For An-mei, she is hungry for the attentions of her mother “I watched my mother, seeing her for the first time” (JLC 45). She is frustrated that her mother is an outcast in the uncle’s family. After her mother’s remarriage, An-mei is sent to her grandmother’s home after the death of her father. This happens in accordance with what Julia Kristeva observes in Traditional China “a woman submitted throughout her life to a whole series of authorities: her own mother and father, her husband’s mother and father, her husband, and, finally, her son” (71).
So, An-mei is dissatisfied with her own life because she is in the care of her grandmother who brings her up in a traditional Chinese way “I could only watch and listen… I could not cry if I was disappointed. I had to be silent and listen to my elders” (JLC 217). This means that girls should be self-effacing and silent.
For An-mei, she is hungry for the attentions of her mother “I watched my mother, seeing her for the first time” (JLC 45). She is frustrated that her mother is an outcast in the uncle’s family. After her mother’s remarriage, An-mei is sent to her grandmother’s home after the death of her father. This happens in accordance with what Julia Kristeva observes in Traditional China “a woman submitted throughout her life to a whole series of authorities: her own mother and father, her husband’s mother and father, her husband, and, finally, her son” (71).
So, An-mei is dissatisfied with her own life because she is in the care of her grandmother who brings her up in a traditional Chinese way “I could only watch and listen… I could not cry if I was disappointed. I had to be silent and listen to my elders” (JLC 217). This means that girls should be self-effacing and silent.
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Food plays a pivotal role in the portrayal of hardships which have a harmful effect on daughters’ personality on the part of their mothers. The outstanding example is the thrilling story of An-mei in childhood.
Like Waverly, “For An-mei Hsu, food is a reminder of pain that she associates with her grandmother whom she called Popo” (Huntley 59). When An-mei’s mother, after becoming a number three concubine to a rich man called Wu Tsing, argues with her family to take An-mei with her, a pot of boiling soup spills over and scalds An-mei’s neck which leaves a scar “in [her] skin’s memory” (JLC 46).
The soup symbolizes the wrath of the family members; she says “It was as though everyone’s anger were pouring all over me” (JLC 46). The soup is a symbol of punishment for both An-mei’s mother and An-mei.
Food plays a pivotal role in the portrayal of hardships which have a harmful effect on daughters’ personality on the part of their mothers. The outstanding example is the thrilling story of An-mei in childhood.
Like Waverly, “For An-mei Hsu, food is a reminder of pain that she associates with her grandmother whom she called Popo” (Huntley 59). When An-mei’s mother, after becoming a number three concubine to a rich man called Wu Tsing, argues with her family to take An-mei with her, a pot of boiling soup spills over and scalds An-mei’s neck which leaves a scar “in [her] skin’s memory” (JLC 46).
The soup symbolizes the wrath of the family members; she says “It was as though everyone’s anger were pouring all over me” (JLC 46). The soup is a symbol of punishment for both An-mei’s mother and An-mei.
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An-mei identifies greatly with her mother, despite sharing a difficult relationship. An-mei and her mother have been kept apart for years, until Popo has fallen ill, and An-mei’s mother returns home to nurse her mother back. She does the most obedient thing for her sick mother by cutting her own flesh from her arm in order to add to a traditional Chinese soup in the hope that it will alleviate Popo’s pain.
According to ancient tradition, such a sacrifice might cure a dying family member, but her attempt fails and Popo dies. Consequently, for An-mei, the scar that her mother carries is an act of deep love and reverence to her mother (Popo). This sacrifice is not only a symbol that clearly indicates how deep An-mei’s mother’s attachment is to her mother (Popo), but it is also a symbol of the loving bond between An-mei and her mother.
An-mei identifies greatly with her mother, despite sharing a difficult relationship. An-mei and her mother have been kept apart for years, until Popo has fallen ill, and An-mei’s mother returns home to nurse her mother back. She does the most obedient thing for her sick mother by cutting her own flesh from her arm in order to add to a traditional Chinese soup in the hope that it will alleviate Popo’s pain.
According to ancient tradition, such a sacrifice might cure a dying family member, but her attempt fails and Popo dies. Consequently, for An-mei, the scar that her mother carries is an act of deep love and reverence to her mother (Popo). This sacrifice is not only a symbol that clearly indicates how deep An-mei’s mother’s attachment is to her mother (Popo), but it is also a symbol of the loving bond between An-mei and her mother.
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An-mei’s mother teaches An-mei to see the world through her eyes. She teaches her two distinct lessons. These lessons, from the mother’s angle, are beneficial and valuable because of their profound influences on An-mei’s character development.
The first lesson, which she tries to impart to An-mei, is to swallow her tears through the parable of the turtle. The parable, narrated by An-mei’s mother, is demonstrated in the chapter entitled “Magpies.” After the death of Popo, An-mei is crying because her mother prepared herself to return to Tientsin and leave her. Seeing An-mei’s teardrops, she tells her that one day when she was just a child about An-mei’s age, she sat crying by the pond where the turtle lives.
According to the parable, the turtle consumes her tears, and therefore knows her misery “the turtle said, I have eaten your tears, and this is why I know your misery. But I must warn you. If you cry, your life will always be sad” (JLC 217).
An-mei’s mother teaches An-mei to see the world through her eyes. She teaches her two distinct lessons. These lessons, from the mother’s angle, are beneficial and valuable because of their profound influences on An-mei’s character development.
The first lesson, which she tries to impart to An-mei, is to swallow her tears through the parable of the turtle. The parable, narrated by An-mei’s mother, is demonstrated in the chapter entitled “Magpies.” After the death of Popo, An-mei is crying because her mother prepared herself to return to Tientsin and leave her. Seeing An-mei’s teardrops, she tells her that one day when she was just a child about An-mei’s age, she sat crying by the pond where the turtle lives.
