Wisdom (un)heeded : Chinese mothers and American daughters in Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club"

Abstract

One of the central themes in the writing of second generation Asian Americans is the search for self-definition and individual acceptance in American society. Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club" ( /989) is an attempt to synthesize Asían heritage with American aspirations as it presents a group portrait offour mother-daughter relationships that have to endure and bridge both a generational and cultural gap. Tan creates a contrast by separating the stories of the mothers and their daughters in arder to demonstrate now the mothers palaful experiences and their daughters' mother-dominated childhoods constantly acts upon the present, modifying world-view and cultural sensibility, to dramatize the panorama of a critica! transition in cultura! values. Ultimately, the novel is the articulation of the Asían American's struggle to como to terms with al! the elements of a Chinese background and the relationship with an American self: a struggle that culminates in affirmation.