The Joy Luck Club Summary How It All Goes Down The novel opens after the death

of Suyuan Woo, an elderly Chinese woman and the founding member of the oy !u"# Club$ Suyuan has died without fulfilling her %long&"herished wish%' to be reunited with her twin daughters who were lost in China$ Suyuan(s Ameri"an&born daughter, ing&mei ) une* Woo, is as#ed to repla"e her mother at the oy !u"# Club(s meetings$ At the first meeting, ing&mei learns that her long&lost half&sisters have been found alive and well in China$ The other three elderly members of the Club + her mother(s best friends and ing&mei(s %aunties% + give ing&mei enough money to travel to China and meet her sisters$ ,ssentially, ing&mei has the opportunity to fulfill her mother(s greatest wish$ ing&mei(s aunties assign her the tas# of telling her twin sisters about the mother they never #new$ The only problem is, ing&mei feels li#e she never really #new her own mother$ This simple premise allows the boo# to "ast a mu"h wider net, as it raises the -uestion of how well daughters #now their mothers$ The other three members of the oy !u"# Club + .ing&ying, !indo, and An&mei + all have wisdom that they wish to impart to their independent, Ameri"an daughters$ However, their daughters + !ena, Waverly, and /ose + all have their own perspe"tives on life as Ameri"ans$ This gives the boo# a total of eight perspe"tives and life stories to draw from$ The novel is "omprised of si0teen "hapters, with ea"h woman )with the e0"eption of Suyuan* getting two "hapters with whi"h to tell her story$ At the end of the boo#, ing&mei flies to China to meet her half sisters$ She is e0tremely apprehensive about meeting them$ When the sisters do meet for the first time, they instantly hug and "ry$ ing&mei(s mother(s wish has been fulfilled, and through the pro"ess, ing&mei feels that she has "ome "loser to her mother$ The Joy Luck Club Part 1, Prologue Summary In Shanghai, a woman buys a swan with an in"redible story$ Though the swan began life as a du"# who stret"hed its ne"# in the hopes of be"oming a goose, it stret"hed its ne"# too far and be"ame more than what it had hoped for$ The woman sails to Ameri"a with her swan$ She hopes to have a girl in Ameri"a who(s value will not be 1udged based on her husband, and who will not have to ignore herself and %swallow sorrow$% The woman wants to #eep the swan and one day give it to her Ameri"an daughter )along with, we presume, a better life*$ Aw$ When the woman arrives in Ameri"a, immigration offi"ials ta#e the swan away, leaving only one feather in the woman(s possession$ She fills out immigration paperwor# until she forgets why she "ame to the 2$S$ in the first pla"e$ 3ow the woman is old and she has an Ameri"an daughter who spea#s only ,nglish$ The old woman is waiting for the day that she "an give her daughter the feather, and tell her the story of the feather in perfe"t ,nglish$

The Joy Luck Club Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary ing&mei(s father as#s her to be the fourth "orner at the oy !u"# Club mah 1ong table$ She is going to repla"e her mother, Suyuan, who founded the "lub$ Suyuan(s seat at the table )on the east side* has been empty sin"e she died several months ago$ Suyuan died of a "erebral aneurism + that(s when a vessel in your brain swells and pops + and her long&time friends at the oy !u"# Club say she died with unfinished business$ 3ow ing&mei needs to fill her mom(s shoes, or rather her mom(s position in the oy !u"# Club$ ing&mei tells us a bit about her mother' Suyuan arrived in Ameri"a with only fan"y sil# dresses$ In San 4ran"is"o, Suyuan was wel"omed by Ameri"an missionary ladies from 4irst Chinese 5aptist Chur"h, where she met the Hsus, ongs, and the St$ Clairs$ Suyuan Woo invited the women of these families to form the oy !u"# Club, and the four of them be"ame 544 as well as W,, )Worst ,nemy ,ver + more on this later*$ ing&mei always thin#s of the origin story of the oy !u"# Club as her mother(s 6weilin story$ ing&mei re"alls how her mom told the story, so let(s enter into Suyuan(s story as if it were a flashba"#$ Here it is'

Suyuan(s husband )an army offi"er* brings her and their twin daughters to 6weilin for their safety during the se"ond Sino& apanese War, and then he leaves for Chung#ing$ Thousands of people pour into 6weilin to es"ape the apanese )who are winning*$ The "rowded "ity now stin#s and is generally un"omfortable + be"ause hey, they also have bombs being dropped on them$ Suyuan "omes up with the idea of the oy !u"# Club, a gathering of four women to fill ea"h "orner of her mah 1ong table$ Suyuan as#s three girlfriends to 1oin the "lub + no boys allowed$ ,a"h wee#, one of the women hosts a ban-uet with lots of yummy, "elebratory food meant to bring good fortune$ During the "lub meetings, they eat, play mah 1ong )with gambling involved*, eat more, then tell stories, and "ongratulate themselves on how lu"#y they are$ The people in 6weilin thin# the oy !u"# Club ladies are #ind of "ra7y for "elebrating while many people are starving on the streets and dying from bombs$ 5ut Suyuan and her friends see no point in being miserable and waiting to die from the bombs, they(d rather "reate their own happiness and live their lives to the fullest$ The flashba"# into Suyuan(s life ends$ 5a"# in the present, ing&mei notes that her mom always ended the story of the formation of the oy !u"# Club by bragging about her s#ill at mah 1ong$ ing&mei says she never too# her mother(s 6weilin story seriously )she thought it was li#e your grandfather(s %wal#ed to s"hool barefoot in a bli77ard and it was uphill both ways% #ind of story*$ 5ut then one day her mother tells her a new ending to the story$ Here(s the flashba"# ing&mei listening to her mom telling the story' Suyuan says that the apanese were about to mar"h on 6weilin, and her husband sent a messenger, as#ing her to move to Chung#ing, ASA8$ There were no trains, but she managed to get a wheelbarrow, whi"h she loaded with her possession and twin baby daughters, and pro"eeded to push to Chung#ing$ Suyuan pushed the wheelbarrow until the wheel bro#e$ Then she put her babies in slings over her shoulders and "arried her luggage by hand$ Suyuan wal#ed until her hands were bleeding so badly she "ouldn(t "arry anything$ 5y the time she arrived in Chung#ing she(d lost everything e0"ept for three fan"y dresses$ ing&mei interrupts her mom(s story$ She(s sho"#ed' what did her mother mean by %everything%9 Her mother replies that ing&mei is not those twin babies, and that ing&mei(s father is not the husband in Chung#ing$ This would be a perfe"t movie moment for that dramati" D23 D23 D23 sound$ ,nd flashba"# and ba"#ground story telling$ ing&mei arrives late to the oy !u"# Club meeting, held at the Hsus( apartment, nervous to be ta#ing her mother(s pla"e$ The Hsus( house is 1ust li#e it was when ing&mei was a little girl + stin#ing of greasy Chinese food and de"orated with plasti"&"overed furniture$ 2nli#e when ing&mei was a little girl, the oy !u"# Club(s main event has "hanged from playing mah 1ong to buying sto"#s, sin"e the same people #ept winning at mah 1ong and ta#ing the other players( money all the time$ 3ow with the sto"#s, they all win or lose together$ They still play mah 1ong, but only bet trivial amounts of money$ ing&mei "hats with Auntie An&mei )%Auntie% 1ust means that An&mei is a really good family friend*, who is ma#ing wonton$ She remembers her mother(s "onstant "riti"ism of An&mei and others$ ing&mei des"ribes her mother(s version of "ategori7ing people(s personalities$ It(s a system based on five elements$ Suyuan believed that An&mei la"#s the element wood in her "hara"ter, leaving her unable to stand on her own$ ing&mei, a""ording to her mom, has too mu"h water so she %flows in too many dire"tions,% as e0emplified by studying too many different things in "ollege and then never even graduating$ :n the sub1e"t of Suyuan "riti"i7ing everyone, ing&mei remembers a time when she told her mom that parents should en"ourage their #ids, not "riti"i7e them$ Her mom says that if she en"ouraged ing&mei, the girl would be la7y and not rise to the o""asion$ :u"h$ ,veryone wolfs down all of the deli"ious food that An&mei has made and then the women play mah 1ong$ ing&mei sits at her mom(s seat, the one on the ,ast side of the table$ She re"alls how her mom used to say, %The ,ast is where things begin$% The ladies are horrified that ing&mei has only ever played mah 1ong with ewish friends$ Auntie !in says that ewish mah 1ong involves no strategy$ The women begin to play and "hat as they go$ They spea# in a "ombination of bro#en ,nglish and Chinese and topi"s of dis"ussion in"lude' bargain&pri"ed yarn, returning a s#irt with a bro#en 7ipper, gossip about mutual a"-uaintan"es, et"$

ing&mei thin#s ba"# to a story her mom had told her about An&mei(s last trip to China$ An&mei had brought a bun"h of stuff from Ameri"a for her brother, as well as ;<,=== to spend on him$ 5ut when she got there, her brother(s massive e0tended family greeted her )li#e his wife(s step&siblings* all s"rambling to get stuff from the Ameri"ans$ An&mei and her husband end up down ;>,=== on stuff for her brother(s greedy relatives$ In spending time with her mother(s friends, ing&mei "ontinues to stumble a"ross the reali7ation that she and her mom didn(t #now ea"h other very well$ ing&mei des"ribes Auntie !in, who was best friends and ar"h enemies with her mother$ The two women used to "ompare their daughters )Auntie !in(s daughter is Waverly*, but Auntie !in always had more material to brag about be"ause Waverly was a "hess prodigy$ ing&mei tries to leave, but Auntie An&mei a""identally blurts out that they have something to tell ing&mei about her mother$ /emember how the !C ladies said that Suyuan died with unfinished business9 We #now find out what that %business% is' the Suyuan(s twin girls have been found in China$ Suyuan had apparently been loo#ing for the twin girls for years$ After Suyuan died, the aunts wrote to the twins$ 3ow the aunts give ing&mei ;?,<== to travel to China and meet her sisters and tell them about their mother$ ing&mei says she doesn(t #now anything about her mother$ All the aunts frea# out at this idea$ ing&mei reali7es that they fear that their own daughters don(t #now them, so she promises to tell her sisters everything about Suyuan$ ing&mei on"e again reali7es that she(s at her mother(s seat of the table, %on the ,ast, where things begin$% So ing&mei(s adventure beings, and so does the boo#$

The Joy Luck Club Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary An&mei tells the story of her youth as a "hild in her un"le(s house, where she lived with her un"le, auntie, grandmother )8opo*, and little brother$ 3ow we get a flashba"# to when An&mei is a little girl$ 8opo tells An&mei that her mother is a ghost, meaning that An&mei is forbidden to tal# about her mother$ Still in flashba"# mode, the story 1umps to ?><@, when An&mei is nine years old and her grandmother is very ill$ 8opo tells An&mei never to say her mother(s name, be"ause that would be a disgra"e to An&mei(s dead father$ Clearly, An&mei(s mom has done something bad$ An&mei only #nows her dad from a s"ary, stiff painting of him that she sees on the wall$ :ne day when An&mei(s short&tempered aunt is mad, she yells at An&mei about her mother(s disgra"e$ This is how An&mei learns that her mother is now the "on"ubine of a ri"h man )who already has a wife and two other "on"ubines*$ An&mei(s relatives loo# down on her mother, viewing her as a traitor to An&mei(s dead father, a woman with no honor who brings shame to the family$ An&mei begins to imagine her mother as a "arefree woman who laughingly abandoned her family and her honor$ This image of her mother disappoints her$ :ne day a woman arrives to ta#e "are of 8opo$ An&mei immediately #nows it is her mother$ An&mei(s mother brushes her daughter(s hair, whispering, %you #now me$% And then she rubs the s"ar on her daughter(s ne"#, leading An&mei into a memory of when she was four years old and her mom tried to ta#e her away from her grandmother$ In the memory, her mother, un"le, aunt, and 8opo are fighting$ They are "riti"i7ing An&mei(s mother, saying she has no honor and is only a lowly "on"ubine$ They won(t let her have her "hildren$ In the s"uffle, a large pot of boiling soup falls on four&year&old An&mei, burning her ne"#$ 8opo nurses An&mei ba"# to health and the s"ar heals$ ,nd memory + but ba"# to An&mei as a nine&year&old girl$ 8opo gets steadily si"#er$ An&mei(s mother "oo#s up a soup and then "uts a pie"e of flesh from her own arm$ 8AI342!A G/:SSA She adds it to the soup, along with herbs and medi"ines$ The soup is a last&dit"h effort to save 8opo$ The an"ient remedy fails to wor#, but An&mei learns to love her mother by seeing what a faithful daughter her mother is to 8opo$

The Joy Luck Club Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary

!indo ong begins her narrative by tal#ing about promises$ She says that she sa"rifi"ed her life to #eep her parents( promise, but her own daughter doesn(t have the same understanding of what it means to #eep your word$ !indo no longer worries about her daughter )it(s too lateA*, but fo"uses her energy on her granddaughter$ She worries that her granddaughter will forget about her$ We enter into a flashba"#$ !indo is two&years&old and a mat"hma#er "omes to her house to arrange a mat"h between !indo and Huang Taitai(s one&year old son$ 2nli#e in the "ities where men "ould "hoose their wives, the rational for this mat"h is based on old&fashioned, rural ideas about !indo being an %earth horse% and whether !indo will be a dutiful daughter to Huang Taitai )her future mother&in&law*$ After the "ontra"t is signed, !indo(s parents stop treating her as their daughter, but as Huang Taitai(s daughter$ 3ow that(s 1ust "onfusing$ !indo "ontinues living with her parents, and meets her future husband for the first time when she is about nine& years&old$ He(s a spoiled "rybaby who "ontinues to sit on his grandma(s lap despite being eight&years&old$ He(s probably "rushing the poor woman$ !indo "ontinues to see the Huang family during festivals and learns to be polite to her future mother&in&law, even "alling Huang Taitai %Bother$% When !indo is twelve, a flood destroys most of her family(s property, leaving them essentially ban#rupt$ The entire family moves to Wushi, leaving !indo behind to 1oin the Huang household$ Her mother tells her not to disgra"e the family, and gives her a beautiful pendant "alled a chang$ She also reminds !indo what a lu"#y girl she is$ When !indo arrives at the Huang house, she(s immediately put in her pla"e$ There(s no wel"ome of any sort$ Huang Taitai pushes her straight to the #it"hen + the realm of servants and "oo#s$ When she sees Tyan&yu )her future husband*, he a"ts li#e a little 1er# or %a big warlord% in !indo(s words$ The pun# is still shorter than !indo but ma#es every effort to bully her and ma#e her "ry$ Awesome future husband$ !indo is treated badly, but even though she "an(t tri"# herself into thin#ing she(s happy, she remains determined to honor her family$ 8rops to her$ She learns to "oo#, "lean, and embroider to suit the e0a"ting standards of Huang Taitai, who never does any wor# herself$ !indo learns to treat Tyan&yu as a god and his mother as her real mother$ When !indo turns si0teen, Huang Taitai ma#es preparations for Tyan&yu and !indo to be married$ Huang Taitai prepares an elaborate wedding, but the wee# before the wedding, apanese soldiers begin invading the region$ Tal# about a wedding disaster$ :n the day of the wedding, there(s a thunder and lightening storm$ 8eople mista#e the bad weather for apanese bombs and de"ide not to leave their homes for the wedding$ So, there are very few guests$ 5efore her wedding, !indo "ries over her bad lu"# and the promise she made to her parents$ !indo wat"hes the wildness of the rainstorm and "ontemplates the wind + although it is invisible, it is powerful$ She vows never to forget herself, her value, and her inner, genuine thoughts$ This is a moment that most 3ew Age&y !A women would "all %finding yourself$% During the "eremony, a "andle with two ends is lighted$ It is supposed to burn "ontinuously throughout the night, symboli7ing a marriage that "an never be bro#en$ ,ven if Tyan&yu died, the marriage bond would still hold so !indo would never be able to re&marry$ The "andle is supposed to seal !indo to the Huang family forever$ After the marriage "eremony, the guests push the newlyweds up to their bedroom$ :n"e the guests leave, Tyan&yu throws !indo out of his bed, instru"ting her to sleep on the sofa$ !indo isn(t really disappointed, after all, Tyan&yu is more of a ?C&year&old bossy momma(s boy than a 5rad 8itt$ !indo goes out to the "ourtyard where she "an see a servant loo#ing after the marriage "andle$ The servant is supposed to ensure that the "andle never goes out$ The servant is s"ared by loud thunder and runs away$ !indo "reeps up and blows out one end of the "andle$ Clever girl$ She(s ta#ing some a"tion to "hange her fate$ In the morning, the mat"hma#er de"lares that the mat"h is good + the "andle didn(t go out$ 5ut the servant who was supposed to be wat"hing the "andle loo#s guilty + she probably relit the "andle after !indo went ba"# to bed$ !indo and Tyan&yu never "onsummate their marriage, but !indo remains an obedient wife$

