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.

Post from Lauren

The depiction of women (in the beginning of the Joy Luck Club) is shown through the constant theme of the relationships and experiences between the daughters and mothers. The motherly figures that we learn about are those who have influenced their daughters with their past memories and lessons. The daughters learned they would have to sacrifice themselves for their husbands eventually and never truly be happy with their lives. Though these may have seemed like harsh realities for the daughters, they would turn out to be stronger when dealing with the issues that faced them in the future. The mothers in this story do not sugarcoat their past in order to tell their daughters that they will not have the perfect future. So far we have experienced the lives of Suyan Woo through the eyes of her daughter Jing-Mei, An-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong and daughter Waverly Jong, Ying-Ying St. Clair and daughter Lena St. Clair. Suyan Woo created the Joy Luck Club with her first husband in China. Her daughter recalls Suyan’s memories, but feels that most of her story will be “lost in translation.” An-Mei Hsu recalls the past of her mother who left her to live with her grandmother when she was very young. After her grandmother got extremely ill, five years later, her mother returned. An-Mei experiences the sight of her mother cutting the flesh out of her own arm in order to make a sacrifice that may cure her dying grandmother. The past of Lindo-Jong is one of unhappiness for the sake of her first husband after a forced marriage. She knew, from the age of sixteen when she was forced to marry, that she would spend the rest of her life in someone else’s happiness. The story of the childhood of Waverly Yong is unusual. Becoming a national chess champion by the age of 9 was a huge achievement in her community. Her mother used her daughter’s success in order to show her off to the community. We end with Lena St. Clair, daughter of Ying-Ying. She speaks about her mother’s unknown past in China. Her mother’s past is a big secret which is never spoken about in their household.

Question 1: One of the questions being considered during this unit is: How are women depicted in contemporary fiction and media? During your reading of the novel, comment on the ways in which women are being portrayed. Consider relationships, experiences, situations, etc.