The Joy Luck Club: Craft Post-Analysis

IB English HL 1

Literary Genre: Postmodernism

Directions: Review the Artistic Movement Handout and explore at least FOUR
characteristics of the novel that are identifiably Postmodern in nature. In the space
provided below, state each characteristic, briefly summarize its definition, and then
thoroughly explain how the novel identifies with each.

1. Temporal distortion is when the novel is not organized in chronological order. The Joy
Luck Club directly correlates with this characteristic of being organized in an
chronological order because the story often goes back and forth from future to present.
Every family starts with the mothers’ stories, then the daughters, and so forth. An
example of this is the Ying-ying’s family. It starts off with the story of Ying-ying’s
childhood and her experience with the moon lady. Then, it moves to the daughter’s life
where Ying-ying is already a middle aged woman. In the chapter “Rice Husband”, the
author mentions that the glass vase(representing a broken marriage, rose is full of doubt
and confusion) had suddenly broken into pieces when her mom was alone upstairs and it
remains a mystery until the end of the novel. In the chapter “Waiting Between the Trees”,
the story goes back to the mother’s childhood and then jumps forward to why Ying-ying
purposely broke the vase. This usage of temporal distortion helps to draw the reader’s
attention and gain interest through the unsolved mysteries in each family.

2. Unreliable narrators, which are narrators who can’t be trusted to tell the whole truth
as they are either biased or ignorant, are a postmodern characteristic visible in The Joy
Luck Club. Because the narrators of each chapter are the main characters, the reader sees
them grow and develop over the course of the entire story. The fact that they grow over
time suggests that they were biased and ignorant at the beginning and less so at the end.
For example, the daughters, when they narrate, initially paint their mothers as harsh and
stubborn, without really revealing their true intents, thus making them not entirely
reliable because the reader’s perception of their mothers is warped unless they are able
to see their mothers’ side of the story.

3. Tan uses minimalism, the use of characters and events that are clearly common and
unexceptional throughout The Joy Luck Club. The events of the novel follow the everyday
lives of immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters, two fairly common types
of people in America. The events of the story are also unexceptional, as the plot focuses
on the daily lives of these characters: chapters focus on the marital issues of daughters
and the struggles their mothers went through in China to be able to give them the
opportunities they have in America, there’s very little action throughout the story, which
helps to make it feel more relatable and engaging to the reader.
4. In the Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan utilizes Faction, which is the mixing of actual historical
events with fictional events without clearly defining what is factual and what is fictional.
In order for the readers to understand the story, authors implement historical events to
connect the exact feelings or emotions the characters display. For example, in the chapter
Magpies, one of the prominent characters, An-mei Hsu, compares her feeling of terror to
the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By implementing the allusion to the bombing,
she depicts how both situations were unexpected, yet they horrified An-mei. Ultimately,
this creates a corresponding feeling that the readers can comprehend without describing
the event or illustrating what is factual or fictional.

Craft: Characterization

Directions: Now that we have read the novel, review the meaning of each of the character
names below and examine any new, underlying nuances that Tan intentionally conveys to
the reader. Keep in mind that we have already researched some of these names in English,
so use your JLC Hyperdoc Intro as a resource! For all characters except An-Mei, use a direct
quote from the novel to support your analysis.

1. Suyuan:
In the beginning of the novel, it is revealed that Suyuan Woo had tragically abandoned her
twin daughters as she fled Kewelin. In the chapter A Pair of Tickets, Amy Tan connects and
discloses how Suyuan Woo´s name signifies the profound remembrance of her daughters.
Once Jing-mei arrives in China, they stay at a hotel where her father clarifies the name of
her mother. He shares that the way Suyuan wrote it in Chinese, it means Long Cherished
Wish¨ and the first character means ¨Forever Never Forgotten¨ (Tan 320). All throughout
Suyuan life, she felt guilty that she had abandoned her two innocent daughters; her long
cherished wish¨ was to reunite with them, along with having a bond with Jing-mei. She
tragically passed away before she could get the chance to. As soon as Jing-mei met her
sisters she took a polaroid with them, she saw ¨her [mother´s] same eyes, her same
mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long-cherished wish¨ (Tan 329). Jing-mei was
able to fulfill her mother's wish by going to connect with her sisters, by doing so she is
continuing her mother´s legacy and dream, so that she wasn't forgotten.