Huang Taitai finally gets mad that she doesn(t have any grand"hildren yet$ Tyan&yu points the finger at !indo, telling his mom that his wife refuses to sleep with him$ In order to avoid Huang Taitai wrath, !indo gets daring and "reeps into bed with Tyan&yu$ She(s pra"ti"ally throwing herself at her husbandA Tyan&yu refuses to tou"h her, even when she de"ides to model her birthday suit for him$ What(s wrong with this guy9 !indo spe"ulates that he(s li#e a little boy that never grew up, and begins to love him as a younger brother who needs prote"tion$ Huang Taitai gets super frustrated that !indo still isn(t pregnant$ Huang Taitai is sure this is all !indo(s fault be"ause Tyan&yu has told mama that %he(s planted enough seeds for thousands of grand"hildren$% 4irst of all, planted them where9 Se"ondly, it(s not "ool to lie to your mom and ma#e your wife deal with the mess$ Huang Taitai "onfines !indo to bed rest$ She follows all sorts of superstitions to ma#e !indo fertile, li#e removing all the s"issors and #nives from !indo(s bedroom$ 4our times a day, a ni"e servant girl feeds !indo some awful medi"ine$ !indo wat"hes the servant girl enviously, wat"hing her go about her "hores and flirt with a "ute delivery man$ After the bed rest goes on for a while with no results, Huang Taitai "onsults the mat"hma#er, who argues that !indo is too balan"ed in all the elements$ Huang Taitai is more than happy to re"laim all of !indo(s 1ewelry and liberate the girl from her metal element$ 5ut instead of ma#ing !indo pregnant, getting rid of metal has the effe"t of lightening up !indo and ma#ing her start to thin# independently$ She plots a way to es"ape her marriage without brea#ing her promise to her parents$ She waits for a lu"#y day + the 4estival of 8ure 5rightness, a day for honoring your an"estors when Huang Taitai is sure to be thin#ing of grandsons$ !indo %wa#es up% wailing and tells Huang Taitai about a )made up* dream in whi"h Tyan&yu(s grandfather "ame to her to inform her that a* the marriage "andle blew outD b* Tyan&yu will die if he stays married to !indoD and "* that a pregnant servant girl is really of imperial blood, is Tyan&yu(s true wife, and is "arrying Tyan&yu(s baby$ )The servant girl is a"tually "arrying the "ute delivery man(s baby$* !indo manages to "onvin"e Huang Taitai by arguing that the marriage is rotten, offering as proof an empty spot in her mouth where a tooth fell out, and a mole on Tyan&yu(s ba"#$ The eviden"e is indisputable$ Without mu"h urging, the servant girl admits that she(s of imperial blood and "arrying Tyan&yu(s "hild$ ,veryone winds up happy' Huang Taitai gets a grandson, Tyan&yu doesn(t have to have se0 with anyone, and the servant girl is a respe"table, wealthy wife instead of a poor single mom$ As for !indo, she gets enough money to go to Ameri"a$ Well, that(s the end of the flashba"# of !indo(s life$ 5a"# in the "urrent time, !indo wears many twenty&four "arat gold bra"elets to remind her of her worth$ :n"e a year, however, on the 4estival of 8ure 5rightness, she ta#es off all her bra"elets to feel the lightness "ome ba"# into her body and remind herself of the day she learned to follow her inner, genuine thoughts$

The Joy Luck Club Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary .ing&ying begins by saying that she was so -uiet for so long, #eeping her true nature hidden, that her daughter no longer hears her$ She wants to tell her daughter that both of them are lost, so lost that no one #nows them$ 5ut as .ing&ying remembers a time that she ran and shouted, telling the Boon !ady a se"ret wish, we get a flashba"#$ In the flashba"#, it(s ?>?E and .ing&ying is an in-uisitive four&years&old$ She wa#es up to many preparations for the Boon 4estival, i$e$, she is dressed in pretty "lothes and her hair is done ni"ely despite her fidgeting$ .ing&ying(s amah )nanny* tells her what the Boon 4estival is all about' it(s the day when you "an see the Boon !ady and she will fulfill your %se"ret wish$% 5ut your wish must remain unspo#en, be"ause if you spea# it, then it(s a %selfish desire$% /elatives from all over arrive to "elebrate the Boon 4estival$ They have rented a boat on Tai !a#e, and .ing&ying(s nanny promises that the little girl will meet the Boon !ady$ Throughout the morning, .ing&ying is very impatient to get to the boat$ :bviously$ She(s four, for heaven(s sa#e$ She gets s"olded for running around "hasing a dragonfly be"ause that(s what boys do$ .ing&ying should be a"ting li#e a girl, waiting -uietly for the dragonfly to "ome up to her$

4inally the family is brought to the la#e by a team of ri"#shaws$ .ing&ying has fun e0ploring the boat$ She wat"hes boys use a bird to "at"h fish$ She wat"hes an old woman gut and "lean the fish$ .ing&ying(s new "lothes are "ompletely soiled$ Her nanny finds her, s"olds her, and removes all her "lothes$ .ing&ying "ontinues standing in the ba"# of the boat, waiting for her mother to "ome s"old her$ 3o one "omes, and when the firewor#s go off, .ing&ying falls into the la#e$ 3o one noti"es$ She is "aught by a fishing boat, and the ni"e fishermen 1o#e about her being a fish$ They as# her to point to her family(s boat, and .ing&ying pi"#s a boat, only to dis"over that the little girl on that boat is safe$ The people in the fishing boat try to determine .ing&ying(s identity$ 5riefly they wonder if she(s a beggar, but they de"ide that she(s from a wealthy family be"ause her s#in is pale and her feet are soft$ .ing&ying feels lost forever without her family$ Her res"uers drop her off on shore, assuming that her family will loo# for her there$ 5ut, what do they thin# they(re doing, leaving a four&year&old alone9 :n shore, .ing&ying forgets her troubles when she wat"hes a play about the Boon !ady$ She is utterly entran"ed by the tragi" tale of separationD the Bood !ady(s husband lives on the sun while the Boon !ady is banished from the earth to the moon for stealing a magi" pea"h$ .ing&ying sobs at the end of the play, drawing a "onne"tion between her own loss and the Boon !ady(s loss of the world and her husband$ .ing&ying runs to tell the Boon !ady her se"ret wish )e0a"tly what she(s not supposed to doA*, but as she runs "loser and "loser, the beautiful Boon !ady turns into an ugly figure$ As .ing&ying de"lares her wish, she reali7es that the Boon !ady is a man$ 5ummer$ Drag is always "onfusing$ ,nd of flashba"#$ In the present day, .ing&ying says she eventually forgot both her se"ret wish and her return to her family$ However, as she ages, she remembers more of the beginning of her life and how she lost herself$ Her se"ret wish to the Boon !ady was that she be found$

The Joy Luck Club Part 2, Prologue Summary This is a dialogue between a mother and a young daughter$ The mother #nows that if the daughter rides her bi#e around the "orner, she will fall$ The girl refuses to believe her mother$ The mother #nows her daughter will fall be"ause of a boo# "alled The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates, whi"h details twenty&si0 horrible fates for "hildren$ The girl wants to see the boo#, but the mom says it(s written in Chinese so she won(t understand it$ The daughter demands to #now these twenty&si0 fates$ When her mother doesn(t answer, the girl rides her bi#e away in anger, shouting %.ou don(t #now anything,% and falling before she even rounds the "orner$ S"ore one for mom$

The Joy Luck Club Part 2, Chapter 1 Summary We get a flashba"# to when Waverly was si0&years&old and her mother tea"hes her about the art of invisible strength via a wee#ly trip to the supermar#et$ When Waverly throws a hissy fit be"ause she "an(t have a treat + a bag of salted plums + her mom tells her the %Strongest wind "annot be seen$% So ne0t time when they go shopping, Waverly doesn(t ma#e a fuss, and her mom -uietly buys her the salted plums$ Waverly(s family lives in San 4ran"is"o(s Chinatown, above a Chinese ba#ery$ Waverly and the other neighborhood #ids spend their time playing in the dar# alleys and po#ing around the lo"al shops' a medi"inal herb shop, a fish mar#et, a "afF, et"$ Waverly is named for their address' Waverly 8la"e$ She is the youngest in the family, and the only daughter$ Her name at home is %Beimei,% whi"h means %!ittle Sister$% During the annual Christmas party at 4irst Chinese 5aptist Chur"h, Waverly sits on Santa(s lap$ She #nows he(s not the real Santa, be"ause Santa isn(t Chinese$ Still she says that she(s a good girl, and strategi"ally sele"ts a present, already having observed that the biggest presents aren(t always the best, and attempting to 1udge the gift by it(s weight$

Waverly ends up with a twelve pa"# of lifesavers, not bad$ Her older brother, Gin"ent, re"eives an old "hess set + one that(s missing pie"es$ Waverly rapidly be"omes obsessed with the game, wat"hing her brothers, Gin"ent and Winston, play$ Gin"ent allows her to play in e0"hange for some lifesavers$ Waverly begins by -uestioning all of the rules, stuff li#e, why "an(t pawns move more than one step at a time$ Waverly(s mom "ompares the arbitrary rules of "hess to %Ameri"an rules% that immigrants have to deal with$ Waverly resear"hes all of the rules and studies the strategy involved in the game$ She learns that "hess %is a game of se"rets in whi"h one must show and never tell$% Sounds li#e her mom(s invisible strength of the wind$ Soon, her brothers get si"# of losing to their little sister, and Waverly begins playing against an old man, !au 8o, in the par#$ She loses lots of lifesavers to him, but he be"omes a great mentor$ Waverly begins playing )and beating* a bun"h of lo"als, until someone re"ommends she try a lo"al tournament$ In her first tournament, she beats a fifteen&year&old boy, the whole time she(s thin#ing of wind analogies from her mom$ Waverly be"omes a neighborhood "elebrity when she starts winning all sorts of tournaments$ 5y the time she is nine, she is featured in Life maga7ine as a "hild prodigy, after beating a fifty&year&old man$ During this parti"ular "ompetition, Waverly uses all #inds of strategi" body language designed to ma#e her opponent underestimate her as an inde"isive, "ute little girl$ Waverly stops doing everything but going to s"hool and pra"ti"ing "hess$ There(s a problem though' Waverly(s annoying mom li#es to hover when she pra"ti"es$ In return for all this "hess su""ess, Waverly gets a lot of per#s$ She no longer has to do the dishes, sleep in the room ne0t to the street, or finish her food at meals$ She "annot, however, avoid going with her mother to the mar#et$ :n one su"h trip, Waverly gets fed up and yells at her mother, alleging that these shopping trips are 1ust to show her off$ Waverly runs away$ When she "omes home, she imagines a "hess mat"h against her mother$

The Joy Luck Club Part 2, Chapter 2 Summary This "hapter is a flashba"# into !ena(s "hildhood$ !ena(s mom tells her a family story about how her great&grandfather senten"ed a beggar man to the %worst possible% death$ !ittle !ena imagines what the worst possible death "ould be, and thin#s up all sorts of gruesome ways in whi"h the death senten"e might have been "arried out + maybe he(s "ut one thousand times$ When !ena as#s her mom how the beggar died, !ena(s mom "alls her a morbid Ameri"an and says that the way the beggar died doesn(t matter$ !ena wants to #now how the beggar dies so she "an #now the worst that(s out there, ta#ing away some of the power of the %unspea#able$% Her mom allows the unspea#able it(s power, and as a result, little by little, her mother is redu"ed to a ghost$ !ena re"ogni7es that her mother has a dar# side$ When she is five, !ena falls into the basement, and her mother warns her never to open the door again, telling her that an evil man has lur#ed in the basement for a thousand years, ready to eat anyone who "omes through the door$ !ena begins to imagine all sorts of gruesome fates in everyday a"tivity, i$e$, a tetherball that would smash a girl(s head in$ She attributes this dar# side of herself, to her mom and her Chinese side$ !ena(s mom is Chinese and her dad is white$ To lots of people, !ena 1ust loo#s white, but !ena herself tries to ma#e her eyes rounder by massaging them and opening her eyes really wide$ !ena(s dad shows her a photo of her mother loo#ing s"ared after being released from Angel Island Immigration Station$ A""ording to her dad, he saved her mother from some awful life in China$ During the immigration pro"ess, !ena(s father gave his wife a new name and birth date on her papers + she went from being Gu .ing&ying born in the year of the Tiger to 5etty St$ Clair born in the year of the Dragon$ .ing&ying sees danger everywhere, so she "onstantly ma#es stories up in order to tea"h !ena to avoid danger$ The stories are absurd things li#e, that homeless lady(s fingers are rotting off be"ause she slept with a bad man and got pregnant$ !ena(s mom and dad have "ommuni"ation issues$ .ing&ying only spea#s a little bit of ,nglish, and !ena(s dad doesn(t spea# Bandarin, so he(s always guessing what she(s saying, putting words into his wife(s mouth$

!ena, however, does understand Bandarin, but that doesn(t mean she really understands what her mom wants, or why her mom is so paranoid about !ena getting hurt or getting #idnapped and impregnated$ !ena(s family moves from :a#land to the 3orth 5ea"h neighborhood in San 4ran"is"o, where their apartment is on a very steep hill$ Some strange Chinese man "omes running at !ena and her mom on the street$ .ing&ying is terrified and !ena s"reams$ It(s really un"lear what(s happening in this episode, but !ena(s mom is "learly be"oming more franti"$ Also, you get some glimpse of ra"ism that !ena has to deal with' some men on the street thin# that !ena(s mom is really her maid, sin"e !ena loo#s pretty Cau"asian and obviously all Asian women are maidsHTheir logi" is stunning$ !ena(s mother is unhappy in their new apartment, muttering about things not being balan"ed, and spending time "onstantly rearranging the furniture, #it"hen, and de"orations$ Her "on"erns are things li#e, %This house was built too steep, and a bad wind from the top blows all your strength ba"# down the hill$% !ena(s father really doesn(t get it and figures it must be %nesting instin"ts,% be"ause !ena(s mother is e0pe"ting a baby$ 5ut !ena feels worried$ Her mom #eeps bumping her pregnant belly into things, as if she doesn(t remember that she(s pregnant$ !ena(s worried for the baby, and feels that the family is headed towards danger$ At night, !ena "an hear a mother and daughter arguing ne0t door$ She imagines the daughter being beaten to death, or sli"ed to death with a sharp #nife$ The ne0t night it happens again$ !ena runs into the girl from ne0t&door in the hallway$ She loo#s li#e a normal, happy girl, not one who(s being murdered every night$ :ne day Auntie Su and 2n"le Canning, pi"# !ena up from s"hool and ta#e her to the hospital$ !ena(s mother is shouting a""usations at herself, saying that she #new this was going to happen, but she did nothing to prevent it$ !ena(s dad is "alling his wife %5etty darling% and he "an(t understand what she(s saying or what has happened$ He wants !ena to translate for him$ .ing&ying tells sort of a magi"al realism story where the baby boy was "linging to her womb, trying not to be born, and when he "ame out his head is 1ust an empty eggshell$ )Sounds li#e anen"ephaly where a baby is born without some or all of their brain$* The baby then a""uses her of not wanting him, and of #illing her first son )more on this later*$ !ena tells her father a different story in ,nglish, saying that her mother hopes the baby will be happy %on the other side$% !ena then wat"hes her mother and father fall apart' her mother 1ust be"omes really distra"ted and starts "rying all the time$ Her father #eeps trying to fi0 everything )unsu""essfully*$ !ena "omforts herself by thin#ing that the girl ne0t door )who gets murdered every night* has an unhappier life$ !ena begins "omparing her mother to a living ghost$ :ne day the girl from ne0t door, who(s name Teresa, rings their doorbell$ Her mother #i"#ed her out, but she plans to use the fire es"ape to get ba"# into her bedroom$ She seems proud$ Apparently, this is business as usual for Teresa and her mom$ !ater that night, !ena reali7es that the women ne0t door love ea"h other$ 3ow !ena "an(t "omfort herself by thin#ing that Teresa(s life su"#s$ !ena imagines saving her mother$ She envisions that she sees a girl, in pain be"ause she is ignored, tell her mom that the only way to save her is to die by being "ut a thousand times )li#e the beggar man who gets the %worst possible% death senten"e*$ She sli"es her mother as her mother yells out in pain, but at the end there is no blood and the mother isn(t dead$ 3ow the mother has e0perien"ed the worst there is in the world, so she doesn(t have to worry anymore about what the worst might be$ The mother is saved$

