Waverly's Humility

Waverly also had a significant upbringing because her mother desired to give her “American circumstances and Chinese character” (Tan 254). Waverly was raised with Lindo imparting traditional Chinese “daily truths” because Lindo wanted to give her daughter wise advice, but Waverly was too Americanized to listen to her mother (Tan 89). Waverly ignored her mother’s advice because her Americanized beliefs made her think any American way was better than any Chinese way. Waverly also lost her ability to act like a child when she became a chess prodigy. Eventually, Waverly stopped playing in the alley with the other children, so she could practice and learn new strategies because Lindo pressured Waverly to win tournaments.

Under the influence of different cultures, different identities are formed. Jing-Mei Woo (June), similar to Waverly, also lives in between two worlds. June, since young, is accustomed to two sets of culture and beliefs. Jing-Mei’s mother has lost everything when she comes to the United States, and she has all her hopes on her daughter, therefore she wants to train her daughter to be a genius. As the mother presses all the homeworks on June, June loses heart and cries “I won’t let her change me, I promised myself. I won’t be what I’m not” . By crying and shouting out loud, June wants to declare her self identity, which ultimately reflects on the American individualism, which is one of the most integral parts of the U.S. value. Being raised in

Being that she was adopted, she has no relation to her Chinese culture, yet still wants to belong to it. I feel she is judged because she lacks connection with her culture, and that is why she has this sense of determination to learn more

Her mother’s “genuine” tone indicates that she has believed on her daughter’s talents for the last thirty years and has wanted to help her daughter in improving them. That was why she has repeated the same words since Jing-Mei was little. Even though years have passed, Jing-Mei’s mother wants Jing-Mei to know that she had talents but it was effort that she lacked. The quote above clarifies how Jing-Mei’s play of two piano pieces “Pleading Child” and “Perfectly Contented” signifies that she has truly recognized her identity and has turned into a satisfied

All of the woman who migrated from China all have a curtain pride for their own mothers and cultures cultures respectively. Major acts of pride go into what these woman do while raising their daughters, as they want to push their daughters for success. “What will I say? What can I tell them about my mother? I don’t know anything. . . .” The aunties are looking at me as if I had become crazy right before their eyes. . . . And then it occurs to me. They are frightened. In me, they see their own daughters, just as ignorant. . . . They see daughters who grow impatient when their mothers talk in Chinese . . . who will bear grandchildren born without any connecting hope passed from generation to generation.” The other mothers are flabbergasted that June does not know that much about her mother. The mothers also have their own pride in their daughters, and all the daughters have been together, so this phrase from June scares the other mothers of what their own daughters might think about them. In Chinese tradition, respecting your mother is very important, due to June being raised in America, she does not realise what she has just proclaimed as bad until the other mothers react to it.

The conflicting Chinese culture of the mothers’ and the American culture of the daughters’ result in differing interpretations of virtue. One example of this is during the last time Jing Mei’s mother made crab. When Jing Mei was talking to her mother, they discussed that Waverly, of American culture, wanted the best quality crab, but in the Chinese culture, making a sacrifice for someone else is the best quality. “‘Only you take that crab… everybody else want best quality’” (Tan 241). Another example of the differences of virtue between Chinese and American culture is the different ways people treat the dying. When Jing-Mei’s mother was dying, they sent her to a doctor to find out what was wrong. When An-Mei’s grandmother was dying, her mother used traditional practices to try to cure her by, “[cutting] a piece of meat from her arm” (Tan 41), as an act of deep love and respect. When the Chinese and American do try to combine, it doesn’t always turn out the way it’s expected.

Another conflict that arises from Confucianism is when Jing-mei was told to go back to China and tell her half-sisters about their mother. She said “‘what will I say? What can I tell them about my mother? I don’t know anything.’” (Tan 31). In Confucianism, very little of tradition is explicitly told from mothers to daughters in the form of text. Ritual actions are supposed to be observed, absorbed and understood in order to be preserved and handed down for posterity. But Jing-mei, who grew up in America, did not have a sense of following the tradition her mother brought to America, or rather considered the Chinese tradition to be eccentric.

