Amy Tan's Works

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the dominant theme of mother-daughter conflict and fragmented cultural identity in Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club," "Two Kinds," and "The Kitchen God's Wife".

From the Paper:

"Waverly's mother, misunderstanding her daughter's angry outburst, thinks Waverly is saying she is ashamed of her Chinese mother, especially to be seen with her in public. But Waverly means simply that she would like her mother to stop bragging about her because she herself feels embarrassed by it. The misunderstanding brought about by this heated exchange, however, clouds the mother-daughter relationship for years afterward. Neither one can or will forget about it, even long after Waverly grows up and leaves home. To Waverly's Chinese mother, family solidarity and pride is her most important value. But to her American-born and thoroughly Americanized daughter, individuality and independence are far more important, and she resents what she sees as her mother's smothering attitude. In this early scene in the novel, Waverly is not in fact rejecting her mother, but instead simply asserting her own separateness from her, a distinction Waverly's mother finds impossible to understand."

More papers on Amy Tan's Works:

• Analytical Essay # 1807 : "Amy Tan's "Two Kinds"
• Analytical Essay # 49922 : "Amy Tan"
• Analytical Essay # 116289 : "Amy Tan's Life and Works"

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