JLC Blog Post 4

In Amy Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club”, many cyclical elements can be seen within the chapters. For example, in the beginning of the book, Jing-Mei Woo, an Americanized Chinese daughter whose mother is a Chinese immigrant, is resistant to the Chinese influence in her life. She disliked attending Joy Luck Club, a regular gathering of Chinese families established by her mother, and hated playing as the forth corner of the Mah Jong table after her mother pases away. However, as the book progresses, she discovers more about her deceased mother’s past. As a child, Jing-Mei was always told a story about her mother’s history in China, especially about the “Kweilin Story”. In it, she talks about her joyous life in the city of Kweilin and the Joy Luck Club there. But as the years went on, the story became darker. The Japanese invaded. She had to leave Kweilin with everything she had in a barrel. And then, she mentioned two baby daughters, both of which she had to abandon when she lost all her strength. Jing-Mei discovers that the two daughters are still alive, and she sets out to find them. During her journey, she discovers more about what it means to actually be Chinese. And by the end, after meeting her two sisters, Jing-Mei knows what it truly means to be Chinese. By the end of the book, she realizes what it is that makes her Chinese. It is not the color of her skin, not the way she talks. It is her family. Her family makes her Chinese.