Waverly Jong

"Opposite me was my opponent, two angry black slits. She wore a triumphant smile. 'Strongest wind cannot be seen,' she said. Her black men advanced across the plane, slowly marching to each successive level as a single unit. My white pieces screamed as they scurried and fell off the board one by one" (103).

The "two angry black slits" are a symbol of Waverly Jong's mother. Previously, Waverly's mother's eyes became "dangerous black slits" when Waverly got frustrated and bluntly told her mother, "if you want to show off, then why don't you learn to play chess?". In this scene, Waverly Jong imagined her mother beating her at chess, fulfilling her wish. The quote, "Strongest wind cannot be seen" means that Waverly Jong did not see the strength of her mother at anything she does.

This theme plays along with the title, "Twenty-Six Malignant Gates". Because many daughters underestimate the protection of their mothers, they tend to become disobedient and "bad things" happen to them because of their denial of their mothers' advice.

Ying-Ying St. Clair

"And tonight, on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, I also remember what I asked the Moon Lady so long ago. I wished to be found" (83).

Ying-Ying St. Clair had many hopes of seeing the Moon Lady. When talking to Amah, she was very enthusiastic at the words of "Moon Lady", even though she didn't know what it was yet. Because of Ying-Ying's obliviousness to the meaning of this "Moon Lady", she believed anything she saw, even if it was actually a man dressed as a lady. When everyone left after a speaker asked for a monetary donation, Ying-Ying was gullible and ran over to tell the "Moon Lady" a wish. She wished to be found. The literary meaning of this is that Ying-Ying wanted to be found by Amah so that she can go back to where she belongs. However, figuratively, Ying-Ying wanted to find her meaning of life.

The chapter title "Feathers From a Thousand Li Away" is a representation of all the four mothers' past. This whole chapter gave a background of all four mothers.

Lindo Jong

"It's too late to change you, but I'm telling you this because I worry about your baby. I worry that someday she will say, 'Thank you Grandmother, for the gold bracelet. I'll never forget you.' But later, she will forget her promise. She will forget she had a grandmother" (42-43).

This quote suggests that most people outside of the Asian culture are ungrateful. Promises are made temporarily, because many of them are forgotten. The gold bracelet symbolizes this temporary promise. The receiver of the bracelet is very grateful and full of happiness due to its worth, and the receiver makes promises that they cannot keep forever. The giver is soon forgotten.

Based on Lindo Jong's statements, the Asian culture emphasizes the teachings of thanks. In terms of the relationship between the parent and child, if the child is not grateful, it represents a disobedient and spoiled child. If the child is not grateful for the care of the parent, why care for the child?

An Mei-Hsu

"Here is how I came to love my mother. How I saw in her my own true nature. What was beneath my skin. Inside my bones" (40).

"Shou", which means respect, is very important in Asian culture. To An Mei-Hsu's mother, respect is everything. Cutting into the skin, which represents the flesh and bone of the mother, was a form of respect. An Mei-Hsu learned that her mother believed in shou. She also grew to admire her, even though she was seen as a "ghost" by Popo.

Jing Mei-Woo

"They are frightened. In me, they see their own daughters, just as ignorant, just as unmindful of all the truths and hopes they have brought to America. They see daughters who grow impatient when their mothers talk in Chinese, who think they are stupid when they explain things in fractured English. They see that joy and luck do not mean the same to their daughters, to these closed American-born minds 'Joy Luck' is not a word, it does not exist. They see daughters who will bear grandchildren without connecting hope passed from generation to generation" (31).

Jing Mei-Woo's understanding of the mothers have increased. She has deeper insight of their thoughts of an American daughter, who is usually ungrateful and annoyed at their immigrant mother who does not speak perfect English. The Joy Luck mothers are "frightened" because they know that Suyuan Woo has sacrificed so much for the future of her offspring, but they are outraged when they hear that Jing Mei-Woo knows nothing about her mother. As close friends with Suyuan Woo, they want to pass down stories of Suyuan Woo's trials so that there will be "hope" in future generations. Because the road to America was difficult, the Joy Luck mothers are afraid that their children will become ungrateful and assimilate into the America culture of greed.

The meaning of "Joy Luck" is the combination of happiness and hard work. Luck represents hard earned money, which results in joy. The American government gives aid to those who have low income, through, for example, food stamps. Even though many Asians are low income, they prefer to work for the money instead of accepting government aid since they see the importance of joy luck. Some Americans who accept government aid becomes lazy and dependent on it, which results in no happiness.

Jing Mei-Woo

Jing Mei-Woo's mother (Suyuan Woo) was the creator of the "San Francisco version" of the Joy Luck Club.

"My idea was to have a gathering of four women, one for each corner of my mah jong table. I knew which women I wanted to ask. They were all young like me, with wishful faces" (10).

This Joy Luck Club was created by Suyuan Woo to enjoy a life of "luxury" that most people couldn't afford. Just like most people would do, Suyuan Woo picked women who were similar to her so that she can relate to them more. As a result, they ate meals even with little money and played mah jong. Mah jong was a symbol of luck and happiness: if played and won, the winner would get money. However, in the Joy Luck Club, Suyuan Woo and the other women played 16 rounds, which represents their youth and spirit in playing so many games in mah jong. After 16 rounds, joy and luck was spread amongst the women. Suyuan Woo's whole idea of creating the Joy Luck Club was to share the joy of food, increase luck through mah jong, and be happy in telling stories.

The introduction of the Joy Luck Club starts off with the symbol of a swan. It was once a duck that transformed into a goose, and eventually to a swan. This symbol represents the hard work of a mother to help her kids to be successful in the future, even before they are born. However, the mother lost all her hard work and had to start off new again in America.

This Asian parent mindset of working hard during their time of growth is very common in the Asian culture. Parents worry most about their offspring, no matter how hard it takes for them to set their child's life in a good start. However, many times things happen, which result in hard work in vain.

The nature of young Asian girls to compare their lives with others is evident in the novel. Is this comparison more similar to competition or is it a form self-improvement? 

As a member of the Asian culture, I have experienced this trend of comparison. Based on my experience, this comparison is more of a self-improvement because when I realize that I am far behind the standards of others, I try to improve myself. However, there is no form of competition present because it is difficult to continue to have a friendly environment with competition. 

In The Joy Luck Club, most of the girls compare themselves with others to put themselves down. Some of them believe that they can never be prodigies while others believe that they are better.

Welcome to the Joy Luck Blog!

I will be posting my thoughts, comments, and questions about the book, The Joy Luck Club . Feel free to comment!

-Sarah Hong

 Joy Luck Blog Writer