2. Ying-ying:
Ying-ying´s name can refer back to her Chinese zodiac symbol which is a tiger. Ying-Ying
depicts that she ¨was a wild girl, but [she] was innocent” and naive to her surroundings,
yet her mother describes her as having ¨tiger eyes¨ that ¨gather fire¨ in the day and ¨shine
golden¨ at night ( Tan 277-280). Her mother revealed that a tiger is gold and black, the
gold side ¨leaps with its fierce heart¨, and the black side stands still with ¨cunning, hiding
its gold between trees¨ (Tan 282). Ying-ying discovered herself and gained strength to
leave her manipulative husband, who was also having an affair, and abort their child in
order to portray her freedom.This experience helped her become fierce, learn to protect
her strength, and become attentive to her environment, just like a tiger.

3. An-Mei:
An-mei has established a way to help her daughter, Rose, understand the importance of
fighting back and making decisions so that Rose doesn´t encounter the same experiences
as her mother. In relation to Rose´s name, An-mei can be defined as a beautiful or
peaceful rose. In the chapter Without Wood, Amy Tan utilizes roses to demonstrate how
both women, Rose and An-mei, were initially submissive and hesitant to express
themselves freely. An-mei gained the strength and courage to fight back in the story of
Magpies, after realizing that her mother was right all along. After these experiences, she
continuously tried to help Rose be independent and confident in herself and her
decisions. It was during her divorce that Rose realizes that she is capable of making her
own decisions that will ultimately benefit her. Through this, it is depicted that An-mei was
trying to be a ¨peaceful¨ rose in order to help her daughter discover her identity.

4. Waverly: Waverly was named after the street her family lived on. In the chapter Double
Face, Lindo explains how right after she gave birth to Waverly, she realized she was
“dissatisfied with [her] life” (Tan 301). She wanted a better life for her daughter, for her
not to regret anything, so she named her Waverly. It was a reminder to Waverly that their
family is where she belonged, but she also knew that once she grew up, she could “take a
piece of [her mother] with [her]” (Tan 302). Waverly represented the American dream,
for her to have a better life than her mother.

5. Jing-Mei: In A Pair of Tickets, Jing-Mei’s father tells her of her name’s meaning. He
explains jing is “not just good, it’s something pure, essential, the best quality” (Tan 320).
Jing-Mei is the best daughter that her parents could have, they sacrificed all they could for
her. This sacrifice took out all the impurities within her to make her the best she could be.
Even though she inherited her compassion from others, when she took the crab of least
quality in Best Quality, her mother views her as deserving of the best. The second part of
her name, Mei, means younger sister. This refers to Suyuan’s lost daughters back in China.
In all, her name means the best kind of daughter. Her mother wasn’t able to give her twins
the life they deserved, but she was able to give it to Jing-Mei. She also goes by June, a
name she uses in place of Jing-Mei as it is easier to say and go by in America. It can be
seen as a way she has “denied that [she] had any Chinese” within her (Tan 304).

6. Rose: Rose’s name can refer back to the way she was treated in her marriage and the
meaning of Ted’s garden. Ted was persistent in taking care of his garden at the start of the
marriage, the garden referring to his marriage with Rose. However, once he faced
hardships in work, he gave up on the garden and marriage. Rose remembers a fortune
cookie saying “When a husband stops paying attention to the garden, he’s thinking of
pulling up roots”, directly correlating to Ted asking for a divorce. Ted neglected his
flowers, like he neglected Rose. However, Ted can’t “just pull [Rose] out of [his] life and
throw [her] away”, because although she turned to a weed through other’s opinion, she
has embedded herself within his life and their house. She finally embraces herself and
stands up against Ted. That day’s dream, she sees Mr. Chou and her mother over a planter
box, watching over it like a baby, it was full of weeds. Rose was finally able to understand
that her mother didn’t want her to suffer, but the best for her, no matter what plant.

