Week 15 Project Submission

Week 15 Project Submission

From a piece of fiction (short story, section of novel, or a play) choose a female character on whom to focus, and create a project that discusses some of the following questions:

What is the author’s attitude towards her? (how can you tell?)

What is your attitude towards her?

How do (at least 2) other characters view her?

How does she view herself?

• Amy Tan’s novel titled “The Joy Luck Club” is story that explores cultural conflict and often rebellious relationship between four groups of aging Chinese mother and their daughters. Amy Tan takes us through the earliest memories of these four Chinese mothers when they were in China and the journey they took to come to America and the establishment of “The Joy Luck Club”. Amy Tan depict the different characters in her novel to show special bonding of women through Mahjong game and primarily the mother and daughter relationship particularly Jing-Mei (daughter) and Suyuan(mother) who created the original “The Joy Luck Club” in China as diversion from the war, and revival here in Americas as special bonds between women
• Throughout the novel, Amy Tan continues to show that these Chinese mother struggle to approach their daughter as they go through the struggle of life, love, job and death. Amy Tan shows the mother’s struggle to instill their cultural background and respect the value of that culture. Amy Tan showed often rebel when they do not want to follow or listen to their mother. Amy Tan begins with the first section of the book, "Feathers from a Thousand Li Away," were Suyuan passing became Jing-Mei responsibility to become the newest member of “The Joy Luck Club” and learned that the three mothers are sending Jing-mei to China to find the two daughters Suyuan abandoned during World War II. Jing-Mei did not welcome the idea of being the newest member of the “The Joy Luck Club” for the idea that she is unable to meet her mother’s high standard.
• As the novel continues, Amy Tan also showed that mothers want to instill the value of “best quality” as one important character of a person to their daughter. The novel explained that Jing Mei was born here in the United States and adapted the American tradition as she grows up. The struggle to understand their parents culture are often the reason for many children rebellion against what their parents wanted them to accomplished in life. Often parent with culture that has been embedded from childhood are hard to change and difficult to understand. A good example was when Jing-Mei picked the leg less crab that symbolizes “bad quality”. In Chinese dinner tradition, you need to pick the best crab as a signed that you also have the “best quality” in life, love and job. By choosing the “bad quality” Jing-Mei showed everyone and her mother that her life and job is a mediocre at best. She does not put value to the culture that her mother wants her to understand and respect.
• Amy Tan showed that Jing-Mei did not realize the struggle and her rebellion until her mother died. She did not realize the symbol of the pendant as “life importance” that her mother gave it to her as a sign of “best quality”.
• I could see these struggles coming from a “Filipino-American traditions”. My mother wants me to follow cultures and traditions that she learned and embedded as part of her culture. As growing up in the Philippines, I was not allowed to rebel or questions her motives on why I need to follow certain rules and traditions. When I was little girl, I never questions my mother regardless what I want to know. I always believe that all the things they do for me are for my own good. So regardless, what school I go or clothes I wear or activities I need to accomplished, I have no authority to ask a question.
• Like Jing-Mei, as I grew up and get older, and moved here in America, my way of thinking change and develop against my mother’s culture. I begun to question her motives now and ask why I need to do her way of thinking.
• What many children like myself do not understand and failed to see was our “mother’s eye through her children” and understanding of children born in American culture. What Amy Tan wants us also to understand that children born here in America can have different prospective on how will follow their parents or grandparent’s traditions and culture
• Amy Tan wants us to recognized that these Chinese Women was born with these traditions, that their stories of life struggle coming to America, the force marriage to someone you do not know and love and the force abandonment of her twin daughter in China to come to America are the very reason they hug on that traditions and culture.
• Amy Tan wants us also to see through the “children eye” on how difficult to be force on something we do not want to do, especially without giving reason or explanations. We often rebel because we do not understand their motives and we are often are not allowed to questions those motives.
• In the end, Amy Tan showed that the daughter learned a lot from the struggle of their parents and put value and inspires them to teach to their daughters and change their behavior towards their mother’s culture and traditions.