Part 1: The Moon Lady

# Memories of childhood

A. Lesson

Ying-ying remembered how she fell off the boat and got rescued where later she found the moon lady. She wants to make a wish as it only appears once in a great while. However,she discovers something else when she sees the moon lady.

"the secret wish fell from my lips, the moon lady looked at me and became a man" [pg 82]

Ying-ying discovers that things aren't always what they appear to be. She learns the truth and in some ways, she became a different person. 

B. Present time

She found out that if she keep her true nature hidden, nobody will know what she had done She realises how appearance versus reality, thus she hides herself in the past [pg 67]. Ying-ying blamed herself that her daughter had turn out this way, always hiding behind the shadow

".. as I see my daughter and the foolishness of her life" [pg 68]

She is determined to tell Lena that her marriage is not what it appears to be and wants her to repair it before it is too late.

C, Irony / Paradox

"But now that I am old, moving every year closer to the end of my life, I also feel closer to the beginning" [pg 83]. When she was little, she felt fear, loneliness and wonder as she fell off the boat and met the moon lady. Ying-ying recalled how everything that happened that day, has happened many times in her life as she felt the same innocence, trust, restlessness, fear, loneliness and wonder.

read chapter summary here: http://www.shmoop.com/joy-luck-club/part-1-chapter-4-summary.html

Part 4: Waiting Between the Trees

The gap between mother and daughter

Ying-ying felt that she and her daughter never really know each other, "when she was born, she sprang from me like a slippery fish, and has been swimming away ever since" [pg 242]. Her silent and weak spirit had made Lena drifted away from her. She knows when Lena looks at her, Lena will only see a small old lady for she see things with her outside eyes. 

Ying-ying allowed herself to wait between the trees and let things happen 'as they should'. She lost her sense of autonomous will.

She finally realises that this isn't the way to be when her daughter's marriage is falling apart. She is determined to open up her past and tell Lena of her deeds and shame

"My daughter does not know that I was married to this man so long ago, 

twenty years before she was even born" [pg 246]

She is trying to give her daughter the strength to stand up for what she believes in; tells Lena not to lose hope.

Cultural Barrier

Lena "said in her proud American way", introducing the guest bedroom to her mother. It is the tiniest room in the house and in Chinese ways of thinking, the guest bedroom is the best bedroom. Ying-ying realised that Lena is ignorant of her own oriental heritage, for "her wisdom is like a bottomless pond" [pg 242]

The Gap between Clifford and Ying-ying (husband and wife)

Their gap is more of upbringing and cultural differences. Ying-ying having been brought up in a wealthy family in Wushi, is proud but passive. Clifford always brought her gifts, "as if he were a rich man treating a poor country girl to things we had never seen in China". Ying-ying treated these as mere worthless trinkets.

There is also language barrier between them even after they are married. (Refer to Lena's 'The Voice From The Wall')

Their distance is so great thta Ying-ying thinks Clifford have to die to know the things she have been hiding all these years. "Now he is a ghost. He and I can now live equally" [pg 252]. Her marriage to Clifford is based on her belief of her own destiny, of how she allows thigns to happen - like her daughter. She has never really loved Clifford as much as she had loved her previous husband. 

read chapter summary here: http://www.shmoop.com/joy-luck-club/part-4-chapter-2-summary.html

Appreciation of Chapters by Analyzing Characters: Lena St. Clair

Part 2: The Voice from the Wall

A. Language Barrier

There is an obvious language barrier between a Chinese mother and American-Chinese daughter. Lena mentioned, “I could understand the words perfectly, but not the meanings. One thought led to another without connection” [pg 106]

Lena also often lies when she has to translate for her mother. She was so embarrassed once that she told her mother that Chinese people weren’t allowed to shop there.

Not only linguistic barrier exist between mother-daughter but also among English husband and Chinese wife. Clifford St. Clair normally put words in his wife’s mouth. They communicate with moods and gestures, looks and silences.

B. Assimilation of Chinese genes

Lena always describe this part of her by saying ‘Chinese eyes’ as if to emphasize on her no eyelids, Chinese people’s eyes. She tried to be more American by opening them wide and walked around the house.