The Joy Luck Club Part 2, Chapter 3 Summary /ose(s mother used to "arry a white 5ible, but it(s been used for over twenty years to prop up one leg of their dining room table$ We envisioned other ways in whi"h religion "an be useful, but we guess it(s a %to ea"h his own% type of deal$ /ose #nows that her mother still sees that 5ible, be"ause it is still imma"ulately "lean$ 4ishyH /ose is wat"hing her mother sweep the #it"hen, waiting for the right moment to tell An&mei that she(s divor"ing her husband, Ted$ /ose #nows that her mother will want her to save the marriage$ We get a flashba"# of how /ose met Ted$

The two meet in "ollege and /ose is initially attra"ted to him in part be"ause he(s not Chinese and therefore very different from the guys she(s previously dated$ 3either of their mothers approve$ An&mei points out that he(s Ameri"an$ Ted(s mother pulls /ose aside and basi"ally tells /ose that she better not marry Ted, be"ause that would hurt her son(s future "areer as a do"tor, with the Gietnam War being unpopular and all$ Clearly, to this woman, all Asian people are Gietnamese$ Ted and /ose "ling together against the world(s pre1udi"e$ As their relationship progresses, /ose and Ted fall into roles' she plays the vi"tim and he(s the hero$ They marry and buy a house$ Ted be"omes not only a dermatologist, but the proverbial de"ider, "hoosing everything from their furniture to their va"ation spots$ /ose never thin#s of protesting$ After a malpra"ti"e suit, Ted pushes /ose to ma#e more de"isions$ Ted a""uses /ose of not being able to do anything without him$ Then he as#s for a divor"e$ That(s the end of /ose and Ted(s romanti" history$ /ose has another flash ba"# to the day her mother lost faith in God$ ,nter flashba"#' The entire family goes to the bea"h be"ause /ose(s father wants to "at"h o"ean per"h, despite not being a fisherman$ /ose(s parents believe in their nengkan, whi"h is a person(s ability to a"hieve anything she sets her mind on$ /ose(s dad thin#s he "an "at"h o"ean per"h be"ause of his nengkan, and /ose(s parents immigrated from China to Ameri"a and had seven "hildren on the same basis$ At the bea"h, /ose(s mother assigns her to wat"hing her four younger brothers, in Chinese literally saying, %Wat"h out for their bodies$% /ose begins worrying about her youngest brother, 5ing$ 5ut she feels li#e her worry is based on superstition from The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates, that Chinese boo# about all the ways "hildren "an get hurt$ As the family is enveloped in "haos of different #inds + some of the boys get into a fight, /ose(s father gets a tug on his line + /ose wat"hes four&year&old 5ing fall into the sea$ The res"ue people "an(t find 5ing$ /ose(s mom 1umps into the water, sear"hing for 5ing$ She has so mu"h faith in her nengkan that she(s sure she(ll find 5ing even though she doesn(t #now how to swim$ /ose #nows that it(s all her fault that her brother has been lost to the o"ean$ She was supposed to loo# after him$ She(s e0pe"ting all of her family to blame her$ Instead, ea"h family member blames him or herself$ /ose and her mother go ba"# to the bea"h the ne0t morning$ Her mother has the white 5ible with her and prays to God, begging him to return her son$ When 5ing does not appear, she doesn(t lose hope, but tries another ta"ti"$ /ose(s mother begs the Coiling Dragon who lives in the sea, to return her son, throwing into the o"ean an offering of sweet tea to "ool his temper, and her ring of watery sapphire to distra"t him from 5ing$ 5ing fails to appear after even a hour passes$ /ose(s mom now tosses out a life preserver tied to a fishing pole, sure it will float dire"tly to 5ing and pull him ba"# to safety$ Despite all of her nengkan, the life preserver is shredded and 5ing doesn(t appear$ 4inally, /ose(s mother gives up, horrified and despairing$ So the flashba"# is over and we(re ba"# in real time$ /ose(s mom wants /ose to #eep trying to save her marriage, even if it doesn(t wor# out$ /ose draws a parallel between 5ing(s death and her own marriageD both times, she sees the danger "oming but does nothing about it$ /ose draws out the 5ible from under the table and finds %5ing Hsu% written in erasable pen"il, under a se"tion titled %Deaths$%

The Joy Luck Club Part 2, Chapter 4 Summary When she was alive, Suyuan, ing&mei(s mom, believed in the "lassi" Ameri"an Dream, that she and her daughter "ould be whatever they wanted to be$ We enter a flashba"# to when ing&mei is a girl$ After seeing the wild su""ess of Waverly, ing&mei(s mother is "onvin"ed that her daughter "an be a prodigy too$

With Suyuan(s urging, ing&mei attempts a number of prodigy&li#e a"tivities' being a Chinese Shirley Temple and attending beauty training s"hool, memori7ing the 5ible, performing ama7ing a"robati"s, et"$ At first, ing&mei is e0"ited about the idea of being a prodigy$ ing&mei(s mom sear"hes through maga7ines for stories about in"redible "hildren and what they are "apable of, then she -ui77es ing&mei to see if ing&mei has similar abilities$ Tests range from naming the "apitals of different "ountries to mental mathemati"s$ ing&mei loses her own e0"itement about possibly being a prodigy when she "ontinues to see her mom disappointed after every failed test$ Instead, ing&mei be"omes determined not to be good at all of the tests, and tries to get her mom to give up on her$ :n one fateful evening when Suyuan had seemingly given up the idea of ing&mei being a prodigy, she sees a little Chinese girl pianist on The Ed Sullivan Show$ Suyuan is entran"ed be"ause the little girl is both Shirley Temple&ish and a good, modest Chinese "hild$ ing&mei(s mom a""uses ing&mei of not being the best at anything be"ause she isn(t trying hard enough$ Within a few days, Suyuan has arranged to "lean a piano tea"her(s house in e0"hange for ing&mei re"eiving piano lessons$ Despite her #i"#ing and s"reaming about not being a genius, Suyuan for"es ing&mei to go to piano lessons$ ing&mei(s tea"her is a deaf man )%!i#e 5eethovenA%* named Br$ Chong who doesn(t noti"e in"orre"t notes and thin#s all of the fa#e stuff ing&mei ma#es up is %Gery goodA% be"ause he "an(t hear it$ So long as she plays in the proper rhythm, the notes don(t matter$ So she determines not to try + or at least to try not to be a good pianist$ After "hur"h ing&mei hears !indo ong bragging to Suyuan about all of Waverly(s "hess trophies$ Suyuan tries to one&up !indo by saying that ing&mei has tremendous natural talent at piano$ ing&mei "an(t handle her mom(s prideful lies$ A few wee#s later, ing&mei has her grand debut at a talent show$ She is to play %8leading Child% by S"humann$ ,veryone is there, in"luding ing&mei(s ar"hrival, Waverly$ She feels totally "onfident, and really pretty in her white dress$ The only problem is, ing&mei(s been pra"ti"ing her "urtsy more often than her s"ales$ She "ompletely and totally bombs her pie"e$ ing&mei loo#s at her mom, who(s horrified, and even hears little #ids tal#ing about how bad she was$ The adults say vague things about ing&mei(s performan"e, and Waverly ma#es smug "omments )%.ou aren(t a genius li#e me%*$ Afterwards, ing&mei assumes that her piano "areer is over, but her mother for"es the issue, telling her to -uit wat"hing TG and get to pra"ti"ing$ When ing&mei says no, Suyuan literally drags her daughter over to the piano and for"es her onto the ben"h$ ing&mei yells at her mother, saying that she(s not the #ind of daughter her mother wants$ Her mother says there are two #inds of daughters' obedient ones, and ones who follow their own minds$ There is only room for one #ind of daughter in this house' obedient ones$ To win the fight, ing&mei brings up the babies left behind in ChinaD she says that she(d rather be dead li#e the twins than be Suyuan(s daughter$ :u"h$ The flashba"# ends and we return to the present day$ ing&mei e0plains that she "ontinued to deliberately and repeatedly fall short of e0pe"tations$ ing&mei isn(t li#e her mom who believes that a person "an be anything she sets her mind toD ing&mei 1ust thin#s she(s herself and there(s nothing that "an be done about it$ We flashba"# again to when ing&mei is thirty&years&old$ That the fight over piano hasn(t been mentioned sin"e it happened ages ago, and ing&mei is afraid to as# her mom why she gave up hope that ing&mei would be a prodigy$ :n her thirtieth birthday, ing&mei(s mother offers her the piano as a gift$ Suyuan tells ing&mei that she "ould pi"# up piano -ui"#ly if she wanted to$ ing&mei understands it as a sign of forgiveness$ The flashba"# ends and we(re ba"# in the present with ing&mei as an adult$ After her mother(s death, ing&mei has the piano tuned and re"onditioned for sentimental reasons$ ing&mei sits down to play %8leading Child,% and reali7es there is a "ompanion pie"e "alled %8erfe"tly Contented$% After a while, she reali7es they are two parts to the same song$

The Joy Luck Club Part 3, Prologue Summary This is an e0"hange between a mother and her grown daughter, ta#ing pla"e in the master bedroom of the daughter(s new "ondo$

The mother insists that mirrors "annot be pla"ed at the foot of the bed, be"ause they turn away marriage happiness$ The daughter is dismissive, si"# of her mom(s superstition and all of the bad omens she sees$ The mother "orre"ts the imbalan"e by giving her daughter a se"ond mirror to be pla"ed at the head of the bed$ The two mirrors are meant to help fertilityD the mother says that she "an see her future grand"hild in the se"ond mirror$ When the daughter loo#s in the mirror, she finds that her mother is right' through her own refle"tion, she "an see her future "hild$

The Joy Luck Club Part 3, Chapter 1 Summary !ena begins her narrative by e0plaining that her mother has an un"anny ability to see the future )not the future li#e sto"#s, but the future in regards to family*$ Though her mom, .ing&ying, has been able to see into the family(s future and see bad events "oming, .ing& ying grieves that she never did anything to stop them$ 4or e0ample, !ena(s mom #new that !ena(s dad would die be"ause of the way a plant he gave her died in spite of proper "are$ !ena(s stressed out about her mom(s strange abilities be"ause she(s worried about what her mother will see in the new house she and Harold )!ena(s husband* 1ust bought$ Harold and !ena are driving !ena(s mom over to see the house, whi"h is in a semi&isolated area up on a hill$ !ena(s mom already has some "riti"isms' Harold(s driving style will put too mu"h wear and tear on their ni"e "ar$ /ight now !ena(s mad at Harold$ They(re bi"#ering about money, again$ He wants !ena to pay for the flea e0terminator be"ause !ena(s "at brought the fleas in, so the fleas are obviously !ena(s as well$ Then !ena swit"hes her narration to des"ribe the new house, whi"h is a "onverted barn$ !ena(s mother points out all the flaws with terrifying truth + it "ost too mu"h, the floors slant, and it(s full of spiders and fleas$ !ena is afraid that her mother sees her marriage problems as well$ She(s "onvin"ed her mom #nows that the marriage isn(t a happy one be"ause when !ena was eight&years&old, her mom predi"ted that she would marry a %bad man$% We flashba"# to a dinner many, many years ago$ In an effort to get !ena to finish her food, !ena(s mother tells her that her future husband will have one po"# mar# for every grain of uneaten ri"e$ Then she follows up by implying that guys with po"# mar#s are bad men$ !ena thin#s of Arnold, a mean twelve&year&old with pits in his fa"e from bad a"ne, who pi"#s on her$ She doesn(t want Arnold as a husband, so she finishes her ri"e$ 5ut her mother points out that !ena has left many bowls of ri"e uneaten in the past$ That same wee#, !ena sees a film in Sunday s"hool about people with leprosy$ She determines that lepers must be husbands and wives of people who failed to finish their ri"e$ !ena figures that if she leaves mouthfuls of her ri"e uneaten at every meal, she won(t have to marry Arnold$ )5e"ause then he(ll be a leper and die$* She rapidly stopped eating 1ust about everything$ HmmmHthat(s "alled an eating disorder$ 4ive years later, !ena finds out from a newspaper that Arnold re"ently died of "ompli"ations from measles$ He "ontra"ted the measles when he was twelve )when !ena was eight and de"ided to stop eating her ri"e* and the disease resurfa"ed five years later$ !ena feels in"redibly guilty, li#e she "aused Arnold to die$ That night, !ena devours a half&gallon of strawberry i"e "ream and then promptly throws it up on the fire es"ape$ The flashba"# ends$ !ena(s still isn(t "onvin"ed that she didn(t "ause Arnold to die, after all, as an eight&year&old that was her intention$ ,ven though !ena su""eeded in avoiding marrying Arnold, she ends up with Harold )suspi"iously similar name*$ 4rom the way she says this, we(re not so sure that Harold is any better than Arnold in her eyes$ !ena e0plains the history her relationship with Harold in a flashba"#$ !ena and Harold meet through wor#, and start seeing ea"h other on "asual dates$ When they go out for meals, they split the bill in half + even though !ena only orders a salad and Harold orders full&"ourse meals$ .eah, she has %doormat% written all over her$ During some pillow tal#, Harold gives !ena some "ompliments' she(s %so together% and %soft and s-uishy$%

She(s really astonished that su"h an ama7ing man would fall for her$ She worries that Harold will one day thin# she isn(t worthy of his love$ )This is "alled suffering from a la"# of self&respe"t$* !ena en"ourages Harold to start his own business, and basi"ally saves his nas"ent firm with her new, smart ideas for restaurant design$ Although !ena does ama7ing wor# for Harold + finding the de"orations and props for the themed restaurants they wor# on + she never gets promoted$ Harold is fair to everyone in the wor#pla"eHe0"ept !ena$ Beanwhile, Harold insists on #eeping all the money stuff separate to ensure that their love is %pure% and %un"ontaminated by money$% 5ut dude, it(s really, really "lear that !ena is getting the "rappy deal$ The flashba"# ends and we(re ba"# to the present with !ena(s mom visiting Harold and !ena at their new house$ !ena sees her mom loo#ing at the refrigerator list with all of the shared e0penses that !ena and Harold have, basi"ally a long list of who owes who, so they "an split all the e0penses evenly$ Harold is super obsessed with money matters$ Sin"e they(ve bought an e0pensive house and !ena "an(t afford to pay half the mortgage payment, she only owns a small portion of the house and property$ And sin"e she has less ownership of the house, Harold gets to ma#e all of the de"orating de"isions$ Is it 1ust us, or is this guy a 1er#9 When her mother "alls her on it, after seeing the I:2 list on the refrigerator, !ena doesn(t #now how to respond$ After dinner, it(s really "lear that Harold and !ena have marriage problems$ Harold as#s who wants i"e "ream for dessert9 !ena says she(s full, Harold thin#s she(s 1ust on a diet, and !ena(s mom points out that !ena has hated i"e "ream sin"e she was a #id$ So there$ And all this time !ena(s been paying for half of Harold(s 4riday evening i"e "ream pur"hases$ When !ena(s mom says that !ena(s be"oming so thin %She li#e a ghost, disappear$% Harold thin#s she(s ma#ing a "omment about !ena(s diets$ 5ut remember how !ena(s mom, .ing&ying St$ Clair, is the one who be"ame more and more ghostli#e be"ause she lost herself9 .ing&ying is probably ma#ing a "omment about !ena losing herself, not about dieting$ !ena gets her mom set up in the guest room, where her mom noti"es a totally ri"#ety bedside table with a vase on it$ The table "an(t hold any weight, and her mom thin#s it(s useless$ !ater that night, !ena and Harold fight$ She yells at him for being %so goddamn fairA% and how she(s si"# of their relationship being about a""ounting$ He doesn(t get it$ !ena starts to "ry while Harold dodges -uestions about the foundation of their relationship, and throws them ba"# at her$ They(re interrupted by the sounds of glass shattering$ !ena goes upstairs to see what the sound was$ The fragile table in the guest bedroom )where !ena(s mother is staying* has fallen and the vase on it shattered$ !ena pi"#s up the pie"es, saying she #new it was going to happen$ Her mother as#s, then why didn(t you stop it9

The Joy Luck Club Part 3, Chapter 2 Summary Waverly ta#es her mother out to lun"h$ Her mother "omplains the entire time' Waverly(s hair"ut is ugly, the restaurant "hopsti"#s are greasy, the soup isn(t hot enough, et"$ Waverly gives up on the idea of telling her mother an important bit of news' that she plans on marrying /i"h S"hields$ Waverly(s mom has never met /i"h, and every time Waverly tries to tal# to her mother about him, her mother "hanges the sub1e"t$ After lun"h, Waverly ta#es her mom to her apartment, where Waverly lives with her daughter, Shoshana$ It(s "lear that /i"h has moved in$ She wants her mom to reali7e the relationship is serious$ Waverly shows her mom a min# "oat that /i"h bought her for Christmas + a really e0travagant gift that Waverly seems really proud of$ Her mother points out the "oat(s flaws$ Waverly is hurt, but at the same time she sees the truth in her mother(s "omments$ Waverly(s mom 1abs her again$ Waverly as#s if her mom is going to say anything about the apartment )i$e$, /i"h living there*, and her mom 1ust "omments on the apartment being a mess$ We flash ba"# to the first time Waverly was seriously hurt by her mother$ Waverly is ten&years&old and si"# of her mom boasting about her "hess s#ills and ta#ing all the "redit for Waverly(s "lever "hess strategies$

