The daughters are being raised on conflicting cultural differences. In China, the mothers were raised to learn by obedience. It was a common belief in Chinese culture that “children must be must be obedient and imitate the elderly because they have learned wisdom through their elders.” (Lee) In chapter 7 Suyuan explains to her daughter, there are “only two kinds of daughters…those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind!” The idea of a woman following her own mind was considered a poor character flaw in ancient China. That is how Suyuan and the rest of the mothers in the joy luck club were raised. In contrast, the same idea of a woman following her own mind is considered normal in American society.
She had worked really hard and taken lots of time trying to make Jing Mei a prodigy because Jing Mei was her last hope of becoming a “somebody” or famous. Jing Mei’s mother also expected her to be a prodigy because she emigrated from China; she thought America was the land of opportunity and “you could be anything you wanted to be in America [and] you could become instantly famous.”(199) Jing Mei’s mother didn’t know what she wanted her to do, so she experimented. This is the Inciting Force. It is the first sign of conflict. First she tried dancing and singing, “At first my mother thought I could become a Chinese Shirley Temple” (200).
Her desire to learn more about her mother’s past and culture, only pushes her to make her mother’s dream come true and to finally get rid of the guilt conscience. By pushing herself into finding her Chinese roots, she finds a part of herself. She realizes her mother was right by telling her, “Once you are born Chinese, you can not help but feel and think Chinese”(Tan 128). The setting plays an important role that helps the story clear on how June May discovers what makes her Chinese and how she came to this discovery.
Suyuan’s most cherished wish was that she could be reunited with her long-lost twin daughters. The friends urge her to go to China and tell her sisters about their mother. Jing-mei doesn’t think that she’s capable of telling her twin sisters about their mother because Jing-mei isn’t sure she knew their mom herself. She travels to China and realizes that she’s more Chinese than she thought. She learns about her own identity while also learning about her mother.
As an adult, Wong realizes that she had lost an opportunity to become a more complete Individual when she let go Chinese identity. Part 2: Reaction In “The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl.” Wong talks about her cultural experience. It is sad that she denied her Chinese culture and missed the chance to have a mixed culture. She refused to accept her Chinese origins, which her family was intent on keeping. Chinese culture has a long history, and to inherit one’s culture is valuable; Wong should have cherished it.
When she travels to China, she discovers the Chinese essence within herself, thus realizing a deep connection to her mother that she had always ignored. She also brings Suyuan’s story to her long-lost twin daughters, and, once reunited with her half-sisters, gains an even more profound understanding of who her mother was.For the most part, Jing-mei’s fears echo those of her peers, the other daughters of the Joy Luck Club members. They have always identified with Americans but are beginning to regret having neglected their Chinese heritage. Her fears also speak to a reciprocal fear shared by the mothers, who wonder whether, by giving their daughters American opportunities and self-sufficiency, they have alienated them from their Chinese heritage.Jing-mei is representative in other ways as well. She believes that her mother’s constant criticism bespeaks a lack of affection, when in fact her mother’s severity and high expectations are expressions of love and faith in her daughter.
Amy Chua has one statement that she uses “Chinese parents demand perfect grades because they believe that their child can get them” (p. 3 l 26) later in the article she add “Chinese parents can order their kids to get straight As… western parents can only ask their kids to they their best” (P 1, l 44). When she says that she indirectly means that Chinese parents are tougher than western parents. They don’t believe in their children, like Chinese parents do. They should rather make their child fell ashamed by using punishment, instead of always being careful and positive. Amy Chua gives a great example of the contrast between the cultures, she tell her readers how Chinese parents and western parents would react if their kid came home with an A minus “ the Chinese parent would gasp in horror and ask what went wrong” (p. 3 l 2) “A western parent would support and praise the child.” Later in the article Amy Chua comes with one of her statements, again“if a Chinese child gets a B – which would never happen” (p 3, l 21).
She makes a show of not taking her mother’s advice by saying things like, "Don’t be so old-fashioned, Ma […]. I’m my own person." This woman likes to think that she’s in charge of herself. All the same, she continues to look for her mother’s approval, especially in romantic relationships. She claims that she doesn’t want her mom’s opinions about Rich, but desperately wants her mother to like him.
I know my mother probably told her I was going back to school to finish my degree.” (Tan 27) As the chapter is coming to an end and the night is at its peak, Jing-Mei starts to get up to leave but when the women stop her and tell June that her mother had left behind two infant twin daughters in China, she was shocked. “My sisters, I repeat to myself, saying these two words together for first time” (Tan
Novelist Amy Tan (Libi Pedder / Camera Press / Retna) Tan proves her point about parents’ influence on people’s life when she states “I think my mother’s English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life as well”. By talking about how her mother’s English lacked a certain wholeness and clarity, she explains why her thoughts about her mother tongue were different when she was a child; “I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say.” People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants didn’t take her mother seriously, didn’t give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they didn’t hear her. Here Tan emphasizes the importance of mother tongue in somebody’s life. She believes that people may not be treated respectfully because of their poor speaking of any language. She never reflects on her mother’s difficulties as something that could’ve motivated her to become a writer.