C. Neighbours

Lena constantly hears the mother and daughter in the adjacent apartment yelling, fighting and even throwing things. It comforted her to think that the girl next door have a more unhappy life. The difference between these noisy confrontations and her own relationship with her mother (which is marked by silence and avoidance of conflict), begins to make Lena realise something important. As Lena bumped into Teresa Sorci, she found out that the latter seemed quite happy. Through the shouting and fighting, it somehow expresses a kind of deep love between the mother-daughter pair.

Author's note:

Lena learned that expressing one’s feelings is vital to make things work and alive. She somehow will realise how she can apply this lesson then to her unhappy married life with Harold.

read chapter summary here: http://www.shmoop.com/joy-luck-club/part-2-chapter-2-summary.html

Part 3: Rice Husband

    # Conflict between the modernised world

# Communication gap between mother and daughter

A. Mother – Ying-ying

In the beginning of this story, Lena tells us that her mother has the ability to know things before it happens. Ying-ying know what causes the bad things to happen, “now she laments that she never did anything to stop them” [pg 149]. Ying-ying’s ignorance seems to pass down to her daughter – how it affects Lena’s personality and attitude towards her marriage.

Lena wonders what her mother ‘will see’ in her new house before she arrives. Ying-ying somehow had pointed out all the flaws of construction/architecture in the house and it convinces her that her mother can tell what is happening in her marriage. Previously, Lena’s narration mentioned that Harold and herself had fought over her cat’s fleas fee but she already knew that “our problems are much, much deeper than that”. Lena knew that her marriage is rocking but she never do anything about it.

B. Husband – Harold Livotny

Her relationship with Harold is the same as the balance sheet stuck on the refrigerator. His philosophy of love is to separate money with feelings, as in keeping what is his, as his. Harold calls it ‘equality’ and ‘love without obligation’ . Money is an obvious issue here. Despite the fact that he make seven times more than what she made, they divide all expenditures equally.

When Lena had finally confronted Harold about their predicament, it made her feel inferior and indecisive of her option.

“Or maybe we shouldn’t have gotten married in the first place. Maybe Harold is a bad man. Maybe I’ve made him this way” [pg 164]

Her own train of thoughts describes what Rose had told her previously. The feeling of fear “are commonplace in woman like us”. Women like us refers to their ethnicity because they are “raised in all this Chinese humility” and as a Chinese, you’re supposed to accept everything, flow with Tao and not make waves.

Lena succumbed in those beliefs and the trait she got from her mother that made her relationship with Harold to be what it is now.

Author's note:

Here, ‘Rice Husband’ refers to both Harold and Arnold. Amy Tan’s use of homophone in both men that affects Lena’s life is to showcase the similarity and yet differences between them. Ying-ying’s words are planted deep in Lena’s own thoughts and she believed everything her mother had said.  Her narration, “when I want something to happen – or not happen – I begin to look at all events and all things as relevant, an opportunity to take or avoid”

Arnold became her opportunity to take as she started to leave more rice and food on her bowl so that he would get leprosy and die in Africa. Whereas, Harold is what she chose to avoid despite all the signs are flashing in front of her very eyes.

read chapter summary here: http://www.shmoop.com/joy-luck-club/part-3-chapter-1-summary.html

Appreciation of Chapters by Analyzing Characters: Jing-mei Woo

Part 1: The Joy Luck Club

# Pain caused by lack of communication

# Ancient Chinese custom

A. Language Barrier

Jing-mei faces language barrier when her mother uses Chinese phrases 'chabudwo' and 'butong'. She claims she cannot remember things she didn't understand in the first place [pg 19]

Aunty Lin's explanation made her feel that "my mother and I spoke two different languages, which we did. I talked to her in English, she answered back in Chinese". She feels that they speak in their special language, half in broken English, half in their own Chinese dialect [pg 34]

Suyuan misunderstood what Jing-mei meant when she said she'll look into it - her dropping off when finishing her degree - and was convinced that Jing-mei is going back to school to get a doctorate. "My mother and I never really understood one another. We translated each other's meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard more" [pg 37]

B. Cultural Barrier

Jing-mei ignores her mother's criticisms, of her Chinese superstitions, as she thinks that such beliefs just "conveniently fit the circumstances". She even tried to tell her mother that it won't lead to a healthy learning environment, something she had learned in her Psychology class [pg 31]