According to the parable, the turtle consumes her tears, and therefore knows her misery “the turtle said, I have eaten your tears, and this is why I know your misery. But I must warn you. If you cry, your life will always be sad” (JLC 217).
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The significance of the story of the turtle, on the part of An-mei’s mother, is to pay An-mei’s heed to the turtle’s warning, just as her own mother (Popo) has taught her before. She teaches An-mei how to assert herself instead of crying because when crying, others often feed off your weakness rather than feeling sorry for you.
This is exactly what An-mei does later. An-mei’s mother uses her talent in choosing the turtle’s story particularly in order to teach An-mei how to hide her sorrow, and to aspire for joy and happiness. This has a huge influence on An-mei’s character development during childhood.
The significance of the story of the turtle, on the part of An-mei’s mother, is to pay An-mei’s heed to the turtle’s warning, just as her own mother (Popo) has taught her before. She teaches An-mei how to assert herself instead of crying because when crying, others often feed off your weakness rather than feeling sorry for you.
This is exactly what An-mei does later. An-mei’s mother uses her talent in choosing the turtle’s story particularly in order to teach An-mei how to hide her sorrow, and to aspire for joy and happiness. This has a huge influence on An-mei’s character development during childhood.
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Tan uses the symbol of the turtle to indicate the life miseries of both An-mei and her mother, and how they overcome these obstacles. According to the Chinese culture, the turtle here is a symbol of endurance, wisdom, reason and tenacity. For An-mei, for instance, she stands up against the patriarch’s forbiddance. When An-mei’s uncle forbids her to go with her mother, she challenges his angry exhortation and decides to leave that house. Consequently, her uncle finally lets her go, but he considers her “finished” (JLC 219). This means that just like her mother who has been disowned by the family, An-mei too has been thrown out of the family.
Tan uses the symbol of the turtle to indicate the life miseries of both An-mei and her mother, and how they overcome these obstacles. According to the Chinese culture, the turtle here is a symbol of endurance, wisdom, reason and tenacity. For An-mei, for instance, she stands up against the patriarch’s forbiddance. When An-mei’s uncle forbids her to go with her mother, she challenges his angry exhortation and decides to leave that house. Consequently, her uncle finally lets her go, but he considers her “finished” (JLC 219). This means that just like her mother who has been disowned by the family, An-mei too has been thrown out of the family.
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The second lesson, which she tries to teach An-mei, is to see beyond appearances by crushing a pearl from the second wife’s necklace. More significantly, for An-mei’s mother, this lesson has a profound influence on An-mei’s character development as it also teaches her to be on guard against deceit. In “Magpies” chapter, the story of crushing the false pearls is narrated by An-mei’s mother. An-mei’s mother and An-mei travel to Tientsin in which they live in the household of a businessman Wu Tsing, in spite of the curses of her family. There, she lives as a third concubine or Fourth Wife, with him and his other wives.
As a result of being a lowly fourth wife, she has not only to suffer ill-treatment from both the man and his other wives, especially the Second Wife, she also does not even have a name, and consequently she has no identity. When she gave birth to a son after three years of marriage, the Second Wife claims the boy as her own. The Second Wife deliberately pretends to show her affection in front of An-mei’s mother. Also, she gives An-mei a pearl necklace to win her affection, and An-mei says “I was overjoyed that Second Wife had shown me this special favor” (JLC 231).
The second lesson, which she tries to teach An-mei, is to see beyond appearances by crushing a pearl from the second wife’s necklace. More significantly, for An-mei’s mother, this lesson has a profound influence on An-mei’s character development as it also teaches her to be on guard against deceit. In “Magpies” chapter, the story of crushing the false pearls is narrated by An-mei’s mother. An-mei’s mother and An-mei travel to Tientsin in which they live in the household of a businessman Wu Tsing, in spite of the curses of her family. There, she lives as a third concubine or Fourth Wife, with him and his other wives.
As a result of being a lowly fourth wife, she has not only to suffer ill-treatment from both the man and his other wives, especially the Second Wife, she also does not even have a name, and consequently she has no identity. When she gave birth to a son after three years of marriage, the Second Wife claims the boy as her own. The Second Wife deliberately pretends to show her affection in front of An-mei’s mother. Also, she gives An-mei a pearl necklace to win her affection, and An-mei says “I was overjoyed that Second Wife had shown me this special favor” (JLC 231).
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Yan Chang, the servant of An-mei’s mother, tells An-mei the story of her mother’s painful past. Although it is Yan Chang’s choice of revealing her mother’s story, this has an efficacious influence on An-mei’s life. At first, An-mei learns more and more about the wives and their various and domineering powers.
Yan Chang explains to An-mei that Wu Tsing’s First Wife, a plain and honest woman, who her “has the most power by virtue of power, but her spirit was broken” (Rozakis 32) because the children she bore had physical deformities or large birthmarks.
Yan Chang, the servant of An-mei’s mother, tells An-mei the story of her mother’s painful past. Although it is Yan Chang’s choice of revealing her mother’s story, this has an efficacious influence on An-mei’s life. At first, An-mei learns more and more about the wives and their various and domineering powers.
Yan Chang explains to An-mei that Wu Tsing’s First Wife, a plain and honest woman, who her “has the most power by virtue of power, but her spirit was broken” (Rozakis 32) because the children she bore had physical deformities or large birthmarks.
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An-mei also learns the story behind Second Wife. She is a famous singer whom Wu Tsing married for “the prestige of owning what so many other men wanted” (JLC 234). Using her wits, she manages to control Wu Tsing’s money. Knowing his fear of ghosts, she feigns suicide by eating “raw opium, enough to make her sick” (JLC 234-35) in order to get an increase in her allowance. She continues this plot until she gets everything she wants, “But one thing she could not have: children” (JLC 235).
