Joy Luck Club

Joy Luck Club research paper due and don't know how to start it? How about like this?

The "Joy Luck Club, written by Amy Tan, tells a story of four Chinese women, their journey to America and their relationships with their daughters. The movie by the same name was adapted for the cinema by Tan and co-writer, Ronald Bass. The difference between the two is the fact that Tan takes her time to go in depth about the struggle of each woman trying to leave a government oppressed China and the sacrifices each makes to arrive in a new country, rich with democratic freedoms and opportunities. The movie rushes through spots obviously due to time constraints of cinema, and the wondering of what is being left out lingers. The movie tries to stay true to Tan's rich narrative which makes the movie unbelievable at times in regards to everyday speaking.

What the book is able to do, as compared to the movie, is through a series of monologues, interconnect many themes between the mothers and daughters of the story.

• Four Chinese women immigrate from China
• Each woman tells a story of an old culture full of generational conflicts they try to impose on their four daughters.
• Tan's insert of the struggles each mother has encountered
• The book sets the stage for sympathy and understanding by the reader towards each mother.
• The daughters, however must learn through rebellion, to understand the generation these women have come from.

"When my daughter looks at me, she sees a small old lady. That is because she sees only with her outside eyes. She has no chuming, no inside of knowing of things. If she had chumimg, she would see a tiger lady. And she would have careful fear."

Another fine example of the gap in generation is in the monologue, Magpies. This excerpt foregrounds the traditional ways of a conservative minded Chinese mother with an American born daughter embracing the new American ways. Daughter Rose has been seeing a psychiatrist. The Chinese perspective is that seeing a psychiatrist is incomprehensible. It is even regarded as bringing shame upon the family. An-Mei's monologue begins and ends with her disapproval of seeing a psychiatrist.

Throughout the novel the need for greater communication to bridge the gap between two separate cultures of two entirely distinct countries is poignantly instilled in the readers mind. Both the mothers and daughters tend to speak into a void and not to each other. Thus the form of narrative used and the thematic point complement each other. Tan uses this method to move the reader through this negativity, to imagine a healthier response.