Best Quality

"Tss! Why you listen to her? Why you want to follow behind her, chasing her words? She is like a crab...always moving sideways, moving crooked. You can makes your legs go the other way." (P. 208)

Suyuan says this to June before she dies. June was upset about something Waverly and the others had said to her at the dinner party, how she picked the worst crab that was missing a leg. Her mother tell her not to listen to them. That she shouldn't go chasing around what other people say to her. She tells June that they are moving like crabs. They move sideways, going only one direction, having only one point of view, however, June can make her legs go the other way and turn herself around.

Without Wood

“No way to pull them out once they’ve buried themselves in the masonry; you'd end up pulling the whole building down.” (P. 195)

This is showing Roses position after the divorce. Because Rose lacked "wood," as she was so often told, she literally needed Ted. He made all the decisions for her when she wouldn't make them herself. She was rooted to this relationship. And, like the quote explains, once they the roots have dug themselves in and made a home, it is impossible to pull them up without pulling the whole building down. That is exactly what happened. Rose was thusly taken down into a dark place. 

“’I have just planted them this morning, some for you, some for me.’ And below the heimongmong, all along the ground, were weeds already spilling out over the edges, running wild in every direction.” (P. 196)

In the last sequence of her dreams, her mom plants new roots for herself and rose. In this dream, her mom is there for her after the divorce to pick up the pieces for her. Even though this is only a dream, her subconscious mind knows thats her mom is going to be there to pick up the pieces for her and be there for her in a difficult time. 

How do you think that Rose's new found bravery is going to effect her in the future?

I think that she is going to grow more of a backbone. She has now gotten a taste of what it is to stand up for yourself and I think that she felt good doing it. She will be able to take care of herself and support herself more. She won't need Ted. She will have her mothers support and she will be able to carry herself though any difficult time that may lie ahead. 

Two Kinds

"I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix?"

Suyuan, as with most of the mother's in these parables, wants the best for their children. They believe that they can incorporate both the freedom of America and the values and traditions of Chinese culture. Most of the parents are disappointed about how their daughters have Americanized themselves and the relationships they hold with them because of which. Suyuan starts to develop this lust for her daughter to be the best. Almost all of Jing-mei's childhood was a string of unsuccessful efforts to find her hidden talent. the effect of this was like water and oil.

"...after seeing my mother's disappointed face once again, something inside of me began to die. I hated the tests, the raised hopes and failed expectations...I won't let her change me, I promised myself, I won't be what I'm not." (p. 144)

This is a moment of identity for Jing-mei. Identity is a reoccurring theme within the Joy Luck Club. However when she plays the piano that her mother gives her for the first tie as an adult, she plays well. This is a symbol of her transformation. She is playing to halves to the same song, or the two main stages of her life, "Pleading Child" and "Perfectly Content."

Half And Half

"...faith was just an illusion that somehow you're in control. I found the most I could have was hope, and that with that I was not denying any possibility, good or bad. I was just saying, if there is a choice, dear God or whatever you are, here's where the odds should be placed." (p. 128)

Rose Hsu Jordan is unable to make decisions. A major event in her life resulted in the death of her brother and her decision making ability. She just holds on to what little hope that she has left and just waits for things to happen. Her mother is a strong contrast to her, as we observe in most of these parables.  Her mother is so confident that Bing's still alive that she goes to great lengths to return him from the ocean's grasp alive. This takes a toll on An-mei's confidence, but it is still exhibited when we see her keeping her beloved and cherished bible clean as a whistle, kindling her strength and faith.
However, because this takes such a great toll on Rose, it effects her marriage with Ted. Their relationship is based on this long chain of hero to victim behaviors that both of them need to keep the marriage functioning. When Ted starts making mistakes in his decisions, you can see this his confidence is lessened, and Rose, unable to make decisions, cannot contribute to the marriage. Rose's marriage was based on her indecision and Ted's supremacy which is ironically, what led to the down fall that brings their marriage to it's end.