Therefore, she has found a woman to become Wu Tsing’s Third Wife. Later, when the Third Wife bears only three daughters, she arranges for An-mei’s mother to become Fourth Wife by tricking her into marriage with Wu Tsing. This happened when An-mei and Yan Chang were visiting a Buddhist pagoda to worship.
An-mei also learns the story behind Second Wife. She is a famous singer whom Wu Tsing married for “the prestige of owning what so many other men wanted” (JLC 234). Using her wits, she manages to control Wu Tsing’s money. Knowing his fear of ghosts, she feigns suicide by eating “raw opium, enough to make her sick” (JLC 234-35) in order to get an increase in her allowance. She continues this plot until she gets everything she wants, “But one thing she could not have: children” (JLC 235).
Therefore, she has found a woman to become Wu Tsing’s Third Wife. Later, when the Third Wife bears only three daughters, she arranges for An-mei’s mother to become Fourth Wife by tricking her into marriage with Wu Tsing. This happened when An-mei and Yan Chang were visiting a Buddhist pagoda to worship.
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An-mei’s mother, hoping to remedy her situation, commits suicide in order to grant An-mei a respected rank in Wu Tsing’s household. She has planned her suicide cunningly so she dies three days before a lunar new year. According to the Chinese tradition, one’s ghost returns on the third day after death, except An-mei’s mother’s case, her ghost cause evil misfortune on the first day of new year: “on the third day after someone dies, the soul comes back to settle scores. In [An-mei’s mother’s] case, this would be the first day of the lunar new year” (JLC 240). An-mei’s mother has chosen the lunar New Year specifically because of its magnificent importance for Chinese people.
An-mei’s mother, hoping to remedy her situation, commits suicide in order to grant An-mei a respected rank in Wu Tsing’s household. She has planned her suicide cunningly so she dies three days before a lunar new year. According to the Chinese tradition, one’s ghost returns on the third day after death, except An-mei’s mother’s case, her ghost cause evil misfortune on the first day of new year: “on the third day after someone dies, the soul comes back to settle scores. In [An-mei’s mother’s] case, this would be the first day of the lunar new year” (JLC 240). An-mei’s mother has chosen the lunar New Year specifically because of its magnificent importance for Chinese people.
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Before her mother dies, An-mei begins to comprehend her mother’s purpose when “she whisper[s] to me that she would rather kill her own weak spirit so she could give me a stronger one” (JLC 240). What does Tan mean by her weak spirit? Her weak spirit refers to her suicide that is a consequence of her earlier shame. Her mother’s suicide is the turning point which gives An-mei the invisible power of revenge.
Thus, An-mei begins to shout and to rise up and fight back against the businessman and his Second Wife “And on that day, I showed Second Wife the fake pearl necklace she had given me and crushed it under my foot… And on that day, I learned to shout” (JLC 240).
Before her mother dies, An-mei begins to comprehend her mother’s purpose when “she whisper[s] to me that she would rather kill her own weak spirit so she could give me a stronger one” (JLC 240). What does Tan mean by her weak spirit? Her weak spirit refers to her suicide that is a consequence of her earlier shame. Her mother’s suicide is the turning point which gives An-mei the invisible power of revenge.
Thus, An-mei begins to shout and to rise up and fight back against the businessman and his Second Wife “And on that day, I showed Second Wife the fake pearl necklace she had given me and crushed it under my foot… And on that day, I learned to shout” (JLC 240).
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Later on, An-mei immigrates to the USA and has a new identity. She marries George Hsu, “a pharmacist’s assistant who had once been a doctor in China” (JLC 121).
Then, she moves to San Francisco where she shares a work with Lindo Jong in a fortune cookie factory. She and her husband have four sons (Matthew, Mark, Luke and Bing), and three daughters (Rose, Janice and Ruth).
Later on, An-mei immigrates to the USA and has a new identity. She marries George Hsu, “a pharmacist’s assistant who had once been a doctor in China” (JLC 121).
Then, she moves to San Francisco where she shares a work with Lindo Jong in a fortune cookie factory. She and her husband have four sons (Matthew, Mark, Luke and Bing), and three daughters (Rose, Janice and Ruth).
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Lindo Jong and Waverly
A similar confrontation happens between Lindo Jong and her daughter Waverly. Waverly learned to play chess in San Fransico’s Chinatown and became a national chess champion while still a child. Even though Waverly enjoyed playing chess, she lost her strength after she confronted her mother who boasted of her prowess. Therefore, she told her mother: “I wish you wouldn’t do that, telling everybody I’m your daughter….why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess?” (JLC 99).
Tan uses imagery to provide a clearer understanding of a strained relationship between mother and daughter. The chess game is a metaphor that represents the power struggle between mother and daughter.
Lindo Jong and Waverly
A similar confrontation happens between Lindo Jong and her daughter Waverly. Waverly learned to play chess in San Fransico’s Chinatown and became a national chess champion while still a child. Even though Waverly enjoyed playing chess, she lost her strength after she confronted her mother who boasted of her prowess. Therefore, she told her mother: “I wish you wouldn’t do that, telling everybody I’m your daughter….why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess?” (JLC 99).
Tan uses imagery to provide a clearer understanding of a strained relationship between mother and daughter. The chess game is a metaphor that represents the power struggle between mother and daughter.
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Waverly imagines life as a chess game. In her book, Today’s Writers and Their Works: Amy Tan, Mussari says: “Chess teaches Waverly a strategy for survival: the ability to find her ‘invisible strength’ and use it against stronger adversaries. Yet, her strongest adversary often seems to be her mother” (59-61). As a strategy, Waverly once did not want to please her mother by her own decision to quit playing chess. When she decided not to participate in a tournament, she expected that her mother would beg her to continue playing, but she was offended and did not say anything except “You think it is so easy. One day quit, next day play. Everything for you is this way. So smart, so easy, so fast” (JLC 171).
