English Paper 2 Heiki Lo

The Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan

Context - biographical - Amy Tans parents are both Chinese immigrants - Tans mothers first husband was abusive, equivalent to Ying Yings story in JLC - Tan traveled to China with her mother to meet her half sisters, equivalent to Jing Meis story Historical Context - Tans mother fled China just before the Communist ( MAO) takeover in 1949 - Feared the future of communist China - Communist countries did not allow personal freedoms and restricted civil liberties - Since the communist took over followed a brutal civil war, so the Chinese werent certain if they would be safe staying in China - Therefore so many immigrants moved to the US where FREEDOM and democracy is practiced - In search for a more prosperous future Author Purpose - writes with a social aim, portrays the Chinese experience - her bicultural upbringing is her works source of inspiration - she approaches issues that are universally applicable to all groups of people e.g. family, identity Characters 4 pairs of mother and daughters Suyuan and Jing Mei (main narrator) Ying Ying and Lena Lindo and Waverly An Mei and Rose Central themes Family - the relationship between mothers and daughters Significance: Timeless, relevant to us forever Identity Cultural identity , Chinese daughters struggle with their cultural identity, they dont understand their mothers cultures and intentions Generations Gaps Linguistic barriers, the mothers speak broken English while the daughters speak perfect American English Sub-themes Cultural differences/disconnection - incomplete cultural understanding of daughters and mothers owes to language barrier

English Paper 2 Heiki Lo In order to overcome language barriers, mothers tend to use storytelling to circumvent these barriers to communicate with their daughters Stories are usually educational and warning against certain mistakes or giving advice based on past successes.

Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter! Suyuan I had always assume that we had an unspoken understanding about these things that she didnt really mean I was a failure, and I really meant I would try to respect her opinion more. Jing Mei My mother and I never really understand one another. Jing Mei

Identity
What will I say? What can I tell them about my mother? I dont know anything. Jing Mei - Establishes the central theme of this novel ( identity) - Jing Mei represented the American daughters that were largely out of touch with their Chinese identities and cultures You want me to be someone that Im not. Jing Mei

Love and Sacrifices

A mother is best. A mother knows what is inside you An Mei Although we dont speak, I know we all see it: Together we look like our mother. Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at least her long cherished wish. Jing Mei An-meis mother slices of a piece of her own flesh to put in her mothers soup, hoping superstitiously to cure her. Best Quality Jade Pendant from Suyuan to Jing mei - Best quality - lifes importance - At first, Jing mei thinks it is garish and unstylish = cultural differences between herself and her mother - After Suyuans death, Jing Mei= understands its a symbol of her mothers love and concern

Hate
Why do you have to be so goddamn fair! Lena (Rice Husband)

English Paper 2 Heiki Lo - use of exclamation mark, emphasize her tone of anger Everythingthe way we account for everything, what we share, what we dont share. Im so tired of it. Adding things, subtracting , make it come even, Im sick of it. Lena - Displays Lenas anger and frustration towards Harold, from love to hate - The treatment she receives from Harold -> changes her feelings for Harold Symbolism: Lenas vase on Harolds woobly table = their marriage falling apart

Sexism/Role of Men and romen

1. Red Candle Lindo is forced to live almost as a servant to her mother-in-law and husband, conforming to idealized roles of feminine submission and duty Mens side-> dominating and tyrannical, made LIndos life miserable - Had to live a life of enslavement by Tyan yu and her mother in law - Made up a lie about the red candles flame, the candle dictates the fate of their marriage Lindo told Taitai that the ancestors allowed the matchmaker during the ceremony to blow off Tyan yus candle ->meant that marriage is very unsuccessful Quotes: My life has changed when I was 12 Huangtaitai hurried me upstairs which was a place for cooks and servants. SO I KNEW MY STANDING HuangTaitai told a servant to show her how to clean a pot, that was how I learned to be an obedient wife I wonder why my destiny had been decided I must concentrate and think of nothing but having babies women are only tools for giving birth - Symbol : Red candle, was a marriage bond - success in marriage ( LIndo cleverly uses this symbol to her advantage to run away from marriage with Tyan Yu) 2. Half and Half Roses passivity with Ted is based on the stereotypical gender roles of a proactive and a submissive female. - Ted decided..decideddecided( Repetition) shows Teds dominance and Roses passivity - Ted, if you want me to go, Ill go Rose - Ted simply decided, and I have never thought of objecting. Rose - Ted would say in his impatient voice, No you decide. You cant have it both ways - A protective veil had been lifted and Ted now started pushing me about everything

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3. Rice Husband Lenas agreement to serve as a mere associate in Harolds firm - Male dominance Quotes: You should pay for the exterminators, because Mirugai is your cat and so theyre YOUR fleas. Its only fair. Harold Why do you have to be so goddamn fair! Lena (Rice Husband) - use of exclamation mark, emphasize her tone of anger Everythingthe way we account for everything, what we share, what we dont share. Im so tired of it. Adding things, subtracting , make it come even, Im sick of it. Lena - Displays Lenas anger and frustration towards Harold, from love to hate - The treatment she receives from Harold -> changes her feelings for Harold - Oh well. Harold simply replies Oh well after Ying Ying told him that Lena cant actually eat ice cream, this cold response exhibits his Symbolism: Lenas vase on Harolds woobly table = their marriage falling apart