Hi ivan, sorry to interrupt, by any chance, do u remember if Julain said he’ll do the top 3
questions on the top?
I dont remember, i can check the doc history to see what everyone has did already
I just checked and he’s done two questions already, but all the other questions were
already chosen so he was supposed to do the other two at the top.

Craft: Narrative & Plot Structure

Directions: Discuss the following questions with your team, considering Tan’s primary
intentions. There’s technically no “right” or “wrong” answer to these, but your responses
should be thorough, well supported, and reflective. If you require some additional insight,
quickly review this article on Critical Analysis.
 1. What purpose do the Opening Vignettes for each part of the novel serve? How are they
connected and how do they reflect the meaning of the four chapters that follow?
The opening vignettes for each section of the novel serve to present the essence and
themes of that section through the poetic vignette at each beginning. As seen through the
section “Feathers from a Thousand Li Away”, the vignette reflects on each of the mother’s
early lives and emigration to America within the chapters of the section. It serves to
provide the ideas and elements that each section holds through episodes and how the
characters narrating within the section’s chapters relate to the subject.

2. How does the structure and utilization of vignettes within individual chapters
contribute to the author’s main ideas and enhance the understanding of the reader?
The structure of the vignettes contribute to Tan’s style of narration as it provides similar
to having different sections with multiple chapters in them. The vignettes within the
individual chapters provide sections of dialogue and stories that are associated with the
given narrator of that chapter. It helps enhance the reader’s understanding as well due to
the vignettes implementing an idea through various ways. This may be used if Tan applies
the mother daughter dynamic of the novel for a specific character and that character
describes such ideas through different stories to further integrate the ideas into the
reader.

3. Why do some chapter vignettes have icons between them, while some do not? What are
the primary differences between these two types of vignettes and how/why does Tan
implement them?
Throughout the various chapters, some vignettes happen to include an icon between the
two; perhaps the icon’s inclusion appears once various vignettes that intertwine and
relate to teach the other end. This differs from the usually vignette type that lacks the
symbols as those short passages, although focusing on another aspect of the narrator’s
story, still relates and influences the previous or coming vignette. Tan includes the icon to
separate those vignettes that relate to each other while the vignettes alcing symbols
reflect segments of one story line. Tan implements this narrative style to further
emphasize a main idea that appears within the vignettes, which also guides the reader
into acknowledging the ideologies within the vignettes.

4. Some readers vehemently claim that the non-chronological and alternating order of
family chapters are both unnecessary and unduly difficult. Therefore, why do you believe
that Amy Tan chose to organize her novel in this manner? How does it generate meaning
for the reader and support some of her main ideas?
Tan organized each chapter to group the mother’s perspectives and the daughter’s
perspectives separately. I believe she did this to highlight the contrasts of each of the
generation’s upbringings, experiences, hardships, and responses to events. Seeing how
mother’s experienced turmoil from war, loss of family, and patriarchal norms, to the
daughters experience of growing up with a mother who experienced that, illustrates the
sacrifice each mother did for their daughters. This supports the theme of mother’s
sacrificing all they have for a better life for their children. The separation of the
generations also conveys the cultural barrier between the mother’s and daughters. The
two generations grew up in completely different backgrounds, thus highlighting the
disconnect between the two. This separation also provides suspense on how each
families’ story will end, causing the reader to continue reading.