In a "rowd of people, Waverly yells at her mom to stop showing off and basi"ally tells her that she #nows nothing about "hess$ Waverly(s mom is mad and gives her daughter the silent treatment for the ne0t few days$ Waverly de"ides not to respond with angerD she ignores her mom right ba"# and -uits playing "hess for a few days in order to spite her mother$ 5asi"ally, Waverly(s trying to ma#e her mom so mad that she has to tal# to her$ Waverly de"ides to s#ip a tournament, but even this eli"its no response from her mother$ After a wee#, she announ"es that she(s ready to begin playing again, hoping she(ll get a positive rea"tion out of her mom$ 5ut her mother tells her that it(s not so easy, 1ust be"ause Waverly is smart and "an pi"# things up -ui"#ly doesn(t mean she should be so fi"#le$ Waverly "ontra"ts "hi"#en po0, and her mother loo#s after her, ending their silent battle$ Waverly is "onvin"ed that her mother is ba"# to her usual self, but when it "omes to Waverly(s "hess playing, her mother no longer seems to "are$ She longer polishes her daughter(s trophies, "uts out newspaper "lips about Waverly, or hovers over Waverly as she pra"ti"es$ Waverly loses her ne0t tournament, saying that she felt as though she had lost a magi" armor, leaving her "ompletely vulnerable to her opponents$ Waverly(s mom even seems to smile a bit when she loses the game$ The game stops "oming so easily to Waverly$ She has to fight hard to win, and the losses are hard on her$ After a spell of time, Waverly stops playing altogether$ We return from the flashba"# to the present$ Waverly is on the phone with her friend, Barlene, e0plaining the in"ident with her mom and the min# "oat$ Barlene wants to #now why Waverly gets so hurt by her mom, why doesn(t she 1ust tell her mom to shut up and deal with the fa"t that she(s with /i"h9 Waverly des"ribes her mother as having all these little snea#y atta"#s$ And, you 1ust "an(t tell Chinese moms to shut up$ Waverly(s afraid that amidst all her mother(s "riti"isms, some truth will sti"# and alter all of her per"eptions of /i"h, the man she "urrently adores$ Waverly says that(s what happened with her first husband, Barvin Chen$ Barvin was li#e Bary 8oppins, pra"ti"ally perfe"t in every way$ He got a full s"holarship to Stanford, played tennis, a"tually had "hest hair, was funny, and was "reative with se0$ However, all of Waverly(s mother(s "riti"isms of Barvin rang true, and he turned out to be #ind of a 1er# with an eye for other ladies$ Waverly(s not sure if her mom a"tually did poison her marriage, but she ended up feeling mere apathy towards Barvin$ Waverly found out she was pregnant 1ust as her marriage turned sour$ She "onsidered aborting the baby, but ended up #eeping her$ Waverly(s daughter, Shoshana, is now four&years&old, and Waverly adores her$ Waverly "ompares /i"h(s love for her with her own love for Shoshana+ une-uivo"al and without needing anything in return$ /i"h is super sweet, really romanti", and great in bed, but Waverly is still worried about how her mom will "riti"i7e him$ 4inally, Waverly engineers a way for /i"h to meet her mother$ Waverly and /i"h eat dinner at Auntie Suyuan and 2n"le Canning(s house$ In her than#&you "ard, Waverly writes that /i"h thought it was the best Chinese food he had ever eaten$ Shortly after, a dinner invitation "omes from Waverly(s mother$ This was e0a"tly what Waverly predi"ted be"ause her mom is so "ompetitive with Suyuan "oo#ing s#ill$ Waverly hangs out in the #it"hen while her mother prepares the meal$ Already her mom(s pointing out how she(s a better "oo# that Suyuan$ Waverly builds up the "ourage to as# for her mom(s first impression of /i"h$ Waverly(s really nervous be"ause /i"h is an average&loo#ing, #ind of short, red&headed guy with fre"#les$ Her mom says he has a lot of spots on his fa"e and doesn(t buy it when Waverly insists that fre"#les are good lu"#$ 5y Waverly(s standards, the dinner goes terribly$ !et(s "all it White 5oy in Chinese House$ /i"h brings a fan"y 4ren"h wine$ Waverly(s parents don(t even own wine glasses$ /i"h then drin#s two glasses when everyone else has three sips$ /i"h insists on using "hopsti"#s, then drops almost everything he tries to eat in his lap, ma#ing Shoshana laugh hysteri"ally$ /i"h helps himself to big portions + before anyone else gets a "han"e$ /i"h thin#s he(s being polite by refusing to eat se"onds, even though Waverly(s father sets the right e0ample by ta#ing four helpings, insisting the food is so deli"ious he "an(t resist$

And the "oup de grI"e is when Waverly(s mother "riti"i7es the main dish )"ue for everyone to pronoun"e it the best food they(ve ever tastedA*, and /i"h says it 1ust needs a little soy sau"e, and pro"eeds to dren"h his food$ When /i"h says goodnight, he uses but"hered versions of her parents( first names' !inda and Tim )instead of !indo and Tin*$ At the end of this deba"le, /i"h loo#s patheti" in Waverly(s eyes$ He doesn(t even have any sense of how badly the whole dinner went$ The ne0t morning when Waverly wa#es up mad and de"ides to go give her mother a pie"e of her mind$ When she arrives at her parents( house, Waverly finds her mother sleeping on the sofa, and for a terrible moment is afraid she(s died$ As she wa#es her mom up, Waverly instantly starts "rying$ She then tells her mother that she(s marrying /i"h$ To her surprise, her mom says, that(s old news$ ust be"ause Waverly didn(t tell her doesn(t mean she didn(t #now$ Waverly says she #nows her mom hates /i"h$ Her mom is be"omes #ind of angry&sad, reali7ing her daughter thin#s %I am this bad$% /eally she had 1ust said things about his fre"#les and the min# "oat be"ause they were true, not be"ause she wanted to be mean$ Waverly 1ust wants to go home be"ause she says she doesn(t #now what she(s feeling, what(s %inside of me right now$% Her mom lets her #now what(s inside of her' half is from father + the ongs + and half is from her mother + the Suns$ The people from the Sun "lan are %smart people, very strong, tri"#y, and famous for winning wars$% Waverly feels "omforted by having a semblan"e of a normal "onversation with her mother$ 4inally, instead of a "rabby old woman hell&bent on ruining her daughter(s life, Waverly sees her mother as an old woman who simply "ares about her daughter$ The "hapter ends with the definite possibility that /i"h, Waverly, and Waverly(s mother will all visit China after the wedding$ Waverly(s mom says she doesn(t want to go with them, but really she(s dying for them to invite her$ That(s pretty "ute$

The Joy Luck Club Part 3, Chapter 3 Summary /ose begins her narrative with the power of her mother(s words$ As a "hild /ose(s mother would try to tea"h her how to #now the power of true words, so that /ose wouldn(t listen so easily to other people and be swayed by their selfish desires$ We enter into a brief flashba"# to when /ose was a little girl$ /ose has trouble sleeping$ She(s afraid of %:ld Br$ Chou,% the guardian to the world of dreams, and where he ta#es her at night$ 5asi"ally, /ose has bad dreams$ In one of her dreams, /ose finds herself in Br$ Chou(s ba"#yard, being for"ed to "hoose one of the dolls in Br$ Chou(s sandbo0es$ She "an hear her mother telling Br$ Chou whi"h doll /ose will sele"t$ As not to be predi"table, /ose pi"#s a doll that she doesn(t li#e and runs away$ /ose(s mom tells Br$ Chou to stop /ose$ And Br$ Chou paraly7es /ose for not listening to her mother$ In the morning, /ose(s mom laughs at her dream, but does insist that /ose should listen to her mother$ In the present day, /ose and her mother "hat at a funeral$ /ose(s mom #nows that /ose and her husband, Ted, are getting a divor"e$ When /ose tells her mother that Ted has sent her a "he"#, /ose(s mother "on"ludes that Ted is %doing mon#ey business% with someone$ /ose really disagrees, and from the pi"tures in her head, we gather that he is too mu"h of a 3eanderthal to have an affair$ When /ose refuses to tal# more about the matter, her mother argues that /ose should tal# to her own mother, not to a psy"hiatrist, be"ause mothers #now their "hildren best$ /ose has been tal#ing to a lot of people, su"h as Waverly, !ena, and her psy"hiatrist + but not to Ted$ /ose tells Waverly that she only reali7ed how mu"h she loved Ted on"e she lost him$ She tells !ena that she definitely doesn(t miss Ted$ To her psy"hiatrist, /ose says she wants revenge$ 5asi"ally, /ose doesn(t #now what to thin#$ We flash ba"# to when /ose re"eives the "he"# and divor"e papers from Ted$ /ose gets this awful terse note from Ted on one of his pres"ription notepads )remember, he(s a do"tor* that 1ust tells her where to sign on the forms$ She starts analy7ing the note and the "he"#, right down to the pen he used to write it$ She doesn(t #now what to do or what her options are in the divor"e, so she puts the papers away in a drawer$

/ose remembers a time when her mother pointed out that /ose has no wood in her "hara"ter, meaning that /ose is too sus"eptible to suggestions from different people$ )Does that sound familiar9 This was the "riti"ism Suyuan leveled at /ose(s mom$* /ose remembers how her mother used to say that she needed to listen to her mother while growing up, so that she would grow straight$ If she listened to other people, she would grow "roo#ed$ /ose feels li#e she listened to other people more than her mom, and ended up with a mind full of other peoples( ,nglish thoughts, leaving her "onfused and unreadable to her own mother$ In her life, she "hose to live the Ameri"an way, a life with lots of options$ 5ut it turns out a lot of options "an mean too many options, and too many opportunities to ma#e the wrong de"ision$ /ose is absolutely fro7en with inde"isionD she doesn(t #now what she wants or what she should do about the divor"e$ /ose stays in bed for three days, eating "hi"#en noodle soup and ta#ing sleeping pills$ The phone ringing finally wa#es /ose up from a nightmare about Br$ Chou hunting her down$ It(s her mother "alling$ She(s going to bring over some food$ /ose says she(s busy, but her mom gets to the point, as#ing her why she "an(t fa"e her husband$ Her mom says she needs to stand up for herself$ Ted "alls$ He wants to #now why she hasn(t "ashed the "he"# or sent him the signed papers$ Then he says that he wants the divor"e soon and he wants the house, be"ause he(s going to be remarried$ So it was %mon#ey business,% 1ust li#e her mom said$ Ted(s "all ma#es everything "lear$ She starts laughing at him$ Then she invites him over after wor#, finally ready to "onfront Ted for the first and last time$ They meet in the garden )his former pride and 1oy, now "ompletely negle"ted*$ Ted "omments on what a mess the garden is$ /ose says she li#es it this way$ /ose asserts herself$ She tells Ted that she wants the house, and that her lawyer will serve him papers$ 4inally /ose spea#s for herself and uses some true words, words of power li#e her mom #ept trying to tea"h her about$ /ose says, %.ou "an(t 1ust pull me out of your life and throw me away$% Ted gets s"ared$ /ose dreams about Br$ Chou again$ He(s with her mom in the garden$ Her mom is happily planting weeds, some for herself and some for /ose$ We gather that this is supposed to be a happy dream, be"ause /ose li#es the garden overgrown$

The Joy Luck Club Part 3, Chapter 4 Summary ing&mei opens by tal#ing about her %life(s importan"e,% a 1ade pendant that her mother gave her on Chinese 3ew .ear$ She has no idea what the pedant means$ She wishes she "ould as# her mom, but Suyuan is dead$ As a pie"e of 1ewelry, ing&mei thin#s the pendant isn(t attra"tive, but she(s been wearing it every day re"ently, wanting to find out what her mother intended it to mean$ ing&mei noti"es other Chinese people wearing the same #ind of pendant$ She as#s one guy about his$ His mom gave it to him, but he basi"ally has no understanding of what his means either$ We flash ba"# to Chinese 3ew .ear, when ing&mei(s mom was alive$ ing&mei helps her mom prepare the holiday meal$ They go to Chinatown and shop for "rabs$ Suyuan "omplains about the tenants in the building she owns, how they ta#e multiple showers a day and run up the water bill, how they always have too many bags of garbage so she has to pay e0tra, et"$ She also "omplains that her tenants thin# she poisoned this "at that was a pest, always glaring at her through the #it"hen window$ ing&mei(s pretty sure her mom did poison the "at$ While shopping, ing&mei has to sele"t the most alive loo#ing "rabs, but they end up being for"ed to ta#e one missing a leg, whi"h is bad lu"#$ Than#fully, there will only be ten people eating dinner, and the "rab missing the leg ma#es eleven, so it(s e0tra$ 5a"# at home, her mom starts preparing the "rabs$ ing&mei "an(t handle wat"hing them be boiled be"ause on"e she made a pet out of a "rab as a "hild, only to have her mom "oo# it$ Suyuan invites !indo and Tin ong for dinner, whi"h means the whole ong family is invited, in"luding !indo(s son, Gin"ent, and his girlfriend !isa, Waverly, /i"h, and Shoshana$ ing&mei(s old piano tea"her, Br$ Chong, is also invited$ ,leven people in all for dinner + someone will have to ta#e the legless "rab$ When the "rabs are served, the ong family ta#es all the best "rabs$ ing&mei(s father and Br$ Chong get the best out of what(s left, leaving ing&mei and her mother with really bad "rabs$ ing&mei ta#es the worst "rab )the one missing a leg*, but her mother stops her and gives her the better of the two "rabs$ There(s -uite a bit of bi"#ering over dinner$

!indo "riti"i7es the way /i"h eats "rab$ Waverly, /i"h, Gin"ent, and !isa all thin# that !indo is gross for eating the "rab(s brain$ Tin ong ma#es 1o#es about how he told his daughter not to marry poor, she should marry /i"h$ Ha ha$ Then Gin"ent as#s when Waverly is getting married already$ And she dire"ts the same -uestion right ba"# at him, ma#ing !isa un"omfortable )guess Gin"ent hasn(t popped the -uestion yet*$ Waverly "ompliments ing&mei(s hair"ut, but "riti"i7es her "hoi"e of a stylist, David, who is gay$ To Waverly, this means David probably has AIDS and has given the disease to ing&mei through her hair$ )Wow, that(s a lot of assumptions to ma#e$* To ma#e it worse, Waverly re"ommends her own hair stylist, but says he might be too e0pensive for her$ 3ow ing&mei is mad and de"ides to ma#e a 1ab ba"#$ ing&mei did some freelan"e wor# for the firm Waverly wor#s at and hasn(t yet been paid$ So she says that she "ould afford the hair"ut if Waverly(s firm "ould get it together to pay their bills$ Then Waverly says that the firm hasn(t paid be"ause they thin# ing&mei(s wor# is %una""eptable$% Then she mo"#s ing&mei(s wor# in front of everyone$ Whi"h the whole group seems to thin# is a great 1o#e$ Suyuan even admits that ing&mei isn(t as sophisti"ated as Waverly$ ing&mei is totally mortified$ She starts to "lean off the table and do the dishes$ She reali7es that she(s 1ust herself, nothing more, nothing less$ ing&mei noti"es that her mom didn(t even tou"h the "rab that was missing a leg$ Suyuan says she didn(t eat it be"ause it died before it was even "oo#ed, so it was bad$ ing&mei wants to #now why her mom even "oo#ed it then$ Her mom responds that she #new no one but ing& mei would ever pi"# it, be"ause everyone else sele"ts things that are top -uality$ ing&mei "an(t tell if this is a "riti"ism or a "ompliment$ At this moment, Suyuan ta#es off her ne"#la"e and gives it to ing&mei$ She says that when ing&mei wears it, she will #now her mother(s meaning$ She tells her daughter that the pendant is ing&mei(s %life importan"e$% ing&mei thin#s her mom gave her the ne"#la"e to ma#e her feel better after Waverly humiliated her$ Suyuan insists that Waverly is li#e a "rab, always wa#ing sideways and "roo#ed$ The flashba"# ends$ ing&mei is in the #it"hen of her parents( house, "oo#ing dinner for her widowed father$ She noti"es that the annoying "at has returned + her mom didn(t poison it after all$ The "at annoys her too, and 1ust li#e her mom, ing&mei starts pounding on the #it"hen window to try to s"are the "at away$

