Mothers and Daughters: "The Joy Luck Club"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains the prevailing theme of mother-daughter relationships in Amy Tan's novel, "The Joy Luck Club," and looks at the novel's focus on the need for Asian-born mothers and their daughters to reconcile the past with the present.

From the Paper:

"One way Tan came to terms with this was embracing multiple perspectives and dual identities, Chinese and American. "I think that the other reason that I've become a storyteller is that I was raised with so many different conflicting ideas that it posed many questions for me in life, and those questions became a filter for looking at all my experiences and seeing them from different angles. That's what I think that a storyteller does, and underneath the surface of the story is a question or a perspective or a nagging little emotion, and then it grows." (Giles, 1995) The multi-layered narrative structure of The Joy Luck Club generated by this upbringing is striking, as it alternates past and present, between the different perspectives of the members of the club and their daughters."

More papers on Mothers and Daughters: "The Joy Luck Club":

• Book Review # 111601 : "The Joy Luck Club"
• Book Review # 92481 : "The Joy Luck Club"
• Film Review # 25674 : "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan"

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