Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club", the mothers use the oral tradition of story-telling to cement, ameliorate or transform the trauma of their past lives in China to their daughters as a method for rewriting these stories of oppression and victimization into parables of self-affirmation and individual empowerment. The author points out that the motif of the mirror is a form of vision used often by Tan to allow the mothers and daughter to communicate. The paper concludes that this novel clearly demonstrates the usage of storytelling and mirrors as effective tools in creating bonds between mothers and daughter of each generation, which is self-perpetuating, even if unintentional.

From the Paper:

"In another story involving a mirror, mother is shocked to see that her married daughter has placed a mirrored armoire at the foot of the bed. This is bad feng shui. In feng shui, the Eastern art of placement, harmony must be created in an environment and any bad angles must be "cured". Sleeping with a mirror at the foot of your bed is said to frighten your essence and create bad energy. She is certain that the mirror will deflect all happiness from her daughter's marriage, so she "cures" the situation by giving her daughter a mirror to hang above the bed. This will reverse the bad luck and bring good "peach-blossom luck," the mother says. Such luck, she adds, will ensure a grandchild."

More papers on Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club":

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• Book Review # 32509 : "The Joy Luck Club"
• Analytical Essay # 29286 : "Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club"

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