Joy Luck Club

Noel VillaEssePre-AP English II/212 May 2008Joy Luck Club C.R.LAmy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club is a chinese american novel, in which mothers wish their daughters would be more in tune with there heritage. Even though the daughters keep themselves at a perspectful distance and see their mothers as evil and manipulative even though they are just looking out for them. Throught the novel Amy Tan uses a great deal of imagery to create the mental pictures it takes for life to become infinite to the reader.Feathers From A Thousand Li Away-пЃ¶Ð' Introduction-The story of the old woman signifies the test that all people must make. Before america was a country, it only inhibited its own kind. When the immigrants moved from Europe and Asia, they had to adapt to it’s customs. In the story she wants to make her daughter happy but because of her paper work and everything she had to do to get into the country, her daughter didn’t have a chance to be enriched through her heritage.Ð' As this happenes a lot in America. Mexican, Asian, European any heritage gets lost in theÐ' “Great Melting Pot”. So why does America even have it’s name like that? Why do people get put down for their heritage?пЃ¶Ð' The Joy Luck Club- (Jing-Mei Woo)- In this first vignette, it opens the novel up. It tells us that Jing Mei’s mother died and she has to start everything over to understand her mothers concern and care. They start by playing Mah Jong, a chinese tile game. She sits in her mothers spot, which in this case is the East where everything begins, If put like that,Ð' It seems that to begin her life she must travel to the East. Where her long lost sisters are. She at first feels frustrated that her mother would leave something like this hidden for such a long time but feels obligated to continue to search for her sisters. And she tells her mothers story, of how In Kwellian she lost everything, including her two daughters… Thus bringing a sense of how bad she was hurt and how she went on day to day. It ends where things begin in the East.пЃ¶Ð' Scar-(An-Mei Hsu)- This particular Vingette was an inspirational one. In the beginning An-Mei tells of how her mother was a “ghost” and wasn’t meant to be talked about. In this particular reasoning “Ghost”Ð' was meant as to never talk about to be forbidden to talk about forever. Thus she lived with her aunt and uncle in Ningpo. Popo, her mothers mother, became sick and was going to die. An-Mei’s mother came and even though shunned from the house hold, cut a piece of her flesh to save her mothers life, even though she died. This tells the reader that even though self-mutilating is harmful in some cases in different heritages it is something people look up on.пЃ¶Ð' The Red Candle- (Lindo Jong)-This vignette is basically about how life can take a turn from the worst into something amazing just with what you have. Lindo was betrothed at birth to a man who was horrible, and didn’t want to be with her. She had to stay married with him unless his ancestors disagreed with the arrangement, thus starting Lindo’s imagination. She saw the mole on his back and told the family that if she didn’t get out of the marriage it would eat him up and he would be no more. She then saw the servent girl was pregnant and told her mother-in-law that it was Tyan-Yu’s. Thus the family let her go, She risked her life in order to save her families name. Just for a promise.пЃ¶Ð' The Moon Lady-(Ying-Ying St.Clair)- This vignette basically shows the reader that even though something may seem real it isn’t always true. Ying-ying goes to see the Moon Lady and she is allowed to make a wish, but she can’t not ask for it. So Ying-ying is excited to see her, once she gets there she almost drowns, in the river and gets saved by a fisherman, and then she finds the moon lady and wishes to be found. She then follows the Moon Lady and finds out that she is a man.The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates-Ð' Ð' Introduction- The introduction is a short story on how denying your heritage basically turns you into someone who seems to have no knowledge. The girl is riding her bicylce and tells her mother that she is going to ride her bicylce around the corner even though her mother told her against it, because she would fall. The girl denies that this is true and starts to ride her bicycle and before she even gets to the corner she falls. To deny your faith or heritage is horrible even if it is something that seems the most stupid. Like riding your bicylce around the corner.Ð' Ð' Rules Of The Game-(Waverly Jong)- Waverly must learn to play chess for her family and her mother puts herÐ' into tournaments all the time. Her mother pushed her to be the best she could after she won her first trophy even though Waverly couldn’t stand it. She became annoyed. Throughout the story she would close her eyes to ponder her next move even though her mother told her what she should do. Ð' Ð' The Voice From The Wall-(Lena St.Clair)-When Lena’s mother became pregnant with aÐ' new baby boy she would rearrange the furniture over and over, for no appeanrt reason. Just to say that it was out of balance. Lena’s father was happy for the new baby but soon after it was born he died, her mother had a view for seeing it happen before it would, and knew it was going to be bad. Lena would lie asleep at night and hear her neighbors yelling usually the mother and daughter. And one day the daughter had a prank pulled on her mother and came home through Lena’s window and ended up arguing with her mother eventually they stopped and started laughing with a laughter that Lena didn’t understand. And she had a memory where the girl pulled her mother through the wall to show her mother how she was wrong.Ð' Ð' Half and Half- (Rose Hsu Jordan)-This vignette tells the story of a mother who lost her child. Rose had a brother named Bing, they were supposed to watch him and he fell into the river, he was never found. Her mother propped up the table with a bible, in it she wrote his name the only one she ever did. Rose struggles with how she is going to tell her mom that her and Ted are going to get a divorce. She remembers when she first met him and how they got married and now how they areÐ' gettting divorced now. She struggles to tell her mother and remembers her mothers bible and the name Bing Hsu lightly written in pencil to be able to erase. Ð' Ð' Two Kinds- (Jing-Mei woo)-Jing Mei feels that her mother doesn’t like her because she was never the prodigious child that she wished she had.She wasn’t