The Joy Luck Club Part 4, Prologue Summary We see a grandmother tal#ing to her baby granddaughter about inno"en"e$ The baby is laughing for no apparent reason$ The grandma refle"ts that she also used to be li#e the baby, but gave up her inno"en"e to prote"t herself$ She taught her daughter to do the same$ 3ow the grandma isn(t sure if it(s better in the end to #eep your inno"en"e or not$ The grandmother thin#s that to re"ogni7e dar#ness in other people means you must also have that same evil in yourself$ The grandma wonders if the baby girl has some spe"ial wisdom, if she is laughing be"ause she has lived so long )through rein"arnation* and has learned that laughing is the best thing after all$ The grandmother thin#s the baby must be the Jueen Bother of the Western S#ies, rein"arnated, and there to tea"h her a lesson$

What she learns from the baby s that a person shoul! al"ays hol! on to the ab l ty to laugh an! hope e#en after she has lost her nnocence$ The Joy Luck Club Part 4, Chapter 1 Summary An&mei begins by tal#ing about her daughter, who, despite An&mei(s best efforts, grew into a woman who "an(t ta#e a"tion to ensure her own happiness$ An&mei sees her daughter "rying over her bro#en marriage to a psy"hiatrist, but does nothing to prevent the divor"e$ /ose, her daughter, doesn(t want to ma#e any "hoi"es, but by saying nothing, is ma#ing a "hoi"e$ An&mei sees the flaws in her daughter be"ause they are An&mei(s flaws as well$ An&mei was raised in the traditional Chinese way, desiring nothing and ignoring her own suffering$ She sees that somehow /ose turned out this way too$ Then An&mei enters into a flashba"#$ An&mei is nine&years&old and 8opo )her grandmother* has died$ Despite hearing from her aunt that her mother is a bad woman, An&mei only sees a respe"tful, sad, humble woman$

An&mei "ries when she reali7es that her mother is going to be leaving again, returning to her se"ond husband and all of his wives in Tientsin$ Her mom tries to "alm An&mei with a story about a turtle who swallowed An&mei(s mother(s tears and then turned them into magpies, birds of happiness$ She says that your tears won(t #eep you from being sad, they only end up feeding someone else(s happiness$ The moral of the story is you should swallow your own tears$ The only problem is, An&mei(s mom is "rying while telling the story$ They both end up "rying together$ An&mei wa#es up the ne0t morning to the sounds of her un"le shouting at her mother$ He doesn(t want to let his sister ta#e her "hildren with her$ An&mei runs to her mother, who gives An&mei the "hoi"e of "oming to Tientsin$ An&mei de"ides to go with her mom, despite her aunt and un"le shouting that she(ll be disgra"ed li#e her mother if she goes$ Her mother "an(t as# An&mei(s brother to "ome tooD she "an(t ta#e a son to live at someone else(s house$ An&mei rides for seven days on a train with her mother, getting s"ared as she reali7es how far away she is from the life she(s #nown$ 5ut her mother tells her enti"ing stories about Tientsin, 3ear the end of the trip, An&mei(s mother ta#es off her white "lothes of mourning )mourning for An&mei(s dead father* and puts on Western "lothes$ She gives An&mei a new, white dress and shoes$ An&mei(s mother tells her that she will be starting a new life, with a new father, sisters, and a brother$ They rea"h Tientsin and no one is there to meet them so they ta#e a ri"#shaw home$ Her mom has be"ome "ross and e0hausted$ It is "lear that her mother is not happy to be home$ Her mother lives as the third "on"ubine )4ourth Wife* of a wealthy mer"hant named Wu Tsing$ An&mei is ama7ed by the ri"hness of the house + a "urving stair"ase, huge rooms, lots of Western furniture, and her mother(s lu0urious bed$ .an Chang, An&mei(s mother(s personal servant, e0plains the house to An&mei$ 4or the first few days in her new home An&mei is really "ontent$ She now reali7es that she was "ompletely unhappy in her un"le(s home$ Two wee#s after their arrival, more of the family returns$ An&mei sees Wu Tsing be lifted out of a ri"#shaw$ He(s wearing Western "lothes, he(s pretty fat, and mu"h older than An&mei(s mother$ Wu Tsing has returned with a fifth wife$ 4ifth Wife is very young, pra"ti"ally a girl, and reveling in her new status as one of Wu Tsing(s wives$ With Wu Tsing now home, An&mei(s mom mostly #eeps to her own rooms$ An&mei has a feeling that something bad is going to happen$ :ne night, An&mei is wo#en up by her mother, who as#s her to go to .an Chang(s room for the night + Wu Tsing wants some private time with her mom$ An&mei leaves, "rying$ The ne0t morning, it(s obvious that 4ifth Wife has been "rying too, her fa"e is all puffy$ !oo#s li#e she(s found out that she(s Fifth Wife not First Wife$ 5ut li#e a little girl, she throws a fit and is rude to everyone$ !ater in the day, 4ifth Wife is happy again be"ause she has gotten a new dress + probably a gift from Wu Tsing to shut her up$ An&mei sees her mother(s sadness for the first time$ Her mother says that her life is shameful and that a fourth wife has no status at all, seemingly even less than the new 4ifth Wife$ She wants An&mei to remember that she was on"e a 4irst Wife, and the wife of a s"holar, An&mei(s father There(s another problem with being the fourth wife, the word for %fourth% and %die% are very similar and "an "ome out of your mouth mi0ed up$ Se"ond and Third Wife return home with their "hildren$ Third wife is plain loo#ing, but seems ni"e$ Se"ond Wife is pretty, but not young, and dressed very fan"y$ She(s also obviously in "hargeD An&mei even has to "all her %5ig Bother$% Se"ond Wife has a two&year&old son, despite her own old&ish age$ An&mei is en"hanted when Se"ond Wife gives her a beautiful pearl ne"#la"e$ !ater that day, An&mei(s mother warns her against Se"ond Wife(s tri"#s, her ways of buying and "ontrolling people$ When she sees that An&mei isn(t listening, she snat"hes An&mei(s new ne"#la"e and "rushes one of the beads$ The ne"#la"e is made of glass, not pearl$ An&mei wears the ne"#la"e for a wee# as punishment$ At the end of the wee#, her mother gives her a beautiful sapphire ring$ 4irst Wife "omes home from her separate estate in 8e#ing$ To An&mei(s surprise, 4irst Wife is li#e a ghost and doesn(t ma#e Se"ond Wife bow to her$ :verall, 4irst Wife ignores mostly everything around her, "hoosing to overloo# things that might ma#e her unhappy, li#e her marriage$

An&mei(s mother is e0"ited at the prospe"t of having her own household estate, whi"h Wu Tsing has promised her$ During the "oldest winter month, when it is too "old to go outside, An&mei sits with .an Chang and hears stories about Se"ond Wife$ Se"ond Wife used to be a famous singing girl, and while she wasn(t pretty, she was sedu"tive$ Wu Tsing as#ed her to be his wife so he "ould own the ob1e"t that so many other men desired$ Se"ond Wife -ui"#ly learned how to "ontrol Wu TsingD when she wanted more money she would fa#e a sui"ide attempt, be"ause no man wants the ghost of one of his wives haunting him$ The only thing Se"ond Wife was unable to get was "hildren + she(s barren$ .et obviously Wu Tsing would want a son$ Se"ond Wife went about finding Wu Tsing a third wife so she "ould "laim the new wife(s sons as her own$ This is how Third Wife "ame about + a virgin, but "learly not a threat to Se"ond Wife be"ause she(s so ugly$ Third Wife bore no sons, so Se"ond Wife needed to "ome up with a fourth wife + An&mei(s mother$ .an Chang then tells An&mei about how Se"ond Wife manipulated An&mei(s mother into be"oming a "on"ubine$ After An&mei(s father had died, An&mei(s mother went to the Si0 Harmonies 8agoda to pledge to observe the virtues of 5uddhism in honor of her dead husband$ Wu Tsing and Se"ond Wife were also in the area, and Wu Tsing was immediately stru"# by An&mei(s mother(s beauty$ Se"ond Wife pretended to be ni"e to An&mei(s mom, and invited her over for dinner, but #ept her so late that she had to stay the night$ During the night, Wu Tsing entered the room and raped An&mei(s mother$ 3o one believed that she was raped, they all preferred to thin# that she was a widow without honor$ She had no "hoi"e but to submit to being Wu Tsing(s "on"ubine$ An&mei(s mother later bore Wu Tsing a son, whi"h Se"ond Wife "laimed$ 3ow An&mei sees through all of Se"ond Wife(s manipulations$ An&mei(s mother is denied her own household when Se"ond Wife performs another pretend sui"ide, ma#ing An&mei(s mother feel even more depressed and hopeless$ Two days before the lunar new year, An&mei(s mother "ommits sui"ide by ta#ing poison$ She dies slowly, and An&mei wat"hes, unable to help$ An&mei(s mother strategi"ally planned her sui"ide su"h that the third day after she died, the day when one(s ghost "omes ba"# to get even, is the lunar new year$ In order to prevent bad lu"# from following him all throughout the year, Wu Tsing has to appease the spirit of An&mei(s mother$ Wu Tsing promises to revere An&mei(s mother as if she were 4irst Wife, and to raise An&mei and her brother as his honored "hildren$ Se"ond Wife loses her power$ The flashba"# ends and An&mei says that her mother had no "hoi"e, no "ontrol over fate, and no ability to spea# for herself$ 5ut nowadays, people "an "ontrol their own destiny$ That(s why she wants her daughter to spea# up and not swallow her tears$ An&mei says that the people in China no longer have to wat"h the magpies taunt them$ The peasants of China used to be plagued by magpies whi"h would swarm the "rops, eating the seeds and swallowing the peasants( tears$ 5ut eventually the peasants got si"# of the magpies and de"ided to shout at them and ma#e a lot of noise$ The magpies be"ame "onfused and didn(t land to eat the seeds, but eventually died of starvation$ The grandmother hopes that her daughter will learn the same lesson from the baby$

The Joy Luck Club Part 4, Chapter 2 Summary .ing&ying is in her daughter(s guest bedroom, the smallest room of the house$ This is very un&Chinese$ The Chinese put the guest in the ni"est room$ .ing&ying feels li#e she needs to try to save her daughter before it(s too late, and the only way to save !ena is for .ing&ying to tell her daughter about her past$ .ing&ying doesn(t understand her daughterD why is she an ar"hite"t if she lives in su"h a useless house and has su"h useless furniture and de"orations9 .ing&ying sees her daughter(s house as ready to brea# into pie"es, 1ust li#e she(s been able to predi"t other family disasters$

We flash ba"# to .ing&ying as a pretty, young girl in Wushi, China$ .ing&ying(s family is immensely wealthy, and she is a stubborn, wild, and independent girl$ Her mom tries to #eep her in line, but "an(t s"old her too mu"h be"ause .ing&ying is 1ust li#e her mom$ .ing& ying is so mu"h li#e her mother that she was named for that similarityD .ing&ying, means %Clear /efle"tion$% .ing&ying #new little of her family(s wealth, ta#ing 1ade 1ars and ivory for everyday items, not valuing them$ When she is si0teen, .ing&ying meets the man she #nows she will later marry$ It(s the day of her "ousin(s wedding and this man is a guest$ During the post wedding party, he teases her, as#ing if she(s hungry and wants him to kai gwa or %open the watermelon$% He "ra"#s open the melon with a #nife and everyone laughs$ .ing&ying is embarrassed, but too inno"ent to reali7e that kai gwa is a euphemism for ta#ing her virginity$ 5asi"ally, this guy is bad news$ The ne0t day, .ing&ying(s half sisters are giggling and daydreaming about getting married$ .ing&ying "an(t share in their "hatter be"ause there aren(t any boys that she(s met who are good enough for her )in her opinion*$ ust then, a wind blows and a flower that was sitting on the table fall from its stem and lands at .ing&ying(s feet$ At this moment, she reali7es that she(ll marry the bad man$ :ver the ne0t few days the man is around .ing&ying(s home, ma#ing annoying "omments about how she(s already his and that he dad will definitely give him the dowry that he(s as#ing for$ Si0 months later, she is married to this very bad man$ .ing&ying falls in love with him, almost against her will, and begins to live her life to please him$ She "on"eives a sonD she #nows it(s a son 1ust li#e she #new she would marry this man$ Beanwhile, her husband is out womani7ing$ He finally leaves her for some opera singer, but she(s not the first + there were dan"ers, Ameri"an women, prostitutes, et"$ /emember' hell hath no fury li#e a woman s"orned$ In anger and hate, .ing&ying aborts her "hild$ As a -ui"# brea# from the flashba"#, .ing&ying begins to spea# of her daughter, saying that !ena sees only a small old lady instead of a dangerous tiger lady$ ).ing&ying was born in the year of the tiger$* .ing&ying will tell her daughter about this bad man, her anger, and her shame$ /eturning to the flashba"#, .ing&ying lives with relatives in the "ountryside for ten years, surrounded by babies, "hi"#ens, mi"e, et"$ It(s not a "omfortable life$ .ing&ying de"ides to wor# as a shopgirl in Shanghai, and buys modern "lothes and gets a stylish hair"ut$ .ing&ying be"omes a su""essful shopgirl$ As a tiger, she(s good at flattery and uses it on the female "ustomers$ She(s also pretty herself, whi"h helps$ While wor#ing, she meets Clifford St$ Clair, who she #nows she will one day marry$ St$ Clair "ourts her for four years, during whi"h he(s too polite to her and gives her gifts that he(s an0ious for her to li#e$ She doesn(t even en"ourage him$ St$ Clair thin#s that .ing&ying is a peasant girl living in the "ity, not reali7ing that she "omes from a ri"h family$ In ?>KL, .ing&ying gets word that her husband has died$ He had last been with some young servant girl, and when he de"ided to move on, she #nifed him$ 2pon hearing of her husband(s death, .ing&ying is again angry at him$ She also de"ides that she(ll let St$ Clair marry her$ She be"omes a %wounded animal% basi"ally luring St$ Clair the rest of the way to her, and willingly gave up her spirit that had "aused her pain in her previous life$ .ing&ying be"omes a ghost$ .ing&ying moves with St$ Clair to Ameri"a, learns the Ameri"an way, and raises a daughter, all without "aring, without any spirit$ The flashba"# is over$ In the present, .ing&ying admits she never really loved St$ Clair )who has now passed away*, or "ouldn(t love him be"ause she was a ghost$ 3ow .ing&ying wants to give her spirit to her daughter by telling her daughter about her life and her pain$ She will bring out her daughter(s tiger nature )!ena was born in the year of the tiger as well*$

The Joy Luck Club Part 4, Chapter 3 Summary !indo(s daughter, Waverly, is an0ious about blending in on her trip to ChinaD she is both worried about fitting in too well, but also mad at her mom for saying that everyone will pi"# her out as a foreigner instantly$ Apparently it(s now fashionable to be Chinese, whereas when Waverly was a little girl she did everything she "ould to avoid seeming Chinese$

!indo rebu#es herself for thin#ing that she "ould give her "hildren %Ameri"an "ir"umstan"es and Chinese "hara"ter$% She now reali7es that the two are mutually e0"lusive options$ Waverly learned Ameri"an "ir"umstan"es + that you don(t have to a""ept the "ir"umstan"es other people give you, and that you "an have more than what you are born to$ 5ut Waverly never gained a Chinese "hara"ter + respe"t, ta"t, #nowledge of her own self&worth$ Then the narrative shifts to a beauty parlor, where Waverly wants !indo(s hair to be "ut in order to loo# de"ent for the wedding )Waverly and /i"h(s*$ Br$ /ory, the stylist, and Waverly tal# around !indo, a"ting li#e !indo "an(t understand ,nglish, is deaf, and "an(t pi"# her own hairstyle$ To !indo(s pleasure and Waverly(s disgust, Br$ /ory mentions that Waverly and !indo loo# very similar$ !indo and Waverly loo# in the mirror together$ !indo says that she "an see Waverly(s "hara"ter and future in her fa"e$ In her mind, !indo also says that their fa"es are so similar, and they have the same "hara"ter strengths and flaws$ 5e"ause their fa"es are so ali#e, Waverly will have a similar life fortune to her mother(s$ We enter into a flashba"# of when !indo was ten&years&old$ !indo(s mother loo#s at !indo(s fa"e to dedu"e her "hara"ter$ She goes over all of !indo(s fa"ial "hara"teristi"s' !indo has good, thi"# ears, whi"h means her life will be full of blessingsD a straight nose, whi"h is a good signD a broad forehead, so she(ll be "leverD et"$ !indo(s fa"e shows one flaw, her low hairline shows that she will have some troubles in her youth$ !indo(s mother determines that !indo will be %a good wife, mother, and daughter&in&law$% !indo and her mother have similar fa"es, and out of her adoration of her mother, !indo wants to loo# even more li#e her$ !indo(s flashba"# ends$ !indo reali7es that her fa"e has "hanged, and her mother never saw the "hanges$ !indo(s nose has be"ome "roo#ed )than#s to Ameri"an publi" transportation*, and the loo# in her eyes has "hanged to be more Ameri"an$ 5asi"ally, !indo has lost her Chinese fa"e$ !indo enters into a flashba"# about her preparation for immigrating to Ameri"a and eventual arrival$ 6eep in mind that this flashba"# is all a narration to Waverly$ !indo pays an Ameri"an&raised Chinese girl for advi"e on being in Ameri"a$ She gets advised to hide her true reasons for going to the 2$S$ and pretend to be a student of theology$ She(s also advised to find an Ameri"an "iti7en for a husband$ And if !indo "an(t find an Ameri"an "iti7en to marry, then she should have a baby in the 2$S$, even though she "an(t let on to the Ameri"an authorities that this is her plan$ The girl also gives !indo some addresses of people she should meet in San 4ran"is"o, %people with big "onne"tions$% When she arrives in Ameri"a, the offi"ials don(t hassle her$ She de"ides to go to one of the addresses of the %people with big "onne"tions$% When she gets to this address, a grumpy lady gives her some more addresses + whi"h eventually helps !indo find a "rappy apartment and an awful 1ob + and e0pe"ts a big tip$ !indo ends up wor#ing at a fortune "oo#ie fa"tory, folding the "oo#ie dough into the right shape$ !indo burns her fingers repeatedly on the hot "oo#ie dough, but she also meets An&mei$ An&mei 1o#ingly points out that they are very powerful womenD they determine people(s fortunes$ !indo doesn(t get the 1o#e, so An&mei e0plains that they are putting ta"#y sayings into "oo#ies, and Ameri"an people thin# that the "oo#ies hold Chinese sayings that tell them their fortune$ An&mei brings !indo to "hur"h and sets her up with a man named Tin ong$ Although they spea# separate diale"ts )Tin spea#s Cantonese and !indo spea#s Bandarin*, !indo de"ides to try him out$ After all, this isn(t China so she "an de"ide for herself if she wants to marry him$ !indo and Tin "an(t "ommuni"ate with ea"h other, but they attend ,nglish "lasses together$ !indo, with An&mei(s help, sets out to assist Tin in reali7ing that he wants to marry her$ Hey, a little manipulation never hurt anyone$ At the "oo#ie fa"tory, An&mei and !indo go through the fortunes, loo#ing for one that will nudge Tin in the right dire"tion$ !indo finds the perfe"t fortune' %A house is not a home when a spouse is not at home$% Then she folds a "oo#ie around it$ The ne0t day, after ,nglish "lass, !indo a"ts li#e she is surprised to find a "oo#ie in her purse$ She gives it to Tin and inno"ently as# him what the fortune says$ 5ut Tin doesn(t #now what the word %spouse% means, so he(s planning on loo#ing it up in the di"tionary that night$

The ne0t day he as#s !indo, in ,nglish, %Will you spouse me9% They 1o#e about his poor use of the word %spouse,% but obviously her answer is %yes% sin"e she engineered the whole proposal$ 3ine months after the wedding, !indo gives birth to a son, Winston )who dies ?L years later in a "ar a""ident*$ In another two years, they have a se"ond son, Gin"ent$ 5oth "hildren are named to bring lu"# and wealth )%wins ton% and %win "ent%*$ When !indo gives birth to Waverly and "hild loo#s so mu"h li#e her, !indo reali7es she is dissatisfied with her own "ir"umstan"es and wants this little girl to have a better life$ She names her Waverly after the street they live on, so the little girl will #now she belongs, and always "arry a pie"e of her mother with her after she leaves home$ 3o longer in the flashba"#, we return to the beauty parlor s"ene$ Waverly and !indo loo# into the mirror side by side$ !indo(s hair loo#s great$ She loo#s at Waverly, as if for the first time, and reali7es that Waverly(s nose is "roo#ed$ Waverly says her nose was always li#e that, she has her mom(s nose )but remember !indo(s nose be"ame "roo#ed when she busted it in a "rowded San 4ran"is"o bus*$ The mother and daughter tal# about their "roo#ed noses, whi"h Waverly thin#s ma#es them loo# devious, whi"h she translates to her mom as %two&fa"ed$% !indo thin#s about having a double fa"e + one Ameri"an and one Chinese + and notes that ba"# to China the previous year, everyone #new that she wasn(t ?==M when she went Chinese$

The Joy Luck Club Part 4, Chapter 4 Summary ing&mei enters China and begins feeling Chinese$ She re"alls how in high s"hool, she used to thin# that her Chinese&ness was only s#in&deep$ Turns out she was wrong, 1ust li#e her mom said$ ing&mei and her father, Canning, are on a train going to visit Canning(s aunt, who he hasn(t seen for about si0ty years$ Afterwards, they(ll go and meet Suyuan(s twin daughters in Shanghai$ Canning is so e0"ited + either about seeing his aunt or 1ust being in China + that ing&mei "ompares him to a little boy$ :n the train ride, both ing&mei and her father are emotional + they have tears standing in their eyes as they loo# out the window$ It(s almost li#e they(ve returned to the pla"e they(ve been nostalgi" for$ ing&mei re"aps the dis"overy of her half&sisters, so we flashba"# to this e0perien"e$ Some friend or relative of Suyuan(s lo"ates the twin girls$ The twins send a letter to ing&mei(s mother, telling her about their lives$ 5e"ause Suyuan is dead, ing&mei(s father opens the letter and as#s the ladies form the oy !u"# Club to write ba"#$ The ladies from the oy !u"# Club are sad that Suyuan died without fulfilling her dream of seeing her twin daughters$ They write ba"# to the girls, posing as Suyuan, and saying that her family hopes to meet them in China$ ing&mei didn(t learn about her sisters until after the reply letter is sent$ Auntie An&mei insists that ing&mei "an(t tell the girls in a letter that their mother is dead + she must do it in person$ 4or obvious reasons, ing&mei feels a lot of an0iety$ She has to be the one to tell her sisters the bad news$ 4inally, ing&mei begs Auntie !indo to write the twins another letter, e0plaining that their mother has died$ !indo refuses until ing&mei admits that she(s afraid the twins will hate her, thin#ing that she didn(t "are enough about her mom to #eep her alive and well$ ,ventually, !indo writes the letter and gives it to ing&mei$ The flashba"# ends$ ing&mei and her father arrive in Guang7hou, and ing&mei #nows she stands out$ She(s mu"h taller than everyone but the tourists$ As ing&mei is trying to get a ta0i, a little old lady wanders up saying, %Syau .en$% Canning re"ogni7es the old lady as his aunt$ She(s "alling him %!ittle Wild Goose$% It(s a 1oyful reunion and both of they "ry and laugh$ Canning and ing&mei are introdu"ed to the rest of the aunt(s family and ing&mei feels overwhelmed by the rapidly spo#en Bandarin and Cantonese$ ing&mei(s Bandarin is bad, but her Cantonese is worse + she learned from friends only how to "uss and say some phrases about food, neither of whi"h will help her mu"h in the "urrent situation$ They arrive at a sumptuous hotel, whi"h, despite its grandeur, is very affordable )only thirty&five bu"#s a nightA*$ The aunt(s family seems wowed by the hotel, and are e0"ited to hang out there with Canning and ing&mei$

4or dinner the family wants to have room servi"e and eat Ameri"an food' hamburgers, 4ren"h fries, and apple pie$ ing&mei wa#es up in the middle of the night to hear Canning telling his aunt about Suyuan$ He tells his aunt that he studied at .en"hing 2niversity and afterwards wor#ed in Chung#ing$ That(s where he met Suyuan$ Together, Canning and Suyuan went to Suyuan(s mother(s house, only to find it destroyed by the apanese$ Her family had all died$ ,ventually they made it to San 4ran"is"o, but throughout all the years of their marriage, Suyuan never told her husband that she was loo#ing for her twin daughters$ Canning tells his aunt about how Suyuan lost her daughters while fleeing 6weilin$ Canning(s aunt falls asleep and ing&mei starts as#ing her father -uestions about the meaning of names$ The twin sister(s names mean %Spring /ain% and %Spring 4lower$% Suyuan means %!ong&Cherished Wish$% 5ut written a different way, Suyuan "an mean %!ong&Held Grudge$% ing&mei wants to #now what her name means$ Canning says that % ing% means the -uality essen"e of something and %mei% means little sister$ ing&mei determines that he mother wanted ing&mei be the essen"e of her older twin sisters$ Canning(s aunt wa#es up again and wants to #now why Suyuan abandoned the little girls$ Canning tells her, and it(s li#e a flashba"# to Suyuan(s life$ Suyuan wal#s for several days "arrying her twin daughters, trying to find a main road$ She has money and 1ewelry sewed into her dress with the thought that she "an use it to barter for rides$ 3o su"h lu"#$ ,veryone is trying to get a ride$ Wea# and "onvin"ed she is going to die soon, Suyuan leaves her babies on the side of the road, along with money, 1ewelry, family photos, and her home address so the babies might be returned to the family after the fighting dies down$ Suyuan is later saved by Ameri"an missionaries + too late to save her babies$ When she arrives in Chung#ing, she learns that her husband has died$ In the hospital, she meets Canning$ She is si"# with dysentery, and muttering li#e a madwoman$ The flashba"# ends$ Then we enter into a different sort of flashba"#, following the fate of the twin girls, as told in the letter they sent to Suyuan )whi"h Canning read*$ The girls are found by an old peasant woman, Bei Ching, and her husband, Bei Han, who live in a "ave to hide from the apanese$ The "ouple raises the girls well, and after Bei Han dies, Bei Ching de"ides to loo# for the girls( true family$ She loves the girls, but "an see from the photos Suyuan left with them, that they "ome from a wealthy family, where they "an have a better life$ Bei Ching brings the girls to the address that was left with them, but the house has been destroyed$ The flashba"# into the twin girls( lives ends$ Canning says that he and Suyuan toured China, visiting different "itiesD Suyuan was always on the loo#out for her girls$ 4rom Ameri"a, Suyuan wrote to many of her old "lassmates, as#ing them to loo# for her twin girls$ About a year ago, Suyuan as#ed Canning if they "ould go ba"# to China$ He thought she 1ust wanted to be a tourist, so he said, %it(s too late,% meaning they are too old for the traveling$ Canning now reali7es she probably thought he meant it was too late be"ause the twin girls were dead$ Canning thin#s that this horrible idea is what #illed Suyuan$ Canning says that one day, one of Suyuan(s "lassmates saw twin sisters, and approa"hed them$ The lost were foundA ing&mei and Canning(s visit with the aunt ends$ They are now heading to Shanghai to meet the twins$ ing&mei is in"redibly nervous$ As ing&mei gets off the plane to Shanghai, the twins spot her$ They instantly run up to ea"h other, hug, and "ry$ The meeting isn(t at all aw#ward or sad li#e ing&mei had feared it would be$ Canning snaps a 8olaroid of the three women together$ They eagerly wat"h as the pi"ture appears$ 5etween the three of them, they loo# li#e Suyuan$ 4inally, Suyuan(s long&"herished wish has been fulfilled$

Plot %#er# e" T he oy !u"# Club "ontains si0teen interwoven stories about "onfli"ts between Chinese immigrant mothers and their Ameri"an&raised daughters$ The boo# hinges on ing&mei(s trip to China to meet her half&sisters, twins Chwun .u and Chwun Hwa$ The half&sisters remained behind in China be"ause ing&mei(s mother, Suyuan, was for"ed to leave them on the roadside during her desperate flight from apan(s invasion of 6weilin during World War II$ ing&mei was born to a different father years later, in Ameri"a$ Suyuan intended to return to China for her other daughters, but failed to find them before her death$ ing&mei has ta#en her mother(s pla"e playing mah1ong in a wee#ly gathering her mother had organi7ed in China and revived in San 4ran"is"o' the oy !u"# Club$ The "lub(s other membersN!indo, .ing&ying, and An&meiNare three of her mother(s oldest friends and fellow immigrants$ They tell ing&mei that 1ust before Suyuan died, she had finally su""eeded in lo"ating the address of her lost daughters$ The three women repeatedly urge ing&mei to travel to China and tell her sisters about their mother(s life$ 5ut ing&mei wonders whether she is "apable of telling her mother(s story, and the three older women fear that ing&mei(s doubts may be 1ustified$ They fear that their own daughters, li#e ing&mei, may not #now or appre"iate the stories of their stories of their mothers( lives$ The novel is "omposed of four se"tions, ea"h of whi"h "ontains four separate narratives$ In the first four stories of the boo#, the mothers, spea#ing in turn, re"all with astonishing "larity their relationships with their own mothers, and they worry that their daughters( re"olle"tions of them will never possess the same intensity$ In the se"ond se"tion, these daughtersNWaverly, ing&mei, !ena, and /oseNrelate their re"olle"tions of their "hildhood relationships with their mothersD the great lu"idity and for"e with whi"h they tell their stories proves their mothers( fears at least partially unfounded$ In the third group of stories, the four daughters narrate their adult dilemmasNtroubles in marriage and with their "areers$ Although they believe that their mothers( anti-uated ideas do not pertain to their own very Ameri"an lifestyles, their sear"h for solutions inevitably brings them ba"# to their relationships with the older generation$ In the final group of stories, the mothers struggle to offer solutions and support to their daughters, in the pro"ess learning more about themselves$ !indo re"ogni7es through her daughter Waverly that she has been irrevo"ably "hanged by Ameri"an "ulture$ .ing&ying reali7es that !ena has unwittingly followed her passive e0ample in her marriage to Harold !ivotny$ An&mei reali7es that /ose has not "ompletely understood the lessons she intended to tea"h her about faith and hope$ Although ing&mei fears that she "annot ade-uately portray her mother(s life, Suyuan(s story permeates the novel via ing&mei(s voi"e' she spea#s for Suyuan in the first and fourth se"tions, the two Omothers( se"tions,P of the novel$ Suyuan(s story is representative of the struggle to maintain the mother&daughter bond a"ross "ultural and generational gapsD by telling this story as her mother(s daughter, ing&mei ena"ts and "ements the very bond that is the sub1e"t of Suyuan(s story$ When ing&mei finally travels to China and helps her half&sisters to #now a mother they "annot remember, she forges two other mother&daughter bonds as well$ Her 1ourney represents a re"on"iliation between Suyuan(s two lives, between two "ultures, and between mother and daughter$ This enables ing&mei to bring "losure and resolution to her mother(s story, but also to her own$ In addition, the 1ourney brings hope to the other members of the oy !u"# Club that they too "an re"on"ile the oppositions in their lives between past and present, between "ultures, and between generations$ Stu!y &uest ons 1$ Throughout The Joy Luck Club, characters th nk an! commun cate us ng stor es$ Why m ght they choose to use stor es nstea! of ! rect statements' (s stor es seem a less eff c ent "ay of relay ng nformat on, !o the characters sho" stor es to ha#e some po"er that normal speech lacks' Answer for Study Juestion ? QQ