5. This novel has been heralded as more of a compilation of short stories, rather than a
traditional novel. Which one do you personally believe it falls under and why?
This novel is more of a compilation of short stories/vignettes, but every vignette relates
to the others, so calling it a “compilation” makes it sound more disorganized than it really
is. While it definitely isn’t a “traditional novel,” as the narrators shift with each chapter
and none of it is in chronological order, each vignette shares common themes and motifs
with the others, and all of them serve Tan’s purpose of revealing the dynamic between
Chinese-born mothers and their American-born daughters, so this book has the effect of a
traditional novel and the structure of a compilation of short stories.

Craft: Symbols & Motifs

Directions: Discuss the deeper meaning of each symbol and motif as implemented by
Tan in the novel AND support your analysis with a direct quote. Each one conveys a
particular THEME, so be sure to include a thematic connection in your analysis. Feel free
to copy and paste previous responses from your chapter analysis questions.
 1. The Mothers’ Mahjong Table: The traditional four-player game Mahjong game is
incredibly popular throughout Asia and is commonly played with gambling. Mahjong is
particularly esteemed and revered in the Chinese culture, which is why whenever a family
invites a guest to join their family for a game of Mahjong, they are demonstrating how
much they treasure their relationship enough to invite them to play a game so close to
their culture. In Jing-Mei Woo’s introductory chapter The Joy Luck Club, the symbol of the
mahjong game is introduced to the reader. Three of the four mothers the novel revolves
around are illustrated to be playing mahjong, with the missing mother being Suyuan Woo
who had passed away a couple months earlier. The weekly scheduled Mahjong games
between the mothers had been set in place in order to distract from the perils from the
attacks from Japan. The weekly meetings between the quartet of mothers to play Mahjong
demonstrated that even within the chaos ensued from the attacks from Japan at the time,
hope and comfort can still be found like the light at the end of a tunnel.

2. The Mothers’ Swan Feathers: In the opening vignette of the first section titled “Feathers
from a Thousand Li Away”, a mother purchases a swan upon endeavouring on creating a
life for herself and her future daughter full of endless possibilities in America.
Unfortunately upon arriving in America, the woman’s swan is taken away from her and
she is only left with a sole feather of the swan’s as memory of her swan of hope. With the
woman now having established her life and with her incredibly Americanized daughter,
the mother hopes to one day gift her daughter with the swan feather and explain its
significance in perfect English. Swans are typically associated with beauty and trust,
which could have illustrated the woman’s romanticization of her travel to America and
how she would be surrounded in boundless possibilities in America. The act of
confiscation of her swan once she arrived demonstrates that the American dream is
generally glorified because it truly isn’t attainable for some individuals, just like the
mother’s aspirations for a better life supported with her possession of the swan had
crumbled. The singular remembrance of the occurrence with the feather reminds the
mother of what could have been had she remained with the swan and is only left with the
memory. There is also a disconnect demonstrated between the mother and her daughter,
as the mother optimistically hopes to one day communicate to her daughter the
importance of the swan feather.

3. Suyuan’s Pendant: In her chapter titled Best Quality, Jing-Mei Woo shares that her
mother had gifted her a jade pendant shortly before her death. To Jing-Mei, the pendant
was not too pleasing to the eye and resulted in hiding it away in a box. But after her
mother’s death, Jing-Mei pondered on the significance of the pendant that her mother
gave her, since her mother had explicitly never told her what the pendant signified for
them. Jing-Mei does not want to ask her aunts about their interpretations of the
pendant’s meaning as she would much rather have heard it from her mother. The now
prevalent disconnect between Suyuan and Jing-Mei that continues to flare with the
presence of the pendant demonstrates that a mother’s guidance for her daughter is
incredibly treasured and its importance may not be so relevant when once given but over
time, a daughter will understand the guidance and sense her mother’s presence despite
her absence physically.