Queen Mother of the Western Skies

"But when she was born, she sprang from me like a slippery fish, and has been swimming away from me ever since. All her life, I have watched her as though from another shore. And now I must tell her everything about my past. It is the only way to penetrate her skin and pull her to where she can be saved." p.242

The final part of The Joy Luck Club is definitely the most powerful. Told through the viewpoints of the mothers (and ending as it began, with Jing-mei), this section of the book ties up all of the stories, the characters' relationships, everything that has happened in the novel. "Queen Mother of the Western Skies" rounds out the characters of the mothers, making them out to be much more compassionate and understanding than  we have previously thought. Though there are plenty of cultural tensions and language barriers, the mothers only want what is best for their daughters. They understand, sympathize, want to help. Looking back in retrospect, they recognize the flaws in their parenting, they know what they could have done better. But rather than dwelling on their mistakes, they all figure out how to move forward, and help their daughters now. Not only does this piece of the book give closure, but it also gives comfort. The mothers are finally able to share their wisdom, their experiences, with their daughters.

The novel offers a happy ending, but in a different sense than most books. While not all of the characters have solved their problems, the reader is sure that they will all be fine. The mothers and the daughters have finally reached new territory in their relationships, a new level of understanding. The end of the novel comes together in a very beautiful, moving end.

The Voice from the Wall

Joy Luck Club- The Voice from the Wall

In this chapter we get to see life through the eyes of Lena St Clair, whose mother Ying-ying wrote the chapter “The Moon Lady”. Lena’s father, Clifford, is an American man, who speaks little Chinese, whereas Ying-Ying speaks little English or Chinese, mainly Mandarin. Though Lena is usually able to understand her mother’s words, their meanings are usually lost on her. Early the Chapter Lena develops a relationship with her neighbor without even speaking to her until much later. Every night, Lena hears her neighbor (a girl close to her age) arguing and screaming with her mother. Cursed with a vivid and dark imagination, Lena always imagines the neighbor girl being slaughtered or beaten, though whenever they see each other on the stairwell of their apartment complex, the girl is always perfectly fine. After a while, Ying-ying becomes pregnant. While Lena’s father is extremely happy with the pregnancy, Ying-ying shows signs of depression. The baby, a son, dies immediately after childbirth. Ying-ying, speaking in mandarin, blames herself for the death of not only this son, but another in the past. To the reader it is apparent that Ying-ying got an abortion a long time ago, and that the guilt that sprang from that made her jump to conclusions about the death of this child, but to Lena, her mother appears to be insane. Lena purposely mistranslates her mother when telling her father what Ying-ying says, trying to cover up her mother's insanity. 
Back at the apartment, Lena is told to open the door after her father hears knocking. It is the girl from next door, the one that Lena hears every night. Her name is Teresa, and she confidently tells Lena that her mother locked her out of their apartment in a heated argument and that she needs to use Lena's fire escape to sneak into her bedroom and hide until her mother gets really worried. Lena thinks this is terrible, and is worried for Teresa. That night, she hears Teresa and her mother argue again, but this time the argument is full of love and worry, and ends with the two of them crying and laughing. Lena feels comforted by this twist, happy that she was wrong. The chapter ends with a very symbolic vision. Instead of imagining Teresa being slaughtered by her mother, she sees a girl with a sword. The girl tells her mother that she must punish her with the death of a thousand cuts, and the mother closes her eyes in anticipation. She feels the pain, cries out, but when she opens her eyes, there are no cuts, no blood.

Rules of the Game

Joy Luck Club – Rules of the Game

This chapter is told through the point of view of Waverly Jong, Lindo’s (The Red Candle) daughter. After reading about Lindo’s childhood and her relationship with her mother, it is easy to assume that Lindo’s past might have an important influence on the way she behaves as a mother. When Waverly was six years old, Lindo began teaching her “the art of invisible strength,” a strategy which would ultimately help out Waverly more than she could have expected. After her brothers received a chess set for Christmas with two missing pieces, Waverly came up with makeshift pieces as a way to get involved in the game. Not after very long, Waverly was a prodigy. By way of the art of invisible strength, she began playing in tournaments, and eventually became a celebrity within her community. Lindo began giving Waverly preferential treatment above her brothers, but she also selfishly used Waverly’s success. Living vicariously through Waverly’s celebrity status, Lindo would often force her daughter to go out on errands with her just to show her off. Waverly, though still a child, picked up on her mother’s motives immediately and was deeply hurt. Due to a language barrier and cultural differences, Lindo and Waverly never had the correct setting to develop a healthy relationship.

            I think that this chapter shows off one of the most important mother-daughter dynamics in the novel, at least for me. Though the details and specifics are completely different, I can relate to several of the themes expressed in this chapter. I think that Waverly’s mother, like my own, is very selfish, but I understand (for both of them) that their flawed behavior is the product of their past experiences and environments. I think that though Lindo has a lot of negative to offer, she proves in this chapter that there is a positive learning experience in everything.

