1

CULTURAL CLASH
BETWEEN AMERICAN AND CHINESE CULTURE
IN AMY TAN’S THE JOY LUCK CLUB

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By
ELISHA VITA NATALIE
Student Number: 174214089

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS
UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA
YOGYAKARTA
2022

1
 CULTURAL CLASH
BETWEEN AMERICAN AND CHINESE CULTURE
IN AMY TAN’S THE JOY LUCK CLUB

TITLE PAGE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By
ELISHA VITA NATALIE
Student Number: 174214089

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS
UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA
YOGYAKARTA
2022

A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate ThesisAROVL PAGE

ii
 CULTURAL CLASH BETWEEN AMERICAN AND CHINESE
CULTURE IN AMY TAN’S THE JOY LUCK CLUB

By

ELISHA VITA NATALIE

Student Number: 174214089

Approved by

Dr. Tatang Iskarna (date)

Advisor

(name of co-advisor) (date)

Co-Advisor

iii
 A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

CULTURAL CLASH BETWEEN AMERICAN AND CHINESE

CULTURE IN AMY TAN’S THE JOY LUCK CLUB

By
ELISHA VITA NATALIE
Student Number: 174214089

Defended before the Board of Examiners

on…………
and Declared Acceptable

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

NAME SIGNATURE
Chairperson : Dr. Tatang Iskarna ________________
Secretary : name of Thesis Co-Advisor ________________
Member 1 : name of Main Examiner ________________
Member 2 : Dr. Tatang Iskarna ________________
Member 3 : name of Thesis Co-Advisor ________________

Yogyakarta, November 2022

Faculty of Letters
Universitas Sanata Dharma
Dean

Dr. Tatang Iskarna

iv
 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been previously

submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that, to the best of my

knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no material previously written by any

other person except where due reference is made in the text of the undergraduate thesis.

November 2022,

Elisha Vita Natalie

v
 LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma

Nama : Elisha Vita Natalie

Nomor Mahasiswa : 174214089

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan

Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul

CULTURAL CLASH BETWEEN AMERICAN AND CHINESE

CULTURE IN AMY TAN’S THE JOY LUCK CLUB
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan
dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan
secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan
akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin kepada saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada
saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta,
Pada tanggal 27 Oktober 2022

Yang menyatakan,

Elisha Vita Natalie

vi
MOTTO PAGE
This is how you do it:

You sit down at the keyboard and you put one word

after another until it’s done.

It’s that easy, and that hard.

- Neil Gaiman

vii
 DEDICATION PAGE
For Jesus Christ,

my beloved parents, my brother,

and my friends.

viii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my gratefulness Jesus Christ who has given me

strength and health so that I can finish my undergraduate thesis. Because of His

blessings, I can survive my study in Sanata Dharma University.

I am very grateful to my beloved parents, who are always give me motivation to

keep my chin up in this process and patiently waiting for me to finish my study, and my

younger brother, Josh, who always told me “cepetan lulus!”, also other families who

support me always. I could not finish this thesis without all your motivations and

emotional support.

I would like to express my thanks to my thesis advisor, Dr. Tatang Iskarna for all

his time and energy in helping me write this thesis. I give my gratitude to all lecturers

and staff of English Letters in Sanata Dharma University.

To my beloved “Anak Tuhan” members, Vania, Weny, Bella, Via, June, Janis,

and my friends from church, Edward Ryan, Nikolaus Waw, Efan, and Catherine who

always ask me “Kapan sidang?”, thank you for all your contribution to finish this

thesis. To my class friend, Irene Andini, I thank you for always accompanying me in

college life. I would also like to thank EXO, IU, and Westlife because their songs

always accompany me in the middle of finishing my undergraduate thesis.

Last but not least, I want to thank Fiona, my dorm friend, Vira, Adel, Wina, and

Media for struggling in finishing our thesis together. I am grateful for have them all in

my life.

