Literature Analysis 3: The Joy Luck
Club
Mostly every child’s life goal is to
make their mother and father proud no matter what race or generation. However
in the book, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, it deals with several mother
daughter relationships, in which the conflict is the struggle of honoring their
families and keeping their heritage. As for Jing-Mei, this meant to fulfill her
mother, Suyuan Woo’s, legacy which was to find her lost twin daughters, and
take over the Joy Luck Club her mother had created. Suyuan had died before she
could accomplish her goal, but luckily her daughter, Jing-Mei picked up right
where she left off and fulfilled her mother’s legacy.
Suyuan had left her home when the Japanese
began bombing the town. She had left with pretty much nothing but two trunks,
little bags of food, and her twin daughters. Eventually Suyuan could not keep
up much longer, and fell extremely weak and sick. She could not bear to let her
twin daughters watch her die, so she left them in the streets with nothing more
than a note and a positive mind in the hopes that someone genuine would find them.
Soon after, she awoke in a new place with her daughters not by her side. Suyuan
was on a search now to find them, and left America to go back to China. However
to her disappointment, she never found her daughters before her death. Jing-Mei
was to continue on her mother’s emotional path, and find her long lost twin
sisters.
Next, the creation of the Joy Luck
Club was invented by Suyuan Woo in the hopes of forgetting the hardships in
life; in her case, the hardship of her lost daughters. The club was shared
among other Chinese mothers who would play Mah Jong, and tell happy, uplifting
stories about their life. When Suyuan dies, her daughter Jing-Mei must take
over the tradition. Despite the fact that Jing-Mei feels incapable of playing
the role of her mother and taking over as the new leader of the club. Nevertheless
Jing-Mei slowly starts to warm up to playing Mah Jong, and eventually takes
that first step in finishing her mother’s legacy.
Months after Suyuan’s death, the
twins finally came in contact and they wrote to The Joy Luck Club about their
lives and wanted to meet their mother. Shortly after, Jing-Mei found out about
her half-sisters communication, and agreed to write them and inform them about their
mother’s death. Jing-Mei had also agreed to go meet her half-sisters in person.
When the day had arrived, Jing-Mei was super nervous yet excited to see her
sisters for the first time, and when they stepped out of the airplane, she knew
right off they were family.
Jing-Mei has defiantly fulfilled her
mother’s essence in that she found her mother’s long lost twin daughters,
continued the Joy Luck Club tradition, and kept her family heritage. Suyuan’s
wish can now live on, and Jing Mei can now be in peace and cherish the fact
that she now honors her family.
