The members have mainly played mahjong and told each others stories over the years. This book tells the story of four chinese mothers and their daughters, recounting the stories of their lives both in china and in san francisco. About the joy luck club the joy luck club summary character list glossary themes chapters 12 chapters 34 chapters 56 chapters 78 chapters 910 chapters 1112 chapters 14 chapters 1516 asianamerican women writers related links essay questions quiz 1 quiz 2 quiz 3 quiz 4 quiz 5 citations. It is then up to jingmei to fulfill her longcherished wish of reuniting with. Although the women in the joy luck club are chinese or chinese american, and their heritage plays an important part in their lives, they also have experiences that all of us face, regardless of culture, even today. In fleeing from a japanese attack in 1944, she was forced to abandon her twin infant daughters on a. It was nominated for the national book award and the national book critics circle award and was a recipient of the commonwealth gold award and the bay area book award. Specifically joy luck club discusses two conflicts. The film begins with junes short narrative prologue about the swan feather in the opening credits and then her farewell surprise party in san francisco for junes upcoming reunion with her longlost twin sisters in china. She starts the joy luck club in kweilin, china, and then in san francisco. The joy luck club is about those things handed down from chineseborn mothers to their americanborn daughters. She also has the most stories in the novel the joy luck club, two kinds, best quality, and a pair of tickets since she represents both herself and her deceased mother, suyuan.
After her mothers death, however, the pendant will begin to assume great importance to her even though she does not really understand the meaning that her mother assigned to it. Her father has asked her to take over her mothers corner of the mah jong table in the joy luck club. The joy luck club is a 1989 novel written by amy tan. The joy luck club external conflict lindo jong experiences an external conflict between herself and huang taitai.
Suyuan woo suyuan woo, the founder of the joy luck club, which meets monthly to play mahjongg. Jingmei june woo, suyuan woo, canning woo, wang chwun yu and wang chwun hwa chwun, lindo jong, waverly jong, tin jong, vincent jong, winston jong, huang tyanyu, huang taitai, marvin chen, shoshana chen, lindos mother, rich schields, anmei hsu, rose. The joy luck club skillfully explores the oftentense relationships between mothers and daughters. Jingmei is strong willed she got it from her mama but a lot of that strength of will manifests in the least helpful way possible. Amy tan is best known for the joy luck club, a collection of vignettes meant to show how our lives are shaped by the stories we tell. Online notes literature analysis character analysis the mothers suyuan woo. Every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the. When the novel opens, jingmeis mother, suyuan, has just died from a cerebral aneurysm. There, in the stench of starvation and death, four women told their good stories, tried their luck with mahjongg, laughed, and feasted on scraps.
An intricately patterned novel whose author thought she was writing a shortstory collection, it is also a motherdaughter saga by a writer whose own mother wanted her to be anything but a writer. Jingmei, who has been asked to take her mothers place in the joy luck club, learns from the other mothers that her halfsisters are alive. Although waverly struggles internally through most of the novel, she is developed as one of the most powerful characters, who has a zest for living, a drive to succeed, and a commanding personality. The women gather each week to eat, play mahjong and share stories. Among the guests are members of the joy luck club, their daughters, other relatives, and friends. A mother and her daughter in amy tans two kinds 1989, a section of her novel the joy luck club, tan depicts the motherdaughter relationship between june and her mother, ms. Jingmei june woo, the newest member of the joy luck club, is the daughter of the late suyuan woo. And download the joy luck club pdf ebook free via the download button at the end. Download the joy luck club pdf ebook free your pdfs. Even though she wasnt alive during the time of the book, her strength and ability to find light in the darkness are prominent characteristics of suyuan based on the stories that were told.
From the moment i first started reading it, i knew it was going to be incredible. The joy luck club, amy tan the joy luck club is a 1989 novel written by amy tan. The character of jingmei june woo in the joy luck club. Jingmei undercuts her own successes in life just to show everyone she can. By doing this she fulfills her mothers expectations. By the beginning of the novel, suyuan has passed away, but her presence throughout the book is incredibly strong and vibrant. The joy luck club study guide contains a biography of amy tan, literature. There are a ton of fiction based books and novels available in the market. The book centers around four motherdaughter pairs living in san francisco. The novel does not perfectly solve all the problems presented within the pages, but brings hope to the characters as they work to. Suyuan woo the central event in suyuans life is the loss of her twin baby daughters. June is the main narrator in the joy luck club, as her vignettes specifically bridge the histories between mothers and daughters, and between childhood memories and presentday events. The stories of the different women were intriguing.