Love and Protection

The voices from the wall Lena St Clair - Lenas mother Ying Ying is being incredibly over protective and warning her Quotes This bad man would have planted five babies in me and then eaten us alltossing our bones on the firty floor I knew my mother made up anything to warn me, to help me avoid some unknown danger A man can grab you off the streets, sell you to someone else, make you have a baby. Then youll kill the baby. And when they find this baby in a garbage can, what can be done? You go to jail, die there. After the baby died, my mother feel apart, not all at once, but piece by piece, like plates falling off a shelf one by one Simile Magpies An Mei Hse - An Meis mother committed suicide in order to give a better life to her daughter, An-mei - You see how this life is, you cannot eat enough of this bitterness. shows how An Meis mother is living in misery - She whispered to me that she would rather kill her own weak spirit so she could give me a stronger one.

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Oppression
Magpies An Mei Hse - That was China, That was what people did back then. They had no choice. They could not run away. That was their fate. - Swallow their own tears Jing Mei And Waverly Jong - pressured by their Asian parents, Suyuan and Lindo to become piano and chess prodigies - this pressure oppresses their free will, oppresses them emotionally Suyuan oppresses JING MEI there are only two types of daughters, those that follow their own mind and those that obey their parents! And only obedient daughters could live in this house! - threatening tone, exclamatory sentence to suggest that many Asian parents tend to oppress any form of independent thought - does not allow children to follow their own mind - Stereotypical Asian parenting scene to give voice to the Asian American children that are often oppressed by parents, who are often struggling to retaliate against their parents authorities. Lindo and Waverly Bite back your tongue Lindo, shows Asian parents authoritarian personality What I tell you? Better off lose less! Waverly was annoyed but could not say anything back Even when Waverly finally succumbs to her parents expectations, insisting that I will play chess!, her mother retaliates with you think so easy, one day quit, next day play, completely rejecting her daughter. The sharp tone in her mothers voice exemplifies the authority an Asian parent has; how even if their children obey them, they still have authority to reject them.

Misunderstandings
All of the other mother-daughter pairs experience the same misunderstanding -stemmed from generational and cultural differences - different perspectives on expressions of love Chinese values Obedience, Americans values free speech Best Quality To me, the whole effect looked wrong: too large, too green, too garishly ornate. -Jing Mei - illustrates to the reader the disconnection and lack of communication between June and her mother. It demonstrates how June ignores her

English Paper 2 Heiki Lo cultural heritage and does not understand the meaning of the necklace that her mother has given her.

I think the carvings mean something, because shapes and details, which I never seem to notice until after theyre pointed out to me, always mean something to Chinese people. To Jing-Mei this pendant represented the cultural differences between herself and her mother, she obviously does not understand the true meaning of this pendant. This shows the cultural differences / a gap between her and her mother.

Two kinds In this story, Jing Mei under the American influence, believes in her own free will and decides not to become the kind of daughter that her mother wanted her to be. I wont let her change me, I promised myself. I wont be what Im not. - JingMei. -Jing Mei also thought that her mother does not love her because her mother did not accept who she really is. However, in Suyuans perspective, she sees her duty as encouraging, she feels that if necessary, she has the responsibility to push her daughter to the road of succeed. - In order to show how love can be misconstrued, Amy Tan incorporated some argument scenes to demonstrate misunderstandings between JingMei and Suyuan due to their cultural differences - Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter! Suyuan. - Amy Tan creates a powerful and firm tone in Suyuans speech to demonstrate Suyuans agitation and disappointment when she realizes that her own daughter does not understand her true intentions. Change Jing Mei from not understanding anything about her mom to the end of the book My mother and I never really understand one another. Jing Mei What will I say? What can I tell them about my mother? I dont know anything. Jing Mei you want me to be someone that I am not.

English Paper 2 Heiki Lo Best Quality Jade Pendant from Suyuan to Jing mei - Best quality - lifes importance At first, Jing mei thinks it is garish and unstylish = cultural differences between herself and her mother It always means something to Chinese people. To me, the whole effect looked wrong: too large, too green, too garishly ornate. -Jing Mei - After Suyuans death, Jing Mei= understands its a symbol of her mothers love and concern I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in my blood. Never escape the pastYing ying -rich girl, educated like every Chinese woman used to be, to be obedient - married to a bad man who left her after a short time as he had an affair with another woman - her love for him turned to hate, killed her unborn baby - this act gave her remorse for all her life since she considered it as a murder - tortured by this incident for her entire life, had a mental breakdown -her second son with her second husband died at birth ->sees it as a punishment -lived like a shadow, letting other people decide for her, she wanted to give up her chi her spirit or her strong will - her husband and her daughter did not know about her first marriage