Finally, Waverly wanted to play again, her mother said “it is not so easy anymore” (JLC 172). But Waverly continued to play anyway without her mother’s support; she lost her chess games and stopped playing entirely:
At my next tournament, while I had done well overall, in the end the points were not enough. I lost. And what was worse, my mother said nothing. She seemed to walk around with this satisfied look, as if it had happened because she had devised this strategy.(JLC 172-73)
Waverly imagines life as a chess game. In her book, Today’s Writers and Their Works: Amy Tan, Mussari says: “Chess teaches Waverly a strategy for survival: the ability to find her ‘invisible strength’ and use it against stronger adversaries. Yet, her strongest adversary often seems to be her mother” (59-61). As a strategy, Waverly once did not want to please her mother by her own decision to quit playing chess. When she decided not to participate in a tournament, she expected that her mother would beg her to continue playing, but she was offended and did not say anything except “You think it is so easy. One day quit, next day play. Everything for you is this way. So smart, so easy, so fast” (JLC 171).
Finally, Waverly wanted to play again, her mother said “it is not so easy anymore” (JLC 172). But Waverly continued to play anyway without her mother’s support; she lost her chess games and stopped playing entirely:
At my next tournament, while I had done well overall, in the end the points were not enough. I lost. And what was worse, my mother said nothing. She seemed to walk around with this satisfied look, as if it had happened because she had devised this strategy.(JLC 172-73)
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Waverly is in her thirties, a tax attorney at Price Waterhouse. She is married to Marvin Chen, and has a daughter, Shoshana, who is four years old. Waverly recalls how her mother hated her first husband Marvin, and she accuses her of having poisoned that marriage. Now she is going to marry a Caucasian man, and she does not know how to tell her mother. But when her daughter forces her to say something about him, Lindo has only negative remarks concerning him: first, he has freckles; second, he is unaware of a Chinese table customs; and finally, he does not know how to speak politely to Chinese elders.
Waverly decides to find a chance to bring Rich into her mother’s home, but her effort is useless. It is during dinner. Once, Waverly and Rich are invited to have dinner, at a Chinese restaurant. Waverly chooses this restaurant in order to please her mother and make her accept Rich while eating Chinese food. Although Rich uses the “slippery ivory chopsticks” (JLC 178), Rich fails to appreciate Lindo’s cooking. When Lindo complains that one of the dishes is not tasty, as is the Chinese custom, Rich not only comments negatively, but also adds a little soy souce to the dish. Waverly felt offended by her mother.
Waverly is in her thirties, a tax attorney at Price Waterhouse. She is married to Marvin Chen, and has a daughter, Shoshana, who is four years old. Waverly recalls how her mother hated her first husband Marvin, and she accuses her of having poisoned that marriage. Now she is going to marry a Caucasian man, and she does not know how to tell her mother. But when her daughter forces her to say something about him, Lindo has only negative remarks concerning him: first, he has freckles; second, he is unaware of a Chinese table customs; and finally, he does not know how to speak politely to Chinese elders.
Waverly decides to find a chance to bring Rich into her mother’s home, but her effort is useless. It is during dinner. Once, Waverly and Rich are invited to have dinner, at a Chinese restaurant. Waverly chooses this restaurant in order to please her mother and make her accept Rich while eating Chinese food. Although Rich uses the “slippery ivory chopsticks” (JLC 178), Rich fails to appreciate Lindo’s cooking. When Lindo complains that one of the dishes is not tasty, as is the Chinese custom, Rich not only comments negatively, but also adds a little soy souce to the dish. Waverly felt offended by her mother.
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Waverly decides to tell her mother to stay away from her life. She thinks the only way to avoid her mother is to shut her up. Earlier, when a friend encourages Waverly to stand up to her mother, by telling her to stop ruining her life simply by telling her to shut up, Waverly is shocked: “you can’t ever tell a Chinese mother to shut up. You could be charged as an accessory to your own murder” (JLC 173). Guo explains this quotation more accurately:
In Waverly’s case, to tell her mother to shut up would probably cause her mother’s suicide, since the sole purpose of the traditional Chinese mother’s life is to raise and take care of her children. To Waverly’s mother, taking care of her children means to speak to them and constantly check up on them. If that purpose were taken away, she would feel that she had no purpose in life. Waverly feels that she can never silence her mother, even though she does not like her mother’s nagging about how she should live her life. (42)
Waverly decides to tell her mother to stay away from her life. She thinks the only way to avoid her mother is to shut her up. Earlier, when a friend encourages Waverly to stand up to her mother, by telling her to stop ruining her life simply by telling her to shut up, Waverly is shocked: “you can’t ever tell a Chinese mother to shut up. You could be charged as an accessory to your own murder” (JLC 173). Guo explains this quotation more accurately:
In Waverly’s case, to tell her mother to shut up would probably cause her mother’s suicide, since the sole purpose of the traditional Chinese mother’s life is to raise and take care of her children. To Waverly’s mother, taking care of her children means to speak to them and constantly check up on them. If that purpose were taken away, she would feel that she had no purpose in life. Waverly feels that she can never silence her mother, even though she does not like her mother’s nagging about how she should live her life. (42)
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Food imagery is used to describe the portrayal of the emotions and feelings Tan’s character’s, especially between mother-daughter relationships. Perhaps the most striking example is what happens to Waverly in her childhood. When Waverly feels that her mother is using her accomplishments in chess to show-off, she tries to be free from her mother’s expectations. This is reflected when Waverly and Lindo contend about the subject on the sidewalk, the daughter runs and knocks into an old woman and causes her to drop all groceries. As Lindo helps the woman by picking up the “escaping food” (JLC 99), she gets angry. But Waverly makes her escape into an alley after another, she finally realizes that she has no “escape routes” (JLC 100).
