Amy Tan’s exquisite novel The Joy Luck Club, is the unforgettable tale of four immigrant Chinese families residing in San Francisco. The novel is narrated through a uniquely feminist perspective. The Chinese mothers with their essential parochial background coupled with the bitter childhood experiences, growing-up in China during the hard times of the Chairman Mao’s cultural indoctrination and the subsequent political purge, think circumspectly and while-away their time playing Mah jong. On the contrary, the confident American born and raised daughters have a completely different approach towards life. The generation-gap and cultural differences between the mothers and the daughters have accentuated with time and the space yet the occasional arguments, the enforced, and often the suffocating wisdom, and the characteristic “eye rolling”, the mothers and the daughters share the beautiful bond of the unconditional love between them that stands on very strong foundations of unflinching care and loyalty. The Joy Luck Club is more than just a club; it is a place where two generations meet, where the mothers unveil the stories of their lives, their struggle and their wisdom. While the daughters bring forth their issues with their mothers, discuss the changes in their lives and take important decisions concerning their future lives. No matter what the race you belong, which age you are of, parents will always be parents, they will try to direct the lives of the children, especially the lives of daughters in the Oriental context. The kids, on their part, always nag about the involvement of the parents in their lives. Parents, nevertheless, play a momentous role in the lives of their off springs. One of the protagonist June tells the story about her mother’s harrowing story of the World War II as she successfully ran away from the advancing Japanese forces, leaving behind her twins. In June’s opinion her parents abandoned her but the truth is that her father and mother desperately and against all odds searched for her whereabouts. Unluckily, though, June’s parents could not find her. The daughters are accustomed to the American way of life, whereas the mothers are inherently still in touch with their Chinese past. The situation leads to the creation of an unbridgeable traditional and generation between the mothers and the daughters. The generation and the cultural gap stems from the fact that the mothers have the mentality of the essentially Chinese immigrants while the daughters born and bred American citizens have little understanding or interest in their Chinese ethnic heritage and roots. June subsequently travels to China to attend her mother’s funeral and fatefully meets her twin sister. June’s mother wanted her to be a child star but she couldn’t be one, self-doubting and the pressure of her mother’s expectations never allowed her to fulfill her mother’s dream. On the other hand, Rose suffers from the psychological childhood trauma because her brother drowned and died while she was supposed to take care of him and keep a watchful eye on the toddler. In addition, she marries a doctor whom her mother hates. After losing his license he had a midlife crisis which is worsened by the fact that he cheats Rose. After the divorce Rose ends up with the custody his house. Another important character in The Joy Luck Club is Waverly. She is a very intelligent and an independent-minded woman who cannot stand her mother. She hates her mother for being a show-off because she happens to be an ex- national champion in chess. Waverly’s daughter from her ex-husband is caught in an unhappy marriage. Lena’s husband is domineering and takes all the undue credit for Lena’s work. Waverly wants Lena to stand-up for her rights but Lena being a copy of her mother—shy, unassuming, and frail, both physically and emotionally—is “Like a ghost” unable to fight for her rights against the injustices of her husband. In conclusion, The Joy Luck Club is a well written book of fiction, composed of tales depicting the trials, the tribulations, the fun, foibles, and the joys of the Chinese immigrants and their American citizen children (Tan 28-254). Tan’s essentially feminist portrayal of the bond of unconditional love between the Chinese mothers and their daughters makes The Joy Luck Club, an indisputable masterpiece of world literature.
Works Cited
Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Penguin Classics, 2006. Print.
