Joy Luck Club

response to Mrs. P

Do you think characters are restricted by the past? How does the past happiness/unhappiness influence the future happiness/unhappiness?

I feel that each of the mother/daughter duos differ in the way that their pasts effects their future. For example, Ying-ying St. Clair believes that she is destined to do certain things in her future. Because of this “destiny” that she believes in, she allows it to control her future by letting Lena’s father to marry her. She does this because in her past this is what she truly believed in, and though she may be unhappy, nothing can change the “fate” of the given situation. Her past beliefs most definitely influences her future, as well as restricts what she truly wants to do and what she feels she has to do because of her belief in “fate.” Suyuan and Jing-mei also conflict in their views on destiny. Suyuan believes that her daughter will only succeed if she works hard enough to find her talent that will decide her future. Jing-mei, on the other hand, doesn’t believe in this destiny and doesn’t want her future to be forced, she wants to live on her own terms. Those are only two examples of how the past experiences (of the mothers and daughters) impacts what the future may hold for these characters.