Food imagery is used to describe the portrayal of the emotions and feelings Tan’s character’s, especially between mother-daughter relationships. Perhaps the most striking example is what happens to Waverly in her childhood. When Waverly feels that her mother is using her accomplishments in chess to show-off, she tries to be free from her mother’s expectations. This is reflected when Waverly and Lindo contend about the subject on the sidewalk, the daughter runs and knocks into an old woman and causes her to drop all groceries. As Lindo helps the woman by picking up the “escaping food” (JLC 99), she gets angry. But Waverly makes her escape into an alley after another, she finally realizes that she has no “escape routes” (JLC 100).
slide 7
Food is also used by the mothers to express their love and affection towards their daughters. “Food can be manipulative because it is synonymous with love” (Hsiao 213). This is shown in Waverly’s case as she learns in her childhood if she obeys her mother, she will be rewarded with the “forbidden candies” (JLC 89). But if she does not follow her mother’s order, she will be ignored and punished. After an argument between Lindo and Waverly, Lindo decides to ignore her daughter as punishment. But when Waverly falls sick and suffers from a fever, Lindo feeds her rice porridge, the daughter becomes so delighted and says: “I was so happy that she [Lindo] had become her usual self” (JLC 172). Lindo’s strategy “may be as powerful a means of control as over-protection” (Sceats 120).
Food is also used by the mothers to express their love and affection towards their daughters. “Food can be manipulative because it is synonymous with love” (Hsiao 213). This is shown in Waverly’s case as she learns in her childhood if she obeys her mother, she will be rewarded with the “forbidden candies” (JLC 89). But if she does not follow her mother’s order, she will be ignored and punished. After an argument between Lindo and Waverly, Lindo decides to ignore her daughter as punishment. But when Waverly falls sick and suffers from a fever, Lindo feeds her rice porridge, the daughter becomes so delighted and says: “I was so happy that she [Lindo] had become her usual self” (JLC 172). Lindo’s strategy “may be as powerful a means of control as over-protection” (Sceats 120).
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When Lindo decides to join Waverly and Rich in their trip to China, Waverly hates the idea, but at the same time sees it as a good chance to leave their differences behind: “I know what she means. She would love to go to China with us. And I would hate it…yet part of me also thinks the whole idea makes perfect sense” (JLC 184). Also concerning eating in China, Rich makes Lindo “translate all the menus” for them so that they can avoid “eating snakes or dogs by mistake” (JLC 184). By saying this Rich is not only making a joke, but he also refers to his distrust of the menus. Like Rich, Waverly is also worried about eating in China because it “symbolizes her uncertainty of a satisfactory mother/daughter relationship” (Hsiao 222). For Waverly, the idea to have Lindo with them for three weeks is distressing “three weeks’ worth of her complaining about dirty chopsticks and cold soup, three meals a day—well, it would be a disaster” (JLC 184).
When Lindo decides to join Waverly and Rich in their trip to China, Waverly hates the idea, but at the same time sees it as a good chance to leave their differences behind: “I know what she means. She would love to go to China with us. And I would hate it…yet part of me also thinks the whole idea makes perfect sense” (JLC 184). Also concerning eating in China, Rich makes Lindo “translate all the menus” for them so that they can avoid “eating snakes or dogs by mistake” (JLC 184). By saying this Rich is not only making a joke, but he also refers to his distrust of the menus. Like Rich, Waverly is also worried about eating in China because it “symbolizes her uncertainty of a satisfactory mother/daughter relationship” (Hsiao 222). For Waverly, the idea to have Lindo with them for three weeks is distressing “three weeks’ worth of her complaining about dirty chopsticks and cold soup, three meals a day—well, it would be a disaster” (JLC 184).
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In the chapter “Double Face,” the central motif is a mirror reflecting the theme of a lack of communication between mother and daughter. Because this scene is narrated from Lindo’s perspective, it “shows the limits of viewing identification as an issue problematic for the daughter alone” (Heung 599). Lindo is seated in front of a mirror as Waverly and the hairdresser, Mr. Rory, decide what to do with Lindo’s hair. Rory assumes that Lindo is a recent immigrant who cannot speak English, but Waverly does not tell him the truth. Waverly continues to translate Mr. Rory’s question for her mother, even though Lindo understands English very well. This makes Lindo feel embarrassed of the shame she sees on her daughter’s face, “He thinks I do not understand English… I am ashamed she is ashamed. Because she is my daughter and I am proud of her, and I am her mother but she is not proud of me” (JLC 255). Despite her silence, Lindo examines closely the interaction between Waverly and Mr. Rory: “Americans don’t really look at one another when talking.” And also she alternates between her “Chinese face” and her “American face” which is “the face Americans think is Chinese, the one they cannot understand” (JLC 255).
In the chapter “Double Face,” the central motif is a mirror reflecting the theme of a lack of communication between mother and daughter. Because this scene is narrated from Lindo’s perspective, it “shows the limits of viewing identification as an issue problematic for the daughter alone” (Heung 599). Lindo is seated in front of a mirror as Waverly and the hairdresser, Mr. Rory, decide what to do with Lindo’s hair. Rory assumes that Lindo is a recent immigrant who cannot speak English, but Waverly does not tell him the truth. Waverly continues to translate Mr. Rory’s question for her mother, even though Lindo understands English very well. This makes Lindo feel embarrassed of the shame she sees on her daughter’s face, “He thinks I do not understand English… I am ashamed she is ashamed. Because she is my daughter and I am proud of her, and I am her mother but she is not proud of me” (JLC 255). Despite her silence, Lindo examines closely the interaction between Waverly and Mr. Rory: “Americans don’t really look at one another when talking.” And also she alternates between her “Chinese face” and her “American face” which is “the face Americans think is Chinese, the one they cannot understand” (JLC 255).
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Waverly shows a complete lack of respect for her mother in more than one way. First, Waverly and Lindo speak through the mirror to each other’s reflections. Since speaking through mirrors is an American custom, Lindo, a traditional Chinese woman who is accustomed to the custom of speaking directly to her elders, finds this strange. Second, Waverly critizes her mother’s head “as if Lindo were not there.” Third and last, Waverly speaks in a loud voice to Lindo “as if [Lindo has] lost [her] hearing” (JLC 255). Lindo knows she has made her daughter American. It is her fault as she wanted Waverly to have the best combination possible: American circumstances of free choice and Chinese obedient character. She says “How could I know these two things do not mix?” (JLC 254)
Waverly shows a complete lack of respect for her mother in more than one way. First, Waverly and Lindo speak through the mirror to each other’s reflections. Since speaking through mirrors is an American custom, Lindo, a traditional Chinese woman who is accustomed to the custom of speaking directly to her elders, finds this strange. Second, Waverly critizes her mother’s head “as if Lindo were not there.” Third and last, Waverly speaks in a loud voice to Lindo “as if [Lindo has] lost [her] hearing” (JLC 255). Lindo knows she has made her daughter American. It is her fault as she wanted Waverly to have the best combination possible: American circumstances of free choice and Chinese obedient character. She says “How could I know these two things do not mix?” (JLC 254)
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The scene suddenly changes, when Mr. Rory comments that Waverly looks like her mother. Lindo notices Waverly’s discomfort, for she does not want to look so Chinese: “‘the same cheeks.’ [Waverly] says. She points to mine and then pokes her cheeks. She sucks them outside in to look like a starved person” (JLC 256).
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Ying-ying St. Clair and Lena St. Clair
Ying-ying St. Clair is Lena’s mother. In Lena’s case, there is an attachment to Ying-ying as she is the only parent present. Hence, despite sharing a difficult relationship, Lena identifies to some extent with her mother “I love my daughter. She and I have shared the same body. There is a part of her mind that is part of mine” (JLC 242). In spite of this attachment, Lena’s story shows also how she disconnects from Ying-ying “when she was born, she sprang from me like a slippery fish, and has been swimming away ever since. All her life, I have watched her as though from another shore” (JLC 242). For Ying-ying, this is a metaphor of Lena’s moving away from a Chinese upbringing from birth. Instead, she wants to lead an American life. Ying-ying never talks about her life in China neither to Lena nor to her husband. Lena thinks that her father has saved her mother from a terrible life in China even though the truth is quite the contrary. In reality, Ying-ying is a daughter of a very wealthy family.
Ying-ying St. Clair and Lena St. Clair
Ying-ying St. Clair is Lena’s mother. In Lena’s case, there is an attachment to Ying-ying as she is the only parent present. Hence, despite sharing a difficult relationship, Lena identifies to some extent with her mother “I love my daughter. She and I have shared the same body. There is a part of her mind that is part of mine” (JLC 242). In spite of this attachment, Lena’s story shows also how she disconnects from Ying-ying “when she was born, she sprang from me like a slippery fish, and has been swimming away ever since. All her life, I have watched her as though from another shore” (JLC 242). For Ying-ying, this is a metaphor of Lena’s moving away from a Chinese upbringing from birth. Instead, she wants to lead an American life. Ying-ying never talks about her life in China neither to Lena nor to her husband. Lena thinks that her father has saved her mother from a terrible life in China even though the truth is quite the contrary. In reality, Ying-ying is a daughter of a very wealthy family.
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Ying-ying teaches Lena to see the world through her eyes. She states that rules and customs associated with eating must be taught to children. This is what Ying-ying does with her daughter Lena in the chapter “Rice Husband.” In order to teach Lena not to waste food, Ying-ying tells her that her future husband will have a pock mark on his face for every uneaten grain of rice left in her bowl. Ying- ying also tells Lena that a man with pock marks is a mean man. Lena thinks of the twelve-year-old boy, Arnold Reisman, who has marks on his face and is mean also. This means that, Ying-ying’s superstitions have detrimental effects on Lena’s personality. For fear that she will marry a pock- marked man; she decides to intentionally leave rice in her bowl so that she can kill him. By doing this, she thinks that she changes her imaginary fate. Filled with guilt and now suffering from an eating disorder, Lena gorges on a half-gallon of ice cream and then “retch[es] [it] back into the ice cream container” (JLC 154). When Lena gorges and finishes the food, she obeys her mother (Ying-ying), but when she vomits, she is symbolically trying not to follow her mother’s orders by not finishing the food. Lena also continues to say “I remember wondering why it was that eating something good could make me feel so terrible, while vomiting something terrible could make me feel so good” (JLC 154).
Ying-ying teaches Lena to see the world through her eyes. She states that rules and customs associated with eating must be taught to children. This is what Ying-ying does with her daughter Lena in the chapter “Rice Husband.” In order to teach Lena not to waste food, Ying-ying tells her that her future husband will have a pock mark on his face for every uneaten grain of rice left in her bowl. Ying- ying also tells Lena that a man with pock marks is a mean man. Lena thinks of the twelve-year-old boy, Arnold Reisman, who has marks on his face and is mean also. This means that, Ying-ying’s superstitions have detrimental effects on Lena’s personality. For fear that she will marry a pock- marked man; she decides to intentionally leave rice in her bowl so that she can kill him. By doing this, she thinks that she changes her imaginary fate. Filled with guilt and now suffering from an eating disorder, Lena gorges on a half-gallon of ice cream and then “retch[es] [it] back into the ice cream container” (JLC 154). When Lena gorges and finishes the food, she obeys her mother (Ying-ying), but when she vomits, she is symbolically trying not to follow her mother’s orders by not finishing the food. Lena also continues to say “I remember wondering why it was that eating something good could make me feel so terrible, while vomiting something terrible could make me feel so good” (JLC 154).
