Joy Luck Club: In Depth Behind Tan And Her Writing
...at New York Times best-seller list for
nine months. The plot follows the lives of four Chinese Immigrant
mothers and their American born daughters. Tan weaves an intricate
story as the the four families intertwine and reveal their own secrets
forming and strengthening the mother daughter bond.
The story begins on one daughter, Jing-mei, who takes the place of
her mother at the Joy Luck Club table in place of her mother (Suyan Woo)
who had died. This club was created by the four mothers of the story,
Suyan Woo, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair during the
war. The mothers met and played Mah-Jong, ate good dinners, and
gambled. All to escape the cruelties of their lives, to brighten their
spirits.
Jing-mei learns of her mother's past, of her difficult decisions such
as leaving behind two daughters in China on the side of the road. The
club learns of the location of those two daughters and are saving to send
Jing-mei to meet them.
As the date nears each mother recalls in vivid detail their own pasts
in China.
An-mei (mother of Rose Hsu) as a child was forbidden to speak her
mother's name. She was told her mother dishonered the family by
remarrying after her husbands death. Her mother ends up killing herself
to give An-mei a better position in life.
Lindo (mother of Waverly Jong) had her marriage arranged when
she was very young. The young man she was destined to wed was spoiled
and immature. Lindo fabricated a an elaborate story about an angry
ancestor who would kill her husband should they stay married. She was
given money and pushed off to America and was told to not speak of the
curse to anyone.
Ying-ying (mother of Lena St. Clair) discovered as a child that the
magic and wonder of many things she believed in such as a favorite Moon...
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