The Voice From The Wall

"This house was built too steep, and a bad wind from the top blows all your strength back down the hill. So you can never get ahead. You are always rolling backward." (p. 109)


This quote stood out to me. It may seem like Ying-ying is constantly trying to redecorate, however, to me this is one of the major warning signs that she was not mentally sound. She is not really referring to the house, she is referring to herself. Something about her is off and she is trying to find balance in her life. Rearranging may be her own way of trying to find this in her everyday life, but it is not going to fix the root of the problem. When she was a little girl, we saw in "The Moon Lady," that she lost part of herself. This has scarred her and effected her, and we see that as this narrative progresses. We can even see how it is effecting her family. She is worrying her daughter and her husband greatly. Lena, her daughter, has even said that she can translate what her mother is saying, but it has no meaning to her. It does not make sense. 

Rules Of The Game

"Bite back your tongue," scolded my mother when I cried loudly, yanking her hand toward the store that sold bags of salted plums. At home, she said, "Wise guy, he not go against the wind. In Chinese we sat, come from the South, blow with wind-poom!-North will follow. Strongest wind cannot be seen."

This is a major struggle for Waverly Jong. Her personality throughout this narrative is very strong and persistent. Her Waverly and her mother had constant struggles and tensions due to the cultural differences. As the story progresses, it gets harder and harder for Waverly to bite her tongue and be as strong and silent as the wind as her mother is constantly impressing on her. You can tell that her mother is oblivious to certain things with makes communication between the two very difficult. At one point Waverly doesn't bite her tongue, and starts to tell her mother what is on her mind. This conversation is a perfect example of the blockade that stands between them.

"They are frightened..."

“They are frightened. In me, they see their own daughters, just as ignorant, just as unmindful of all the truths and hopes they brought to American… They see daughters who will bear grandchildren born without any connecting hope passed from generation to generation.”

     The aunties see Jing-mei Yoo as a representation for their daughters and for generations to come. She is like their American-born daughters, who don’t understand their Chinese mothers or their Chinese traditions and values. Jing-mei can understand how her aunties, the older generation, must feel, with their distress that their hopes and dreams that they had and also had for their daughters will not be able to be realized and survive in their American lives. I'm sure that she can understand or at least sympathize with both sides, the daughters and their mothers. However, poor Jing-mei probably realizes that her mother must have had that same fear before she died. She showed that she cared through pushing her, which isn’t exactly the ideal way, but that is the only  way she knew how to try to help her daughter.
    In my eyes, this is the first greater human truth in this book. It expresses how there is almost always a confliction with a mother’s hope and a daughter’s desire. It has happened often with my mother and I. Specifically when she is trying to push her “old age” values on me. I can’t understand them. Times have changed and they just don’t apply to my life. I'm sure that my mother is worried about traditions and values being lost through me and not passed onto my children. I think that is inevitable though. I have gotten what I can from my mother's wisdom, as will my daughter from mine. Though of course she will only take what she feels applies to her and can help her get where she wants to end up in life. 

Greater Human Truth

Find a greater human truth, take a quote from the book and discuss it. 

"I wiped my eyes and looked in the mirror. I was surprised at what I saw. I had on a beautiful red dress, but what I saw was even more valuable. I was strong. I was pure. I had genuine thoughts inside my head that no one could see, that no one could ever take away from me."

Despite the fact that this is one of my favorite quotes so far in the book, I just think that this quote is a 'greater human truth.' Life is literally what we make it. There is no destiny in my opinion. If you want something go out and get it. Who you are and what you value is all that you really have. I yearn for a realization like this. To be able to look in the mirror and see a strong independent woman who knows who she is, looking back at me. You can never predict what is going to happen, you can never change what other people do, but the one thing that you can control is yourself. Being the best you can and staying pressed firm to your beliefs is all you can hope for and everything else will fall into place. 

United In Shared Loss and Hope

The back cover says the women are “united in shared loss and hope.” What are the three similarities all the women share?

Well for starters, they have all had experiences that are rather unusual. They have had to deal with clashes in culture and opinion. The parents of these women keep doing what they think is right for their children and their family, but inevitably, the child will suffer through some kind of deviating event. Usually these events change them or shape them incredibly. This significant change makes then who they are today. Yet, through this process, they do discover their identity and who they are. Lastly, they are all very ethical in my opinion. They seem to have high moral standards and being true and genuine person is very important to them.