4. Lindo’s Wind: Throughout the chapter Scar, Amy Tan implements the powerful
symbolization of the wind to demonstrate the inability to take possession of one’s
genuine thoughts and soulful nature. As the turbulent storm interrupts her wedding,
Lindo notes how the uncontrollable wind caused havoc amongst the reception and its
guests. As well, she undergoes an epiphany in which she recognizes “the power of the
wind” due to its ability to “[carry] the water that filled the rivers and [shape] the
countryside” (53). Foremost,unlike the prime five elements-water, fire, metal, wood, and
earth- the wind cannot be controlled nor can it be altered into any form; this elucidates
how despite the enforcement of the Huang’s customs, Lindo possesses the tolerance to
not conform to their ideals. To further explicate, Lindo also remarks that she possesses
“genuine thoughts inside that no one could see, that no one could take away” (53). This
affirmation further reinstates her strong willed nature, which allows her to maintain
sanity throughout an emotionally abusive marriage.

5. Ying-Ying’s Moon Lady: Throughout the chapter, The Moon Lady, Amy Tan incorporates
the symbol of the Moon Lady to depict how the Chinese culture’s pressing expectations
and strict upbringing creates difficulty maintaining one’s true identity. As the mystical
Moon Lady recounts her solemn story, she discusses that her fate is “to stay lost on the
moon, forever seeking her own selfish wishes” (82). Therefore, the Moon Lady represents
the attainable state of a wish due to one’s imprisoned state of mind. Furthermore, when
expressing the great impact this traumatic incident has had on her, Ying-Ying reveals that
she “remembere[ed] what [she] asked the Moon Lady so long ago” which was “to be
found” (84). In this revelation, it is evident that as a direct result of identity loss,
Ying-Ying desperately longs for her once confident and amiable nature.

6. An-Mei’s Magpies: In the chapter, Magpies, Amy Tan implements the symbols of turtles
and Magpies to delineate how generations of women sacrifice their expression of
emotion in order to avoid degradation from those who find enjoyment in the anguish of
others. While devastatingly crying with her mother, An-mei comes to the realization that
“this was [their] fate, to live like two turtles seeing the watery world together from the
bottom of the pond” (244). This interesting statement depicts how the women feel as if
are outcasted from society since they are constantly forced to watch unfortunate events
unfold without inputting action. Furthermore, while benign severely ridiculed by her
brother, her mother “reamined bent on the ground, her back as rounded as the turtle”
which she was “crying with her mouth closed (244). This description makes it evident
that her mother attempts to shield herself from her brother’s rude remarks, which is
representative of the turtle’s shell; however, despite being in an extremely vulnerable
position, her decision to hold back her tears depicts her inner strength and her desire to
not give her brother the satisfaction of hurting her. Additionally, while comforting her
distraught daughter, An-Mei’s mother tells of a solemn time in her childhood in which a
turtle stated that her “‘tears do not wash away [her] sorrow, but instead, “they feed
someone else’s joy’” which is why she should swallow back her tears (244). When
speaking of those who find content in the sorrow of others, she refers to the Magpies
birds, who divulge in the tears of others; the turtle’s advice is directed towards a young
An-Mei, whom she wants to pass down her inner strength to. Equally important, An-Mei
expresses her annoyance with Rose confiding in a psychiatrist, since he simply tells her
“to find a pond and pour more tears into it” when in reality, “he is just another bird
drinking from your misery” (272). The Magpies represent the psychiatrist, since they
both find joy in other’s suffering and do not have the intention to help heal one’s misery.
Interestingly enough, the source of An-Mei’s resentment towards the psychiatrist may be
her longing for her daughter to confide with her about her troubles, just as her mother
did with her; in doing so, this would help establish a healthy connection between the two
women.