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In Lena’s case, she is hungry because she feels that Ying-ying immerses her in an environment full of fear and despair. Lena is extremely traumatized by Ying-ying’s troubled mental state. This is due to Ying-ying’s revelation of a side of herself that has surprised Lena:
So I will tell Lena of my shame. That I was rich and pretty. I was too good for any one man. That I became abandoned goods. I will tell her that at eighteen the prettiness drained from my cheeks. That I thought of throwing myself in the lake like the other ladies of shame. And I will tell her of the baby I killed because I came to hate this man so much.
When my daughter looks at me, she sees a small old lady. That is because she sees only with her outside eyes. She has no chuming, no inside knowing of things. If she had chuming, she would see a tiger lady. And she would have careful fear. (JLC 248)
In Lena’s case, she is hungry because she feels that Ying-ying immerses her in an environment full of fear and despair. Lena is extremely traumatized by Ying-ying’s troubled mental state. This is due to Ying-ying’s revelation of a side of herself that has surprised Lena:
So I will tell Lena of my shame. That I was rich and pretty. I was too good for any one man. That I became abandoned goods. I will tell her that at eighteen the prettiness drained from my cheeks. That I thought of throwing myself in the lake like the other ladies of shame. And I will tell her of the baby I killed because I came to hate this man so much.
When my daughter looks at me, she sees a small old lady. That is because she sees only with her outside eyes. She has no chuming, no inside knowing of things. If she had chuming, she would see a tiger lady. And she would have careful fear. (JLC 248)
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Besides, Lena is frustrated of Ying-ying’s poor command of English. Thus, she is forced to act as a translator for her parents because her mother speaks little English and her father does not speak Chinese. Being a translator is a difficult task for Lena. When Lena’s mother says something that may embarrass Lena’s father, she will mistranslate what her mother says. For instance, when Ying-ying loses her baby and falls apart, Lena does not translate for her father exactly what her mother says in order to preserve family harmony because “she was concerned her mother was crazy and did not want to let her father know this” (Loos 69-70). Lena thinks that her mother is crazy because she does not know anything about her mother’s past. She is extremely dissatisfied with her life because her mother is too Chinese for her liking. Instead, she desires to lead an American life that is not bound by superstitions or strict traditions.
Besides, Lena is frustrated of Ying-ying’s poor command of English. Thus, she is forced to act as a translator for her parents because her mother speaks little English and her father does not speak Chinese. Being a translator is a difficult task for Lena. When Lena’s mother says something that may embarrass Lena’s father, she will mistranslate what her mother says. For instance, when Ying-ying loses her baby and falls apart, Lena does not translate for her father exactly what her mother says in order to preserve family harmony because “she was concerned her mother was crazy and did not want to let her father know this” (Loos 69-70). Lena thinks that her mother is crazy because she does not know anything about her mother’s past. She is extremely dissatisfied with her life because her mother is too Chinese for her liking. Instead, she desires to lead an American life that is not bound by superstitions or strict traditions.
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Lena sees her mother as abusive and controlling trying to ruin her life. Lena is thirty-four years old and is married to Harold Livotny. When she decides to marry Harold, she says, “My mother had looked in my rice bowl and told me I would marry a bad man” (JLC 151). Lena is annoyed because her mother predicts her future only in a negative light. She has helped her husband to establish a successful architectural firm where he is a partner, and she is an associate, “but fails to recognize her value as a wife or to reward her for supporting his career” (Snodgrass 101). Lena does not see her own value in spite of her efforts and creativity that make Harold shine at work. Instead, she accepts her role like a traditional Chinese wife who lets her husband decide everything. At work, he is the boss who treats everyone else equally except his wife.
Lena sees her mother as abusive and controlling trying to ruin her life. Lena is thirty-four years old and is married to Harold Livotny. When she decides to marry Harold, she says, “My mother had looked in my rice bowl and told me I would marry a bad man” (JLC 151). Lena is annoyed because her mother predicts her future only in a negative light. She has helped her husband to establish a successful architectural firm where he is a partner, and she is an associate, “but fails to recognize her value as a wife or to reward her for supporting his career” (Snodgrass 101). Lena does not see her own value in spite of her efforts and creativity that make Harold shine at work. Instead, she accepts her role like a traditional Chinese wife who lets her husband decide everything. At work, he is the boss who treats everyone else equally except his wife.
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Tan uses symbols in order to show the chasm that divides mothers from daughters. For Ying-ying, the vase upon a wobbly table in the guest room is a symbol of Lena’s unstable marriage. During her visit to Lena’s house, Ying-ying sits in a small guest room which, in Chinese ways of thinking, should have been the best room in the house. When Lena’s mother touches the table, the table falls down and the vase also breaks on the floor. When Lena goes to rescue her mother, she tells her mother that she “knew it would happen” (JLC 165). Her mother simply asks her then “why you don’t stop it” (JLC 165). From the reciprocal conversation between Ying-ying and Lena, one can deduce that Ying-ying accidently causes the vase to break in order to tell Lena that she should prevent disasters before they happen.
Tan uses symbols in order to show the chasm that divides mothers from daughters. For Ying-ying, the vase upon a wobbly table in the guest room is a symbol of Lena’s unstable marriage. During her visit to Lena’s house, Ying-ying sits in a small guest room which, in Chinese ways of thinking, should have been the best room in the house. When Lena’s mother touches the table, the table falls down and the vase also breaks on the floor. When Lena goes to rescue her mother, she tells her mother that she “knew it would happen” (JLC 165). Her mother simply asks her then “why you don’t stop it” (JLC 165). From the reciprocal conversation between Ying-ying and Lena, one can deduce that Ying-ying accidently causes the vase to break in order to tell Lena that she should prevent disasters before they happen.
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Ying-ying does not want Lena to repeat her mistake of remaining passively silent. But, ironically, Lena turns out not only to be passive but also loses her sense of identity just like her mother. So, Lena’s mother blames herself twice. Firstly, at the beginning of the chapter “The Moon Lady”:
For all these years I kept my mouth closed so selfish desires would not fall out. And because I remained quit for so long now my daughter does not hear me. She sits by her fancy swimming pool and hears only her Sony Walkman, her cordles phone, her big, important husband asking her why they have charcoal and no lighter fluid.