Elisha Vita Natalie

ix
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE...................................................................................................................ii
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY...............................................................................v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS......................................................................vi
MOTTO PAGE.............................................................................................................vii
DEDICATION PAGE..................................................................................................viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................ix
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................xii
ABSTRAK....................................................................................................................xiii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION....................................................................................1
A. Background of the Study....................................................................................1
B. Problem Formulation..........................................................................................3
C. Objectives of the Study.......................................................................................3
D. Definition of Terms............................................................................................3

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE................................................................5

A. Review of Related Studies..................................................................................5
B. Review of Related Theories................................................................................7
1. Theory of Conflict..............................................................................................8
2. Theory of Characterization.................................................................................9
3. American Values...............................................................................................10
4. Chinese Values.................................................................................................12
C. Theoretical Framework.....................................................................................14

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY..............................................................................18

A. Object of The Study..........................................................................................18
B. Approach of The Study.....................................................................................19
C. Method of the Study.........................................................................................20

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS...........................................................................................22
A. Conflict and Its Parties in The Novel................................................................22
1. Lindo and her Cultural Belief...........................................................................22
2. Waverly and her Cultural Perspective..............................................................27
3. The Conflict between Lindo and Waverly........................................................30
B. Cultural Clash in the Novel through The Conflict............................................32

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION......................................................................................38

REFERENCES..............................................................................................................40

x
 ABSTRACT

NATALIE, ELISHA VITA. (2022). Cultural Clash between American and Chinese
Culture in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Yogyakarta: Department of English
Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

This research is aimed to investigate the culture clash between Chinese and
American culture in The Joy Luck Club (1989), a novel by Amy Tan. This clash is
represented by the character of Lindo and her daughter, Waverly. The clash is about
how to view differently the custom, language, habit, and way of thinking.
There are two research questions in this research. The first is what the conflict in
The Joy Luck Club is. The second is how the conflict represents a cultural clash between
Chinese and American culture.
This is library research. The object of the research is the novel of The Joy Luck
Club (1989) written by Amy Tan. The primary data is the novel itself, and the
secondary data come from journals, books, and articles from the internet. This research
uses sociological approach and the theories used are the theory of conflict by Gillin and
Gillin, M.J. Murphy’s character and characterization, and also American and Chinese
values to help answer the research questions. The data are collected with documentation
and classification through the dialogues and narration. The data analysis used is
identifying and classifying the characteristics of Lindo Jong and Waverly Jong,
discovering the conflicts between those characters, and describing how those conflicts
represent cultural clash.
The results of this study are as follows. The first is that the conflicts between
Lindo and Waverly happened because they have different perspective about how to deal
with society. These conflicts emerged as they grow up in different society. The second
is that Lindo grows up in Chinese society, meanwhile Waverly grows up in American
society. Even though Waverly learns Chinese values from her mother since she was kid,
American society influence her more because she lived there. Society plays important
role in someone’s characteristics. At the end, Waverly finally can accept her both sides,
Chinese and American.

Keywords: Cultural Clash, Society, Characteristics

xi
 ABSTRAK

NATALIE, ELISHA VITA. (2022). Cultural Clash between American and Chinese
Culture in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Yogyakarta: Department of English
Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui benturan budaya antara budaya Cina
dan budaya Amerika dalam novel The Joy Luck Club (1989) karya Amy Tan. Benturan
ini diwakili oleh karakter Lindo dan anak perempuannya, Waverly. Benturan itu tentang
bagaimana memandang perbedaan adat, bahasa, kebiasaan, dan cara berpikir.
Ada dua rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini. Yang pertama adalah konflik apa
yang terjadi dalam The Joy Luck Club. Yang kedua adalah bagaimana konflik tersebut
mempresentasikan benturan budaya antara budaya Cina dan Amerika.
Ini adalah penelitian kepustakaan. Objek penelitian ini adalah novel The Joy Luck
Club (1989) karya Amy Tan. Data primer yang digunakan adalah novel itu sendiri dan
data sekunder yang digunakan berasal dari jurnal, buku, dan artikel dari internet.
Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan sosiologis dan teori yang digunakan adalah
teori konflik milik Gillin dan Gillin, karakter dan penokohan milik M.J. Murphy, serta
nilai-nilai Amerika dan Cina untuk membantu menjawab rumusan masalah.
Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan dokumentasi dan klasifikasi melalui dialog dan
narasi. Analisa data yang digunakan adalah mengidentifikasi dan mengklasifikasikan
karakteristik Lindo Jong dan Waverly Jong, menemukan konflik antar karakter tersebut,
dan mendeskripsikan bagaimana konflik tersebut mempresentasikan benturan budaya.
Hasil penelitian ini adalah sebagai berikut. Pertama, konflik antara Lindo dan
Waverly terjadi karena mereka memiliki cara pandang yang berbeda dalam menghadapi
masyarakat. Konflik-konflik ini muncul ketika mereka tumbuh dalam masyarakat yang
berbeda. Kedua, Lindo tumbuh di lingkungan Cina sedangkan Waverly tumbuh di
lingkungan Amerika. Meskipun Waverly belajar nilai-nilai dalam masyarakat di Cina
dari ibunya sejak kecil, masyarakat di Amerika lebih mempengaruhinya karena dia
tinggal di sana. Masyarakat berperan penting dalam karakteristik seseorang. Pada
akhirnya, Waverly dapat menerima kedua pihak, Cina dan Amerika.