Stories as "ommuni"ation prove espe"ially powerful in The Joy Luck Clu be"ause of the "ultural barriers that stand between the storytellers, often the mothers in the boo#, and their audien"e, usually the daughter "hara"ters$ 5e"ause the mothers have had e0perien"es in China that their Ameri"an&born daughters find hard to understand, they fear that spea#ing dire"tly of the lessons they have learned might only alienate their daughters$ 4or e0ample, .ing&ying St$ Clair #new many hardships in China$ She married a man who was unfaithful and aborted her unborn baby out of her resulting rage$ 4rom these e0perien"es, she has "on"luded that life is full of pain$ .et her daughter !ena might not understand her mother(s sufferings$ Barrying in one(s teenage years is rarely done in Ameri"aD Chinese "ulture might view differently the shame of infidelity or the morality of abortion$ Thus, to "onvey to her daughter her per"eption of the emotional dangers that the world "ontains, .ing&ying tells !ena a story$ She narrates !ena(s great&grandfather(s en"ounter with the ghost of a beggar, who pulled the man through the wall to the land of the dead$ 5y telling !ena this story, .ing&ying graphi"ally "onveys her sense of fear$ 5e"ause the story is so simple, it fun"tions more universally than .ing&ying(s own$ 5y e0pressing herself through stories, she "ommuni"ates to her daughter on a deeper, almost subliminal level, sidestepping the generational and "ultural gaps between them$ In this

way, .ing&ying hopes to ma#e !ena understand and feel her fear in a way that the dire"t restatement of her past might not allow her to do$ <$ Bost of the female "hara"ters in The Joy Luck Clu struggle with oppressive so"ietal stru"tures, often in the form of patriar"hy and attendant se0ism$ 5ut in Ameri"a as well, the women "hara"ters fall vi"tim to se0ist stru"tures$ Bany of the "hara"ters respond to this suppression simply by be"oming passive, silent, and inde"isive$ What alternatives might the "hara"ters have9 Does the boo# suggest methods by whi"h a woman "an be"ome powerful9 What are the positive and negative aspe"ts of these methods9 Answers for -uestion < The boo# offers two parti"ularly "onspi"uous e0"eptions to its series of passive women' !indo(s mother&in&law, Taitai, and the Se"ond Wife of Wu Tsing, the man to whom An&mei(s mother is a "on"ubine$ Taitai represents a tyranni"al power' she "onfines !indo to her bed and abuses her in order to get the grand"hild she wants$ Se"ond Wife manifests a more underhanded "ruelty$ De"eptive and manipulative, she ban#s on her husband(s fear of ghosts by fa#ing sui"ides so that he will give her what she wants, and she traps An&mei(s mother into marrying Wu Tsing in the first pla"e, wanting to fulfill his wish for heirs without losing her authority$ 5oth of these women find ways of asserting themselves within a so"iety that affords women little power$ .et they manage to do so only by repeating the very stru"tures of oppression under whi"h they have suffered$ !indo ong and her daughter Waverly represent a different #ind of strength' the ability to assert invisible for"e, #eeping silent until the right moment$ !indo manifests this power in the tri"# she plays on Taitai' !indo ta#es advantage of a few "oin"iden"es to "onvin"e Taitai that her marriage to Taitai(s son is ill&fated, and that a se"retly imperially born servant girl is "arrying the OspiritualP heir of her husband$ Waverly shows the same strength in her su""esses with "hess' she waits for her opponents to ma#e a wea# move, and then she ma#es a surprise atta"#$ 3evertheless, while !indo and Waverly find in this Oinvisible strengthP a method of gaining power for themselves and su""eeding in a &male&&dominated worldNor a male&dominated game, su"h as "hessNthe method still relies on a "ertain passivity$ :ne must depend on the false move of the opponent, on a servant girl(s "han"e impregnation by a deliveryman$ 2ltimately, the ta"ti" la"#s a "ertain sense of initiative$ In the end, then, passivity remains a persistent problem for the "hara"ters in The Joy Luck Clu ! If they are to avoid being "ruel, they sa"rifi"e power and autonomy$ This bind appears to arise at least partially from the patriar"hal stru"tures in whi"h these women are living$ However, the te0t does seem to suggest a possible antidote to submissiveness and "omplian"e, a possible means of asserting oneself' the human will$ ,spe"ially in the narratives of An&mei and /ose, we en"ounter the viewpoint that one(s Oassigned destinyP is in fa"t a matter of will$ An&mei urges her daughter /ose to try to save her marriage, saying that one(s OfateP "onsists in being OdestinedP to struggle$ This sense of will does not lead to oppression' it is a persisten"e to fight against all odds, but not to trample upon others$ The book emphas )es the mportance of " ll not only n the *su fam ly+s stor es, but also more subtly n the other narrat #es$ We recall J ng,me +s real )at on that she may ha#e foun! a sense of accompl shment n play ng the p ano f only she ha! tr e!, ha! put her sp r t nto t$ W ll becomes a "ay not only of ach e# ng one+s !es res but of ach e# ng those !es res n the face of har!sh p an! oppress on, n the face of host le an! controll ng e-ternal forces$ full t tle R The Joy Luck Clu author R Amy Tan type of "ork R 3ovel genre R 8ostmodern novelD short story "olle"tion language R ,nglish with o""asional Bandarin and Cantonese words and a""ents t me an! place "r tten R ?>EC+?>E>, San 4ran"is"o !ate of f rst publ cat on R ?>E> publ sher R G$ 8$ 8utnam(s Sons

narrator R The Joy Luck Clu features seven narrators' ing&mei Woo )who also tells her mother Suyuan Woo(s story*D !ena and .ing&ying St$ ClairD An&mei Hsu and /ose Hsu ordanD and !indo and Waverly ong$ po nt of # e" R 8oint of view in The Joy Luck Clu shifts from narrator to narrator$ ,a"h narrates in the first person, and sometimes an event is narrated twi"e so that we get more than one perspe"tiveNfre-uently a mother(s and a daughter(s$ The narrators are highly sub1e"tive and tend to fo"us mostly on their own feelings$ tone R 5emusedD sorrowfulD spe"ulativeD respe"tful tense R Tense in the novel shifts from past to present as ea"h "hara"ter refle"ts on her past and relates it to her present life$ sett ng .t me/ R The novel(s events ta#e pla"e within four general time frames' the "hildhood years of the mother narrators in ChinaD the youthful adult years of the mothers around the time of their immigration to Ameri"aD the "hildhood years of the daughter narrators in the 2nited StatesD and the youthful adult years of the daughters as they intera"t with their aging mothers$ The four time frames span the ?><=s+?>@=s, the ?>K=s+?>C=s, the ?>L=s, and the ?>E=s, respe"tively$ sett ng .place/ R All of the mother "hara"ters( "hildhood memories ta#e pla"e in ChinaD their youthful memories ta#e pla"e either in China prior to emigration or in San 4ran"is"o or :a#land after "oming to Ameri"a$ Their Ameri"an&born daughters remember events that have ta#en pla"e only in San 4ran"is"o or :a#land, although ing&mei travels to China at the end of the novel$ protagon st R ,a"h of the narrators serves as protagonist in her own stories, but ing&mei, be"ause she tells two more stories than ea"h of the other "hara"ters, "ould be said to be the main "hara"ter$ ma0or confl ct R The Chinese mothers strive to instill their Ameri"an&born daughters with an understanding of their heritage, yet also attempt to save them the pain they felt as girls growing up in China$ The daughters, on the other hand, often see their mothers( attempts at guidan"e as a form of hyper"riti"al meddling, or as a failure to understand Ameri"an "ulture$ The daughters thus respond by attempting to further their mothers( assimilation$ 5oth the mothers and the daughters struggle with issues of identity' the mothers try to re"on"ile their Chinese pasts with their Ameri"an presentsD the daughters attempt to find a balan"e between independen"e and loyalty to their heritage$ r s ng act on R Having lo"ated the long&lost twin daughters of their friend Suyuan, the members of the oy !u"# Club want for these grown Chinese daughters to #now their emigrant mother(s story$ They give money to Suyuan(s younger, Ameri"an&born daughter, ing&mei, so that she may buy a plane ti"#et to China and narrate to her half&sisters her mother(s tale$ ing&mei fears that she doesn(t #now enough about her mother to tell her story, but this fear, on"e e0pressed, prompts her -uest for understanding, also spar#ing similar -uests among the three other women and their three daughters$ cl ma- R It is diffi"ult to pin down a single "lima0 in the boo#, as it is "omposed of interwoven narratives$ However, insofar as ing&mei(s narrative is representative of the other "hara"ters( situations, the "lima0 of her story may be said to be her trip to China, whi"h serves in many ways as a test of how OChineseP ing&mei feels, of whether she in fa"t #nows her mother well enough to tell her story and "arry out her dreams$ These issues are also at sta#e in all of the other "hara"ters( storiesD thus, by embar#ing on her trip to China and re"eiving her first impressions, ing&mei is drawing all of the stories( tensions to a head$ fall ng act on R Insofar as ing&mei(s trip to China "an be said to be the boo#(s "lima0, the novel(s falling a"tion "onsists in her reali7ation that she has passed the OtestP that the trip "onstituted$ Having 1ourneyed through China for a few days and having met her sisters for only a few minutes, ing&mei reali7es that, deep down, some part of her is in fa"t Chinese, and that even though she may not thin# she loo#s li#e her sisters or that her sisters loo# li#e her mother, the three of the sisters together resemble Suyuan' the sisters will help ing&mei to "ome to #now parts of her mother that she never before understood, and thus help her to tell Suyuan(s story$ In this last s"ene of the boo#, ing&mei su""essfully "reates a bridge between two "ountries, two generations, and two "ultures$ themes R The "hallenges of "ultural translationD the power of storytellingD the problem of immigrant identity mot fs R Control over one(s own destinyD se0ismD sa"rifi"es for love symbols R Suyuan(s pendantD !ena(s vaseD !indo(s red "andle

foresha!o" ng R The Joy Luck Clu (s realism pre"ludes the use of mu"h foreshadowing$ However, be"ause the "hara"ters are mother&daughter pairs, a number of the "hallenges fa"ed by the mothers "ome to be repeated in some form in their daughters( lives$ Bany of the mothers( personal strengths and wea#nesses are refle"ted in their daughters, and they struggle with the same issues of obedien"e versus autonomy, passivity versus assertiveness, whether in relationships with men or other women$ L terary 1e# ces by Tiffany L terary !e# ces are "ommon stru"tures used in writing$ These devi"es "an be either literary elements or literary te"hni-ues$ L terary elements are found in almost every story and "an be used to analy7e and interpret )e$g$ protagonist, setting, plot, theme*$ L terary techn 2ues, on the other hand, "onstru"tions in the te0t, usually to e0press artisti" meaning through the use of language )e$g$ metaphor, hyperbole*$ 8lease note that sometimes "ertain terms "an be defined inter"hangeably as either an element or te"hni-ue, depending on your interpretation$ When analy7ing wor#s of literature or poetry it is e0tremely helpful to #now these terms and identify them in the te0t$ This allows for greater understanding and appre"iation of the wor#A Common literary elements: Protagonist The main "hara"ter in a story, the one with whom the reader is meant to identify$ The person is not ne"essarily OgoodP, but is the person whom the reader is most invested in$ e$g$ Holden Caulfield in The Cat"her in the /ye Antagonist Counterpart to the main "hara"terSprotagonist and sour"e of a story(s main "onfli"t$ It may not even be a person )see Confli"t below*$ Plot Se-uen"e of events in the story$ Setting Time and pla"e in whi"h the story o""urs$ Conflict A struggle between opposing for"es whi"h drive the story$ This is what #eeps the reader readingA The out"ome of the story is usually a resolution of the "onfli"t$ The opposing for"e does not have to be a person$ The basi" types of "onfli"t are' Ban vs$ Self, Ban vs$ Ban, Ban vs$ 3ature, Ban vs$ So"iety or Ban vs$ Ba"hine$ Climax The dramati" high of the story$ /ight before the "lima0 is the turning point, usually where something goes wrong$ The "lima0 then ensues and "omes to a resolution$ A resolution does not ne"essarily mean the problem has been solvedD only that the high point has ended$ Motifs, Themes and Symbols A motif is a re"urring important idea, stru"ture or imageD it differs from a theme in that it "an be e0pressed as a single word or fragmented phrase$ e$g$ "omparing a person(s stages of life to seasons of the year$

A theme usually must be e0pressed as a "omplete senten"e$ A theme is a main universal idea or message "onveyed by the pie"e$ e$g$ !ittle /ed /iding Hood(s theme may be ODon(t tal# to strangersP$ A symbol is an ob1e"t, "olour, person, "hara"ter or figure used to represent abstra"t ideas$ A symbol, unli#e a motif, must be tangible or visible$ Mood The atmosphere or emotional "ondition "reated by within the setting$ Bood refers to the general sense or feeling whi"h the reader is supposed to get from the te0t and is not ne"essarily referring to the "hara"ters( state of mind$ Point of view The identity of the narrator(s voi"e, the point of view from whi"h the reader sees the story$ It may be first person )there is no narrator* or third person )the story is told by a "hara"ter or dire"t observer in the story*$ Common literary techniques: Allegory Where an entire story is representativeSsymboli" of something else, usually a larger abstra"t "on"ept or important histori"alSgeopoliti"al event )e$g$ Animal 4arm is an allegory of Soviet totalitarianism*$ Alliteration The repetition of "onsonant sounds, usually used "onse"utively in the same senten"e )e$g$ Silly Sally saw si0ty slithering sna#es*$ Anthropomorphism Where animals or inanimate ob1e"ts are portrayed as people$ )e$g$ in Animal 4arm the animals "an tal#, wal#, and intera"t li#e humans*$ Deus ex machina !atin for OGod out of the ma"hineP, this term des"ribes the primary "onfli"t being solved out of nowhere, as if God or a mira"le "ould only solve the "omple0 "onfli"t$ Dramatic irony Where the audien"e or reader is aware of something important, of whi"h the "hara"ters in the story are not aware$ Situational irony is different in that the readers are not awareD the results are une0pe"ted and mo"#ing in relation to what was e0pe"ted )the usual use of the term irony*$ Gerbal irony is an e0pression that is opposite of what it is intended to mean )e$g$ the Binistry of !ove is a"tually a pla"e of torture and brainwashing in the novel ?>EK*$ xposition When an author interrupts a story in order to e0plain something + usually to provide important ba"#ground information$ An e0position "an also be essential information whi"h is given at the beginning of a play or short story, about the plot and the events whi"h are to follow$ !oil A "hara"ter who is meant to represent "hara"teristi"s, values or ideas whi"h are opposite to another "hara"ter )usually the protagonist*$ 4oreshadowing

Where future events in a story, or perhaps the out"ome, are suggested by the author before they happen$ This suggestion "an be made in various ways su"h as a flashba"#, an ob1e"t, or a previous minor situation whi"h refle"ts a more signifi"ant situation later on$ This sort of warning sign "an also be "alled a red herring$ "yperbole A des"ription whi"h uses e0aggeration or e0tremes to "onvey emphasi7e a "hara"teristi"D e$g$ OI told you a thousand timesAP does not mean the person has been one thousand times$ Metaphor vs# Simile A metaphor is dire"t relationship where one thing IS another )e$g$ O uliet is the sunP*$ A simile, on the other hand, is indire"t and usually only li#ened to be similar to something else$ Similes usually use Oli#eP or OasP )e$g$ O.our eyes are li#e the o"eanP*$ Parallelism The use of similar or identi"al language, stru"tures, events or ideas in different parts of a te0t$ Pathetic fallacy When the mood of the "hara"ter is refle"ted in the atmosphere )weather* or inanimate ob1e"ts$ Personification Where inanimate ob1e"ts or abstra"t "on"epts are given human thoughts, a"tions, per"eptions and emotions$ ,$g$ OThe moon dan"ed mournfully over the waterP + you see that a moon "annot a"tually dan"e or with mourning, therefore it is being personified in order to "reate artisti" meaning$ $epetition When a spe"ifi" word, phrase, or stru"ture is repeated several times, usually in "lose pro0imity, to emphasi7e a parti"ular idea$ !et(s use an e0"erpt from The Great Gatsby for literary analysis' " eca#e aware of the old island here that flowered once for $utch sailors% eyes & a fresh' green reast of the new world! "ts vanished trees' the trees that had #ade way for Gats y%s house' had once (andered in whis(ers to the last and greatest of all hu#an drea#s) for a transitory enchanted #o#ent #an #ust have held his reath in the (resence of this continent' co#(elled into an aesthetic conte#(lation he neither understood nor desired' face to face for the last ti#e in history with so#ething co##ensurate to his ca(acity for wonder! While this paragraph has devi"es of personifi"ation in ma#ing an island seem li#e a Ofresh, green beastP and trees that "an Opander in whispersP, we "an also use literary analysis to interpret that the author(s des"ription of the pilgrims( dis"overy of Ameri"a is a parallelism of the protagonist(s view of the beginning of the Ameri"an dream and the eternal optimism to rea"h this dream in his own life$ :f "ourse, simply reading this one paragraph, you would not be able to "on"lude this$ That(s why it(s important to e0amine the intention of the story as a whole, as well as the writing within the story$