(JLC 67)
Ying-ying does not want Lena to repeat her mistake of remaining passively silent. But, ironically, Lena turns out not only to be passive but also loses her sense of identity just like her mother. So, Lena’s mother blames herself twice. Firstly, at the beginning of the chapter “The Moon Lady”:
For all these years I kept my mouth closed so selfish desires would not fall out. And because I remained quit for so long now my daughter does not hear me. She sits by her fancy swimming pool and hears only her Sony Walkman, her cordles phone, her big, important husband asking her why they have charcoal and no lighter fluid.
(JLC 67)
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Secondly, in the chapter titled “Waiting between the Trees,” she later regrets having no chi (spirit) to pass on to her daughter Lena “I willingly gave up my chi, the spirit that caused me so much pain” (JLC 251).Therefore, she decides to relate her own past to Lena because this has a positive effect on Lena’s character formation: “Now I must tell my daughter everything. That she is the daughter of a ghost. She has no chi. This is my greatest shame. How can I leave this world without leaving her my spirit?” (JLC 252).
Secondly, in the chapter titled “Waiting between the Trees,” she later regrets having no chi (spirit) to pass on to her daughter Lena “I willingly gave up my chi, the spirit that caused me so much pain” (JLC 251).Therefore, she decides to relate her own past to Lena because this has a positive effect on Lena’s character formation: “Now I must tell my daughter everything. That she is the daughter of a ghost. She has no chi. This is my greatest shame. How can I leave this world without leaving her my spirit?” (JLC 252).
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The chi, referred to by Ying-ying, is explained by Walter Shear as follows:
The chi that she refers to may be impossible to render wholly into English, but it involves a fundamental self- respect, a desire to excel, a willingness to stand up for one’s self and one’s family, to demonstrate something to others. It may well be quality that the daughters in the book lack or that they possess in insufficient amounts. (22)
Ying-ying is annoyed from seeing Lena as having no chi. Ying-ying’s decision to tell Lena about her past is motivated by her desire to teach Lena a lesson that is to warn her against the passivity and fatalism that she has suffered throughout her life. Then, Lena comes to understand that Ying-ying loves her greatly.
The chi, referred to by Ying-ying, is explained by Walter Shear as follows:
The chi that she refers to may be impossible to render wholly into English, but it involves a fundamental self- respect, a desire to excel, a willingness to stand up for one’s self and one’s family, to demonstrate something to others. It may well be quality that the daughters in the book lack or that they possess in insufficient amounts. (22)
Ying-ying is annoyed from seeing Lena as having no chi. Ying-ying’s decision to tell Lena about her past is motivated by her desire to teach Lena a lesson that is to warn her against the passivity and fatalism that she has suffered throughout her life. Then, Lena comes to understand that Ying-ying loves her greatly.
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Tan uses the image of the tiger in order to reinforce the role of the mothers in the identity formation of the daughters such as Ying-ying and Lena. According to Chinese astrology, the tiger is a creature of force, with two natures “gold and black…The gold side leaps with its fierce heart. The black side stands still with cunning, hiding its gold between trees, seeing and not being seen, waiting patiently for things to come” (JLC 248).
Ying-ying fears that her daughter Lena, who was also born under the sign of the tiger, also lacks the spirit that should be hers by right of her birth year. Ying-ying realizes that “she must face the pain of her past and communicate it to her daughter so as to supply Lena with the personal and cultural knowledge of her mother’s life that she has always lacked” (Hamilton 141).
Tan uses the image of the tiger in order to reinforce the role of the mothers in the identity formation of the daughters such as Ying-ying and Lena. According to Chinese astrology, the tiger is a creature of force, with two natures “gold and black…The gold side leaps with its fierce heart. The black side stands still with cunning, hiding its gold between trees, seeing and not being seen, waiting patiently for things to come” (JLC 248).
Ying-ying fears that her daughter Lena, who was also born under the sign of the tiger, also lacks the spirit that should be hers by right of her birth year. Ying-ying realizes that “she must face the pain of her past and communicate it to her daughter so as to supply Lena with the personal and cultural knowledge of her mother’s life that she has always lacked” (Hamilton 141).
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Ying-ying is going to confront her past in order to regain her spirit. One can say that this pain will free her spirit, so she can cut her daughter’s spirit free. Like a tiger, Ying-ying sits and waits for her daughter. By narrating and sharing her painful secret past with Lena, she cuts Lena’s tiger spirit loose. Ying-ying helps herself to confront her own painful past; she also manages to help Lena to see the problems in marriage and to confront them. Ying-ying and Lena will reconstruct their identities. This is relevant to the object relations theory which emphasizes the influence of primary caregivers.Ying-ying participates actively in determining the course of Lena’s character development:
I will use this sharp pain to penetrate my daughter’s tough skin and cut her tiger spirit loose. She will fight me, because this is the nature of two tigers. But I will win and give her my spirit, because this is the way a mother loves her daughter. (JLC 252)
Ying-ying is going to confront her past in order to regain her spirit. One can say that this pain will free her spirit, so she can cut her daughter’s spirit free. Like a tiger, Ying-ying sits and waits for her daughter. By narrating and sharing her painful secret past with Lena, she cuts Lena’s tiger spirit loose. Ying-ying helps herself to confront her own painful past; she also manages to help Lena to see the problems in marriage and to confront them. Ying-ying and Lena will reconstruct their identities. This is relevant to the object relations theory which emphasizes the influence of primary caregivers.Ying-ying participates actively in determining the course of Lena’s character development:
I will use this sharp pain to penetrate my daughter’s tough skin and cut her tiger spirit loose. She will fight me, because this is the nature of two tigers. But I will win and give her my spirit, because this is the way a mother loves her daughter. (JLC 252)
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