The Joy Luck Club

I read The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan for my first inquiry project novel. Although there are stronger themes of family relationships in this book, my topic of immigration is highlighted as a cause for differences between generations. There are four Chinese mothers who have immigrated to the U.S. in search of better lives and fortune. They each have a daughter and their daughters’ perspectives in their respective stories contrast with the narration of each of the mothers’ stories. The mothers want their children to assimilate into the American culture while still retaining a traditional Chinese nature of politeness and respect for their elders (filial piety all the way, of course).

Since the whole topic of my inquiry project is immigration, I’ll refrain from being too repetitive on this post and just talk about another topic I found interesting in this novel. Chinese parents tend to prefer sons (more so in the past than now, but there is still a preferece). Boys were seen as the gateway to success since they were the ones that were more likely to break through the strict boundaries of social classes. For girls, especially the mother’s generation of the book, they were only seen as ways to marry into families with connections. Therefore, I liked how the daughters were the symbols of strength for their mothers. They all had successful jobs and fulfilled their mothers’ dreams of bringing opportunities to their families. The sons, when mentioned, were still living at home in their late thirties or had been in jail for some minor crimes. I’m not sure if it was exactly Amy Tan’s intent, but I was glad to see a focus on the strength of the daughters instead of the sons.