INTRODUCTION The Joy Luck Clu )?>E>* is TanTs most su""essful and widely a""laimed novel$ It is regarded as a signifi"ant a"hievement in do"umenting the hardships and struggles of immigrants in Ameri"a and in portraying the "omple0ities of modern Chinese&Ameri"an life$ Plot an! 3a0or Characters The Joy Luck Clu is a "olle"tion of si0teen interrelated stories, "entered around the diverse emotional relationships of four different motherSdaughter pairs$ To es"ape war and poverty, the four mothers emigrate from China to Ameri"a$ In the 2nited States, they struggle to raise their Ameri"an&born daughters in a vastly different "ulture$ The novel opens with the death of Suyuan Woo, the matriar"h of the oy !u"# Club, a so"ial group of women who play the Chinese tile game mah&1ongg and rely on ea"h other for support$ Suyuan founded the "lub in China and later reformed it in San 4ran"is"o$ SuyuanTs daughter, ing&mei, ta#es her motherTs pla"e at the east side of the "lubTs mah&1ongg table$ ing&meiTs intera"tions at the table with her older OauntiesP symboli7e the generational "onfli"ts that play a ma1or role in all of the stories$ ,a"h of the motherSdaughter pairs has their own personal and "ultural "onfli"ts that are uni-ue to their situation$ In ea"h relationship, events in the motherTs past deeply affe"t how she identifies with and relates to her daughter$ 5e"ause Suyuan lost a husband and was for"ed to abandon her twin daughters during the apanese invasion of China, she "onsistently pushed ing&mei to su""eed and ma#e a better life for herself$ 5ut her motherTs high e0pe"tations paraly7e ing&mei, who begins to doubt her own talents and abilities$ OAuntieP !indo managed to es"ape her disastrous arranged marriage by manipulating her husbandTs family$ In Ameri"a, !indoTs daughter Waverly be"omes a 1unior "hess "hampion whose a"hievements give !indo a great sense of pride$ Waverly feels that !indo ta#es too mu"h "redit for her su""ess and, eventually, she a""uses her mother of living vi"ariously through her$ This "onfrontation "auses ea"h of them to -uestion their own personal identity and the respe"t they have for ea"h other$ OAuntieP .ing&.ing grew up in a wealthy family$ After her husband leaves her, .ing&.ing is for"ed to move in with some of her poorer relatives$ She emigrates with her se"ond husband, Clifford, to Ameri"a, where she is for"ed to "hange her name to O5ettyP and ad1ust to an even lower standard of living$ .ing&.ingTs daughter, !ena, is a su""essful ar"hite"t, but her husband doesnTt value her$ 4urthermore, !enaTs lifestyle and materialism "lash with .ing&.ingTs traditional Chinese ways, whi"h she fears will be forgotten$ OAuntieP An&mei HsuTs mother served as a wealthy gentlemanTs "on"ubine$ 5e"ause of her motherTs o""upation, young An&mei was raised surrounded by ri"hes, but was not allowed to share in any of the lu0uries$ Her mother eventually "ommits sui"ide, giving An&mei a way to es"ape the life of a "on"ubine$ /ose Hsu ordan, An&meiTs daughter, struggles with filing divor"e papers after her husband leaves her$ /oseTs inde"isiveness "omes from re"urring nightmares, inspired by her motherTs stories and her motherTs assertion that she "an read /oseTs mind$ The novel "on"ludes with ing&mei, who de"ides to dis"over the end of her motherTs life story by finding and meeting her abandoned twin half&sisters$ Her aunties give ing&mei the money she needs to travel to China, affirming the healing effe"t of storytelling and the very realNif elusiveNbond between generations$ 3a0or Themes The ma1or theme of The Joy Luck Clu "on"erns the nature of mother&daughter relationships, whi"h are "ompli"ated not only by age differen"e, but by vastly different upbringings$ The daughtersNwho have grown up embra"ing the Ameri"an emphasis on individualityNfeel that their mothers are O:ld World fossils$P They rebel against the Chinese tradition of heeding their elders and pleasing parents above all else$ The mothers are appalled at their daughtersT insolen"e$ They fear that their daughtersT desire to a"hieve the Ameri"an Dream will prevent them from ever learning about or understanding their Chinese heritage$ Despite these fears, all four of the mothers attempt to give their "hildren the best of both worlds$ As !indo states, OAmeri"an "ir"umstan"es but Chinese "hara"ter$ H How "ould I #now these two things do not mi09P The painful events in the mothersT pasts and their OChinese "hara"terP have a definite impa"t on their daughtersT present lives$ The power and importan"e of storytelling is another signifi"ant theme in the novel$ :ne reason the mother&daughter relationships suffer is that neither generation spea#s the language of the otherNliterally and metaphori"ally$ The mothers try to "ompensate for this diffi"ulty in "ommuni"ation by relating information through stories$ However, most of the stories only frustrate their daughters, who are at a loss to interpret what they really mean$ When the daughters Nparti"ularly ing&meiNare finally able to see the true meaning behind their mothersT tales, they find that the stories are an important form of instru"tion and "omfort$ Issues of self&worth and identity are also "entral to The Joy Luck Clu ! All of the women )both mothers and daughters* wrestle with their past, their present, their ethni"ity, their gender, and how they view themselves, as they struggle to "onstru"t their own life story and find a pla"e for themselves in the world$ Cr t cal 4ecept on Bany "riti"s have asserted that although the "hara"ters in The Joy Luck Clu are Chinese&Ameri"an, their struggles have a strong resonan"e for all people, espe"ially women raised in Ameri"a$ /eviewers have studied the novel from a variety of angles and have generally agreed that the boo# presents a poignant, insightful e0amination of not only the generation gap between mothers and daughters, but of the gaps between different "ultures as well$ Criti"s have argued that the boo# wor#s as an e0ploration of the issues that are vital to all immigrants in Ameri"aNin"luding ethni"ity, gender, and personal identity$ Some reviewers have identified the mother&daughter relationships in the boo# as part of a growing tradition of matrilineal dis"ourse that is be"oming ever more popular in Ameri"a$ :thers have lauded the multiple perspe"tives presented in the novel, "iting the wor#Ts multiple viewpoints as a uni-ue strength that invites analysis on several levels$ :ne "riti" has even analy7ed the fable&li#e -ualities of The Joy Luck Clu ' interpreting it as a modern&day fairy tale$ Although several reviewers have argued that the novel presents stereotypi"al portrayals of China and of Chinese people, many "riti"s feel that it addresses important universal issues and themesN"ommon to all, despite their age, ra"e, or nationality$

MAJOR THEME Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, explores the relationships and experiences of four Chinese mothers and four Chinese-American daughters. The difference in upbringing of those women born during the first quarter of this century in China, and their daughters born in California, is undeniable. From the beginning of the novel, you hear Suyuan Woo tell the story of "The Joy Luck Club," a group started by some Chinese women during World War II, where "we feasted, we laughed, we played games, lost and won, we told the best stories. And each week, we could hope to be lucky. That hope was our only joy." (p. 12) Really, this was their only joy. The mothers grew up during perilous times in China. They all were taught "to desire nothing, to swallow other people's misery, to eat [their] own bitterness." (p. 241) Though not many of them grew up terribly poor, they all had a certain respect for their elders, and for life itself. These Chinese mothers were all taught to be honorable, to the point of sacrificing their own lives to keep any family members' promise. Instead of their daughters, who "can promise to come to dinner, but if she wants to watch a favorite movie on TV, she no longer has a promise" (p. 42), "To Chinese people, fourteen carats isn't real gold . . . [my bracelets] must be twenty-four carats, pure inside and out." (p. 42) Towards the end of the book, there is a definite line between the differences of the two generations. Lindo Jong, whose daughter, Waverly, doesn't even know four Chinese words, describes the complete difference and incompatibility of the two worlds she tried to connect for her daughter, American circumstances and Chinese character. She explains that there is no lasting shame in being born in America, and that as a minority you are the first in line for scholarships. Most importantly, she notes that "In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you." (p. 289) Living in America, it was easy for Waverly to accept American circumstances, to grow up as any other American citizen. As a Chinese mother, though, she also wanted her daughter to learn the importance of Chinese character. She tried to teach her Chinese-American daughter "How to obey parents and listen to your mother's mind. How not to show your own thoughts, to put your feelings behind your face so you can take advantage of hidden opportunities . . . How to know your own worth and polish it, never flashing it around like a cheap ring." (p. 289) The American-born daughters never grasp on to these traits, and as the book shows, they became completely different from their purely Chinese parents. They never gain a sense of real respect for their elders, or for their Chinese background, and in the end are completely different from what their parents planned them to be. By the stories and information given by each individual in The Joy Luck Club, it is clear to me just how different a Chinese-American person is from their parents or older relatives. I find that the fascinating trials and experiences that these Chinese mothers went through are a testament to their enduring nature, and constant devotion to their elders. Their daughters, on the other hand, show that pure Chinese blood can be changed completely through just one generation. They have become American not only in their speech, but in their thoughts, actions and lifestyles. This novel has not only given great insight into the Chinese way of thinking and living, but it has shown the great contrast that occurs from generation to generation, in the passing on of ideas and traditions.

their language and who do not intend to pass along their Chinese heritage to their own children. Throughout the book, characters bring up one Chinese concept after another, only to accept the frustrating fact that an understanding of Chinese culture is a prerequisite to understanding its meaning.

The Power of Storytelling

Because the barriers between the Chinese and the American cultures are exacerbated by imperfect translation of language, the mothers use storytelling to circumvent these barriers and communicate with their daughters. The stories they tell are often educational, warning against certain mistakes or giving advice based on past successes. or instance, !ing" ying#s decision to tell $ena about her past is motivated by her desire to warn $ena against the passivity and fatalism that !ing"ying suffered. %torytelling is also employed to communicate messages of love and pride, and to illumine one#s inner self for others. Another use of storytelling concerns historical legacy. By telling their daughters about their family histories, the mothers ensure that their lives are remembered and understood by subsequent generations, so that the characters who acted in the story never die away completely. &n telling their stories to their daughters, the mothers try to instill them with respect for their Chinese ancestors and their Chinese pasts. %uyuan hopes that by finding her long"lost daughters and telling them her story, she can assure them of her love, despite her apparent abandonment of them. 'hen (ing"mei sets out to tell her half"sisters %uyuan#s story, she also has this goal in mind, as well as her own goal of letting the twins know who their mother was and what she was like. %torytelling is also used as a way of controlling one#s own fate. &n many ways, the original purpose of the (oy $uck Club was to create a place to exchange stories. aced with pain and hardship, %uyuan decided to take control of the plot of her life. The (oy $uck Club did not simply serve as a distraction) it also enabled transformation*of community, of love and support, of circumstance. %tories work to encourage a certain sense of independence. They are a way of forging one#s own identity and gaining autonomy. 'averly understands this+ while $indo believes that her daughter#s crooked nose means that she is ill"fated, 'averly dismisses this passive interpretation and changes her identity and her fate by reinventing the story that is told about a crooked nose.

The Problem of Immigrant Identity

At some point in the novel, each of the ma,or characters expresses anxiety over her inability to reconcile her Chinese heritage with her American surroundings. &ndeed, this reconciliation is the very aim of (ing"mei#s ,ourney to China. 'hile the daughters in the novel are genetically Chinese -except for $ena, who is half Chinese. and have been raised in mostly Chinese households, they also identify with and feel at home in modern American culture. 'averly, /ose, and $ena all have white boyfriends or husbands, and they regard many of their mothers# customs and tastes as old"fashioned or even ridiculous. 0ost of them have spent their childhoods trying to escape their Chinese identities+ $ena would walk around the house with her eyes opened as far as possible so as to make them look 1uropean. (ing"mei denied during adolescence that she had any internal Chinese aspects, insisting that her Chinese identity was limited only to her external features. $indo meditates that 'averly would have clapped her hands for ,oy during her teen years if her mother had told her that she did not look Chinese. As they mature, the daughters begin to sense that their identities are incomplete and become interested in their Chinese heritage. 'averly speaks wishfully about blending in too well in China and becomes angry when $indo notes that she will be recogni2ed instantly as a tourist. 3ne of (ing"mei#s greatest fears about her trip to China is not that others will recogni2e her as American, but that she herself will fail to recogni2e any Chinese elements within herself. 3f the four mothers, $indo expresses the most anxiety over her cultural identity. 4aving been spotted as a tourist during her recent trip to China, she wonders how America has changed her. %he has always believed in her ability to shift between her true self and her public self, but she begins to wonder whether her 5true6 self is not, in fact, her American one. 1ven while a young girl in China, $indo showed that she did not completely agree with Chinese custom. %he agoni2ed over how to extricate herself from a miserable marriage without dishonoring her parents# promise to her husband#s family. 'hile her concern for her parents shows that $indo did not wish to openly rebel against her tradition, $indo made a secret promise to herself to remain true to her own desires. This promise shows the value she places on autonomy and personal happiness*two qualities that $indo associates with American culture. (ing"mei#s experience in China at the end of the book certainly seems to support the possibility of a richly mixed identity rather than an identity of warring opposites. %he comes to see that China itself contains American aspects, ,ust as the part of America she grew up in*%an rancisco#s Chinatown*contained Chinese elements. Thus, her first meal in China consists of hamburgers and apple pie, per the request of her fully 5Chinese6 relatives. 7erhaps, then, there is no such thing as a pure state of being Chinese, a pure state of being American) all individuals are amalgams of their unique tastes, habits, hopes, and memories. or immigrants and their families, the contrasts within this amalgam can bring particular pain as well as particular richness.

Motifs
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the texts major themes.

Control over Ones Destiny

The Joy Luck Clu contains an ongoing discussion about the extent to which characters have power over their own destinies. 1lements from the Chinese belief system*the twelve animals of the 2odiac, the five elements*reappear in the characters# explanations of their personalities. or example, !ing"ying %t. Clair speaks about how she and her daughter,

$ena, are both Tigers, according to the years in which they were born. The 5black6 side of her Tiger personality is that she waits, like a predator, for the right moment for the 5gold6 side to act*the right moment to snatch what she wants. !et !ing"ying#s behavior contradicts this symbolic explanation of her character. &ronically, her belief in 5fate6 ends up negating her understanding of her 5fated6 nature. %he believes she is destined to marry a certain vulgar older man in China, does so, and then ends up feeling bereft after she learns of his infidelity. %he shows she can take matters into her own hands when she aborts the fetus of the unborn child from her first marriage, but then falls back into the same trap when she 5allows6 $ena#s father, Clifford, to marry her because she thinks it is her destiny. %he lives in constant anxiety and fear from tragedies that she believes she is powerless to prevent. (ing"mei and her mother also clash because of their opposing concepts of destiny. %uyuan believes that (ing"mei will manifest an inner prodigy if only she and her daughter work hard enough to discover and cultivate (ing"mei#s talent. (ing"mei, on the other hand, believes that there are ultimately things about her that cannot be forced) she is who she is. An"mei 4su seems to possess a notion of a balance between fate and will. %he believes strongly in the will, and yet she also sees this will as somehow 5fated.6 'hile her faith in her ability to will her own desires becomes less explicitly reli gious after the loss of her son Bing, An"mei never resigned herself, as !ing"ying does, to thinking that human beings have no control over what happens to them. Thus, when /ose asks why she should try to save her marriage, saying there is no hope, no reason to try, An"mei responds that she should try simply because she 5must.6 5This is your fate,6 she says, 5what you must do.6 /ose comes to reali2e that for her mother, the powers of 5fate6 and 5faith6 are co"dependent rather than mutually exclusive.

Se ism
%exism is a problem common to both Chinese and American cultures, and as such they are encountered by most of the characters in the novel. &n China, for example, $indo is forced to live almost as a servant to her mother"in"law and husband, conforming to ideali2ed roles of feminine submission and duty. Because An"mei#s mother is raped by her future husband, she must marry him to preserve her honor) whereas he, as a man, may marry any number of concubines without being ,udged harshly. &ndeed, it is considered shameful for An"mei#s mother to marry at all after her first husband#s death, to say nothing of her becoming a concubine, and An"mei#s mother is disowned by her mother -7opo. because of the rigid notions of purity and virtue held by the patriarchal Chinese society. !ing"ying#s nursemaid tells her that girls should never ask but only listen, thus conveying her society#s sexist standards for women and instilling in !ing"ying a tragic passivity. &n America, the daughters also encounter sexism as they grow up. 'averly experiences resistance when she asks to play chess with the older men in the park in Chinatown+ they tell her they do not want to play with dolls and express surprise at her skill in a game at which men excel. /ose#s passivity with Ted is based on the stereotypical gender roles of a proactive, heroic male and a submissive, victimi2ed female. $ena#s agreement to serve as a mere associate in the architecture firm that she helped her husband to found, as well as her agreement to make a fraction of his salary, may also be based on sexist assumptions that she has absorbed. Tan seems to make the distinction between a respect for tradition and a disrespect for oneself as an individual. %ubmission to sexist modes of thought and behavior, regardless of cultural tradition, seems to be unacceptable as it encompasses a passive destruction of one#s autonomy.

Sacrifices for !ove

0any of the characters make great sacrifices for the love of their children or parents. The selflessness of their devotion speaks to the force of the bond between parent and child. An" mei#s mother slices off a piece of her own flesh to put in her mother#s soup, hoping superstitiously to cure her. An"mei#s mother#s later suicide could also be seen not as an act of selfish desperation but as one of selfless sacrifice to her daughter#s future happiness+ because 'u"Tsing is afraid of ghosts, An"mei#s mother knows that in death she can ensure her daughter#s continued status and comfort in the household with more certainty than she could in life. $ater, An"mei throws her one memento of her mother, her sapphire ring, into the waves in hopes of placating the evil spirits that have taken her son Bing. %o, too, does %uyuan take an extra ,ob cleaning the house of a family with a piano, in order to earn (ing"mei the opportunity to practice the instrument. These acts of sacrifice speak to the power of the mother"daughter bond. 8espite being repeatedly weakened*or at least tested*by cultural, linguistic, and generational gulfs, the sacrifices the characters make prove that this bond is not in danger of being destroyed.