Throughout Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, the reader can see the difficulites in the mother-daughter relationships.  The mothers came to America from China hoping to give their daughters better lives than what they had.  In China, women were “to be obedient, to honor one’s parents, one’s husband, and to try to please him and his family,” (Chinese-American Women in American Culture).  They were not expected to have their own will and to make their own way through life.  These mothers did not want this for their children so they thought that in America “nobody [would] say her worth [was] measured by the loudness of her husband’s belch…nobody [would] look down on her…” (3).  To

“My mother would proudly walk with me, visiting many shops, buying very little. “ This my daughter Waverly Jong,” she said to whoever looked her way. One day after we left a shop I said under my breath, “ I wish you wouldn’t do that , telling everybody I’m your daughter.” My mother stopped walking..... “Aiii-ya. So shame be with mother?” She grasped my hand even tighter as she glared at me. I looked down. “It’s not that, just so obvious. It’s so embarrassing.”... If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess?” (Tan 41).

Brook’s presents that the parents are weak when they decide to be strict, because instead of being able to go round and round with their children to make sure they grow up to be someone they are proud of, they are chickening out by taking the easy road, which is not helping them succeed socially but academically. “I believe she’s coddling her children. She’s protecting them from the most intellectually demanding activities because she doesn’t understand what’s cognitively difficult and what isn’t (Brooks 58).” Brooks does not believe Amy understands that making her children only study and work hard makes is not harder than making them socialize. While Brooks believes that she is protecting her children, Amy believes otherwise. “...Chinese mothers

The mother in the story tries everything in her power to make Jing-mei famous in some way. Yet Jing-mei was content to being herself.

She selfishly praised quilts as "priceless" (91) whereas she thought the same piece was old fashioned and out of style when offered to her for college. By carrying the quilts she claims to carry the heritage, however, she shuns the lifestyle of her family, which is of course a part of her heritage.

However, the conflict between Waverly and her mother is very realistic, due to the nature that many mothers and daughters have different views which causes disagreements. The people of Chinese descent have their Chinese heritage, but struggle to keep true to their traditions while living around American culture. The major conflict in the story, the clash of different cultures, leads to the weakening of the relationship between the two characters. For example, when Waverly reenters the apartment after running away, she sees the "remains of a large fish, its fleshy head still connected to bones swimming upstream in vain escape" (Tan 508). Waverly sees herself as the fish, stripped clean by her mother 's power, unable to break free. Through the major conflict, the characters struggle to keep their relationship healthy and loving. Tan explains the feelings of Waverly through an important symbolic imaginary chess game as she writes, “My white pieces screamed as they scurried and fell off the board one by one. As her men drew closer to my edge, I felt myself growing light” (508). This shows how Waverly feels about the relationship with her mother and how she is losing the battle. The conflicts are important, especially to the theme, for the conflicts shows where the lack of understanding comes from and how it can be resolved.

Over there nobody will look down on her, because I will make her speak only perfect American English.  And over there she will always be too full to swallow any sorrow!  She will know my meaning because I will give her this swan- a creature that became more than what was hoped for.”  (Tan 1)  The culture in China the mothers of Joy Luck dealt with was unlike anything their daughters could ever imagine or appreciate. Between the mothers Lindo, Suyuan, An-mei and Ying-ying, the Chinese culture forced them into being married by a matchmaker, giving up babies, witness desperate attempts to save loved ones, and having an abortion.  In many ways the Chinese culture scared each woman, although they were proud of their heritage, their daughters deserved better.  These four mothers had very high hopes for the better lives that they wanted to give their daughters by raising them in America.  They didn’t like or want to have their daughters looked down upon, just because they were Chinese women.  From each of their own experiences, they learned that they wanted to improve the lives of their following generation.

It’s clear that appearance is important to her. Being a poor widow, she put what little money they had into making sure her son looked pleasant, by doing so she couldn’t afford healthy food which made her choose foods that made her overweight, she kept the gaps in her teeth, and gave him an education, all so that their Godhigh legacy could continue on, only because that’s what she wants. By doing this she’s given herself something to gloat about, and she takes any opportunity she has to do so. She’s all talk, using him as if he were another clothing accessory to make herself look better to those around her, after all “[s]he was one of the few members of the Y reducing class who arrived in a hat and gloves and who had a son who had been to college” (p.406). She seems to have great appreciation for the fact that she’s the only woman at the YMCA who dresses up for classes and has a college-educated son. Equating family lineage with identity also allows her to live more happily under the false conviction that she is actually better than everyone else. His mother gets