C. American mindset

When Aunty Lin called JIng-mei by her Chinese name, Aunty Ying corrected the former that the kids go by their American names and for Jing-mei's, its June. Jing-mei simply responded thatits alright to call her by her Chinese name because it is "becoming fashionable for American-born Chinese to use their Chinese names". Jing-mei does not embracce the real meaning of her Chinese name but thought of it as fashion [pg 37]

Author's note:

Towards the end, it occurs to Jing-mei that they (An-mei, Lindo Jong and Ying-ying) are frightened by Jing-mei's upfront character by proclaiming she doesn't know what to tell her twin sisters about her mother. They can see their own daughters just as ignorant of all the truths and hopes they have brought to America. They also see children who think their mothers are stupid when they explain things in broken English.

read chapter summary here: http://www.shmoop.com/joy-luck-club/part-1-chapter-1-summary.html

Part 2: Two Kinds

  # Conflict between the aspirations of a mother and the resistance from a daughter

Suyuan is always trying to find the prodigy side of her daughter by: (pick one to remember)

> being a Chinese Shirley Temple

> knowing the names of foreign cities

> multiplying numbers in her head

> acrobatics

> poker player

> pianist

Jing-mei seeing her mother's disappointed face, made something inside her die. She feels that she will not comply to what her mother want her to be for she has new thoughts, willful thoughts and Jing-mei will not let her mother change her. Jing-mei is so adamant in her new attitude that she never gave herself a fair chance in correcting herself in her piano lessons. 

Jing-mei has the American mindset in her when she decided not to listen to her mother anymore for she isn't her 'slave' and 'this wasn't China'. She feels that her mother is 'the stupid one' [pg 141]. She strongly fought and accused her mother of the daughters she left behind in China. Jing-mei spat out the she wishes she's dead- like them.

Suyuan deeply hurt by Jing-mei's angry confessions, never asked her child to do anything, anymore.

Author's note:

The piano piece that Jing-mei performed in the talent show is somehow symbolic. She never realised the song is broken into two halves, 'Pleading Child' and 'Perfectly Contented'. She had only known the song is entitled Pleading Child but never found out until 30 years later, that another half of the song which is Perfectly Contented is what she had never learnt and performed in the talent show.

read chapter summary here: http://www.shmoop.com/joy-luck-club/part-2-chapter-4-summary.html

Part 3: Best Quality

Jing-mei received a jade pendant from her mother after a dinner celebration (2 months before her death). Suyuan had gave her, her 'life importance' but Jing-mei never known the meaning of the pendant she got from her mother. To her, she found it - the pendant - garish and unstylish so she had stuffed the pendant in the lacquer box and eventually forgotten about it.

After Suyuan's death, Jing-mei starts to see it as a symbol of mother's love and concern. While Jing-mei used to interpret many of her mother's words as expressions of superstition or criticism, she now sees them as manifesting a deep maternal wisdom and love.

Motherly Love

[pg 202] "..but I knew I could not refuse. That's the way Chinese mothers show they love their children, not through hugs and kisses but with stern offerings of steamed dumplings, duck's gizzards and crab" 

Suyuan also further expresses her concern over the flustered Jing-mei after being embarrased by Waverly Jong at the dinner table. She told her daughter, "Everyone else want best quality. You thinking different" [pg 208]. Here, Suyuan meant to tell Jing-mei that she has a completely different opinion from  others that set her aside, and that she is special.

read chapter summary here: http://www.shmoop.com/joy-luck-club/part-3-chapter-4-summary.html

Part 4: A Pair of Tickets

# Awareness of the significance of Chinese heritage

Inferiority complex

Jing-mei never really embraces the roots of her race, "I realize I've never really known what it means to be Chinese" [pg 268]. Her trip to China makes her think of her own worth. She recalled that ".. when I was fifteen and had vigorously denied that I had any Chinese whatsoever below my skin" [pg 267]. Her reluctance in embracing her own race seems to take a spin when she enters Shenzhen, China and she claims "I feel different"

Suyuan somehow know this would happen someday, that her daughter will recognise her own Chinese heritage for it is in her blood.

Author's note:

Through her acknowledgement of her own heritage, Jing-mei represents a figure of hope for both generations, that they might share in a dialogue of love that often transcends linguistic and cultural barrier.

read chapter summary here: http://www.shmoop.com/joy-luck-club/part-4-chapter-4-summary.html