Every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the office. In a way, jingmei woo is the main character of the joy luck club. I thought up joy luck on a summer night that was so hot even the moths fainted to the ground, their wings were so heavy with the damp heat. He insists that june take over suyuans spot in the joy luck club, sparking the novels chain of events. The novel, in fact, opens with the concept of communication. Best quality at first, jingmei did not like the pendant. The daughters are, respectively, jingmei june woo, rose hsu jordan, waverly jong, and lena st. In 1989, amy tan published the bestselling book, the joy luck club. It inspired me as a writer and still remains hugely inspirational. The mothers are suyuan woo, anmei hsu, lindo jong, and yingying st. At the end of the book she goes to china to connect with her sisters. She also has the most stories in the novel the joy luck club, two kinds, best quality, and a pair of tickets since she represents both herself and her. The first is about maintaining ones culture versus assimilating to a new country.
Lindo jong resents tyunyu even before she marries him. Once she marries him, she despises her situation and how huang taitai controls her. Published in 1989 by an unknown firsttime writer, the joy. Amy tan was born on february 19, 1952 in oakland, california and is 64 years old. Lindo jong, who escaped an arranged marriage as a teenager, is the mother of waverly jong, her daughter from a later marriage. A lot of this bookin fact, wed go so far as so say the central narrativeis about jingmeis path toward. The joy luck club, where mahjong tiles are washed, good food is served and where each and every member tries their hardest to hold on. Analysis of two kinds by amy tan 1190 words 5 pages. Her mother is suyuan woo the founder of the joy luck club. First chinese baptist church at 15 waverly pl, san francisco. It focuses on four chinese american immigrant families in san francisco who start a club known as the joy luck club, playing the chinese game of mahjong for money while feasting on a variety of foods. She recognizes they are suffering as she is, so she starts the joy luck club. The joy luck club was formed by four women in san francisco. The joy luck club characters from litcharts the creators.
The joy luck club by amy tan meet your next favorite book. It epitomized the theme which has dominated asian american writing for decades and still does to this day. The joy luck club the rise of asian americans from 1970. Even more than the other members of the joy luck club women, anmei believes in the mamadaughter. The joy luck club was adapted into a feature film in 1994, for which amy tan was a. The character of jingmei june woo in the joy luck club from. Her father asks jingmei to take her mothers place at the joy luck club, which jingmei is nervous about doing. The mood in the novel was sometimes sorrowful for example when june mother died.
They emigrated from their native country, china, remarried, and gave birth to children in america. The joy luck club is a movie, based off a novel written by amy tan, displaying the struggles of a group of chinese women and their daughters. The book is structured somewhat like a mahjong game, with four parts divided. Giulia 1272014 the historical aspects of this book are very interesting to read about. Amy tans the joy luck club is itself a joyful study in luck. The joy luck club chapters 12 summary and analysis. The characters tell their story in the form of vignettes. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Master storyteller amy tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters in this new york times bestseller. The stories are told so we could see how the characters had hope and how they feared. Joy luck club is a great book that was made into a respectable. The works she is mostly known for is the the joy luck club, which has been translated into 25 different other languages and in 1933 the book was made into a movie.
Before i wrote the joy luck club, tan said in an interview, my mother told me. Jingmei june woo, suyuan woo, canning woo, wang chwun yu and wang chwun hwa chwun, lindo jong, waverly jong, tin jong, vincent jong, winston jong, huang tyanyu, huang taitai, marvin chen, shoshana chen, lindos mother, rich schields, anmei hsu, rose hsu, bing hsu, george hsu. For me, it was one of those onceinalifetime reading experiences that you cherish forever. Structurally, her narratives serve as bridges between the two generations of storytellers, as jingmei speaks both for herself and for her recently deceased mother, suyuan. He is aware of suyuans first family and read full character analysis. The joy luck club, begun in 1939 san francisco, was a recreation of the club founded by suyuan woo in a beleaguered chinese city. Woo is determined to turn june into a child prodigy, forcing her to try different activities to see if she would be a prodigy. When the japanese approach kweilin, she is forced to flee and eventually abandon her twin infant daughters. Set in china and the united states, the stories cross the generational divide as mothers and daughters attempt to come to terms with family history, relationships and that connections between family and nations that are so hard. Suyuan is the mother of jingmei and the wife of canning woo. The tone in the joy luck club is serious and sad especially when the mother tell their stories to their daughters because the stories werent happy.
If we asked you to characterize the wind, we bet youd come up with adjectives like flighty. Suyuan meets these three other immigrants through the first chinese baptist church in 1949. They struggle with raising their children, contend with unhappy marriages, cope with difficult financial circumstances, and are disheartened by. The four of them had been part of their own joy luck club, in which they passed many afternoons playing the ancient chinese board game of mah jong, and many. Analysis of the book the joy luck club 937 words 4 pages. Towards the end of the novel, a gathered opinion can be made on the three characters true to all the viewpoints. A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especially a variety of speech differing from the standard literary language or speech pattern of the culture in which it exists.
378 730 1466 778 1349 642 1575 160 738 366 82 387 1581 770 50 568 1565 900 693 657 9 531 354 1197 552 33 591 738 277 592 201 967 1300 150 547 1450 724 1010 324