Where Past Meets Present

Paper Summary:

This paper studies "Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston and "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan, both of which deal with the issue of cultural identity. The paper shows how in these stories the female protagonists seek equilibrium between their Chinese heritage and their emerging American identities. The paper details the journey to self-discovery each of the women travel and then compares points of similarity between the two novels. Ultimately, the paper concludes that both focus on the mother-daughter relationship as a parable for the process of acclimation. In both "Warrior" and "Luck Club", the paper shows how the daughters' experience symbolizes the cohesion of past and present and represents the direction for the future.

From the Paper:

"The protagonist is continually at odds with her mother because she insists that the narrator play the traditional role of a submissive daughter. The mother also believes that the narrator will join a company of wives and slaves, but ironically she teaches her the song of the woman warrior Fa Mu Lan. Through time the narrator learns valuable lessons from her mother and at moments has admiration for her. Maturity and growth enable the narrator to overcome her fears of China and her family. The American culture made her life less complex and much more simplistic. Along with simplicity, the narrator may have lost some vitality due to the artificial atmosphere of the American culture. She eventually achieves her own cultural identity blending both her Chinese background and her American future."

More papers on Where Past Meets Present:

• Analytical Essay # 66824 : "Where Past Meets Present"
• Analytical Essay # 129717 : "Past and Present in "A Rose for Emily"
• Book Review # 30157 : "Notes of a Native Son"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: