New Country, New Lives
By: Claire Lake
Parable
My favorite parable is Twenty Six Malignant Gates. I like this parable because it shows that our parents really do know what is best for us. "'...all the bad things that can happen to you outside the protection of this house'"(Tan 87). Even though as kids we don't want to listen to what our parents have to say, we really should because they are just looking out for us just like the mom in the parable.
Mother/Daughter Selection
If I were to read another section of the Joy Luck Club it would be Woo. I like how the Woo section gives the history of how the Joy Luck Club was started in a town where there was not much joy. I would like to read about this mother-daughter pair because I like how Jing-mei is interested to find out who her mom really was even after she is gone. She even goes all the way to China to find her twin half-sisters, just to get a better understanding of her mother.
Quotation
My favorite quote in The Joy Luck Club is from the "The Moon Lady". "We are lost, she and I, unseen and not hearing, unknown by others" (Tan 67). I like this quote because it describes how most people feel while trying to find themselves in a new location. Ying-Ying sees that both she and her daughter are in the shadows and wishes that her daughter could stand up for herself like she wishes she could have done. This quote is a good representation of a mothers insight into her daughters lives and how they can see past our fronts.
Thematic Paragraph
In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan presents the idea that sacrifice is essential for family relationships, because it affords younger generations opportunities. Ying-Ying marries Saint-Clair and she settles because she know she will not have another opportunity like this. This is a sacrifice she made, because when she agrees to marry him she leaves behind all of her family, her money, and her life back in China. She does this because she thinks she can create a better life for herself away from her home so she "willingly gave up her chi,[spirit]" (Tan 251). Ying-Ying ends up being able to give Lena more opportunities in America than she would have had in China. Ying-Ying's sacrifice to move to America let's generations to come have more opportunities.