7. June’s Crab: Throughout the chapter Best Quality, Any Tan implements the symbol of
the crabs in order to delineate June’s self-deprecating behavior, as well as the undeniable
bond between her and her mother. Foremost, when settling down to have dinner with the
Jong family, June notes how “Waverly was first and she picked the best crab, the brightest,
the plumpest, and put it on her daughter’s plate” (226). Waverly’s attentiveness and
immediate decision to grab the best crab for herself demonstrates her desire for the best
quality items and her somewhat selfish nature. In contrast, when choosing her crab, June
reaches for “number eleven, which had the torn-off led” which echoes her
self-deprecating qualities (226). Furthermore, her modest decision depicts how, unlike
Waverly, she does not reach towards the best quality items due to her kind-hearted
nature. After sharing an intimate moment with her daughter, Suyuan “grabbed [her] hand
and put the necklace in [her] palm” as a gesture of her appreciation of her daughter’s
sincerity (213). She does this after coming to the realization that the key reason her
daughter denies items of the best quality is due to the high quality of her integrity.

8. Waverly’s Chess Game:

Waverly's chess game conveys the connection between mother and daughters. The
author utilizes chess to represent the relationship between Waverly and Lindo. Waverly
always sees herself as the inferior role as she explains that she had “always become the
pawn. [She] should only run away. And she was the queen, able to move in all directions,
relentless in her pursuit, always able to find [her] weakest spots” (pdf). She has this
tension with her mother for her whole life, starting from the day when she gets mad at
Lindo for taking credit for her hard work when it couldn’t have happened without the
support of Lindo. As she develops a clearer understanding of her mother in chapter, Four
Directions, she realizes how her mother is actually not the harsh and brutal person, but a
fragile and older person. In fact, her mother was supporting her when Waverly was in a
weak situation like the “pawn” in chess. This is why her mother taught her the “art of
invisible strength” which helped her to win many victories at a young age(89).

9. Lena’s Vase:
The author utilizes the symbolism of the broken table to convey that male dominance in
relationships and their unappreciative demeanors towards women’s sacrifice. When
Ying-ying, Lena’s mother, visits her daughter’s new house, Lena points out the table
decoration in the room and the vase sitting on top. Lena states how the simple room
includes one table, an “odd-looking piece right next to the bed” which is “made out of a
slab of unevenly cut marble and thin crisscrosses of black lacquer wood for the legs”
(178). These characteristics of the table illustrate the unstable and impending troubles to
come and this occurs to be true as the “marble end table [collapses] on top of its spindly
black legs” (180). This explains how the cause of Lena’s symbolic vase breaking was
caused by Ted(men). This is displayed through his unappreciative manner in which he
takes it granted for Rose quitting her job to support him and doing all the work without
getting any credit because of her reputation as a wife. Thus, through this, the author
conveys how gender equality is a major factor for the breakage of relationships.

10. Rose’s Garden & Weeds:

The weeds connect to the theme of one’s investigation of identity.
The weeds within this chapter delineate the progression of how Rose has grown to leave
the zone of uncertainty and confusion and eventually find herself, full of confidence and
individualism. In the beginning of the chapter, An-mei explains how Rose will grow into a
weed “[grow] wild in any direction” “until someone pulls [her] out and throws [her]
away” if she didn’t listen to her mother (212). This was true as Rose was exactly like a
weak weed which sways in all directions and eventually gets pulled out. However, the
author incorporates the development of weeds to demonstrate how Rose converts into a
powerful being when she boldly states that “[Ted] can’t just pull [her] out of [his] life and
throw [her] away” (218). Rose will no longer allow her husband to treat her as a weak
and useless weed that can be easily ripped off. Also, the garden demonstrates a similar
progression. Moreover, the garden connects to the superiority of men and their enforcing
methods to make women inferior to them. This is demonstrated through Ted’s action of
“cutting of aloe vera” which was a gift from Lena to Roe because it didn’t match with his
arrangements (213). The garden ties up with the weed because when she visits the
messay garden, she sees the weeds coming out but doesn’t kill it. Thus, it symbolizes how
she won’t let others further damage her and continue to flourish and remain within the
house that she belongs to.