Kata kunci: Cultural Clash, Society, Characteristics

xii
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Every country in this world has its own culture. When hearing the word ‘culture’,

people usually remember it as an art from a society or a group of people. However,

culture is more complex than that. Culture can be defined as “the set of attitudes, values,

beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people, but different for each individual,

communicated from one generation to next” (Matsumoto & Huang, 2012).

When a group of people from a particular culture move into a country with a

different culture, it is often that they will find difficulties adapting in that society.

Because almost their whole life is spent in the culture that has a very different culture

with their new society. In Indonesia, we have many cultures with multiple languages.

With many cultures, ethnic, not infrequently we meet clashes in culture. In the family,

sometimes we found a couple married with two different cultures. For example, a

Javanese woman married with a Bataknese man. Both families want a marriage with

their culture. They have no choice but to celebrate the marriage with two different

cultures. Learning others culture not only about ethnic and tradition, but also custom,

art, language, literature, and the way people think of society.

With two different cultures meet, sometimes, they will become clashes. Without

realizing it, we often found some cultural clash in our life. Younger people who were

born with two cultures have access to adapt those cultures. They can hold their original

culture, but they can be more influenced by the new culture they meet. If they meet

older who still hold on the original culture, it will become cultural clash between them.

1
 2

This novel, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan tell the story about Chinese mother’s

life struggle to survive and raise their children in American society. What we will

discuss in this work is Waverly Jong’s family. Lindo Jong, Waverly’s mother, she lives

as a Chinese immigrant who moved and decided to stay in the United States. As a

Chinese immigrant, it is not easy for those who still hold on their traditional Chinese

culture.

The United States of America is a country with many immigrants from many

countries. People from some ethnicities, different races, religions come to America with

a hope that they can make a better life there. With those cultural differences, people can

make different thoughts and opinions. For example, they speak English to

communicate, but every person who speaks English from a different country has their

own accent. Some people can understand, but some people cannot. This language

struggle will make it difficult for people to communicate.

This first Amy Tan’s book The Joy Luck Club tells us about the dynamic and

nature of the Chinese mothers and the American born Chinese daughters. The Chinese

mothers represent about Chinese values and cultures, they are all 100% Chinese in

culture, or in language. But it is different with the daughters. The daughters are born in

America and rise in America. They learn about American culture and language their

entire life. It will be difficult for them to learn Chinese culture that they never heard

about.

The author of this novel, Amy Tan is also from an immigrant family. She was

born in Oakland, California on February 19, 1952. She is the second of three children

born to Chinese immigrant John and Daisy Tan. Her father traveled to the United States

in order to escape from Chinese Civil War. Amy Tan’s mother story is related to this
 3

novel’s story. Tan learned about her mother’s previous marriage with another man in

China. Of their son who died as a toddler, and three daughters, and how her mother left

these children in Shanghai. In 1987, Amy Tan traveled with her mother to China and

she met her three half-sisters.

This topic, cultural clash is very important conflict in our life. People were born

with culture and this world has various cultures which make every individual have their

own image and identity. Cultural clash happens everywhere with everyone. Culture

itself is an inheritance from the predecessors that we have to preserve. We could not

separate human from culture, because culture is a part of human identity.

B. Problem Formulation

There are two questions based on the background of the study.

1. What is the conflict in The Joy Luck Club?

2. How does this conflict represent a cultural clash between Chinese and Western

Culture?

C. Objectives of the Study

Based on the problem formulation, this study has two objectives. The first is to

find the conflict in The Joy Luck Club. The second is to explain how the conflict in The

Joy Luck Club represents cultural clash between Chinese and Western culture.

D. Definition of Terms

To have a deeper understanding of the thesis, it is necessary to clarify the term of

cultural clash. Cultural Clash is “the conflict that occurs between two or more cultures

when they disagree about a certain value” (Rogers & Steinfatt, 1999).
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

There are several studies on Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, some of them discuss

relationship between the mothers and daughters. One of the studies is a review of the

related novel and the others are related to cultural clash or cultural conflict.

The first related study was conducted by a student of Universitas Sanata Dharma,

Yosepha Respati (2003) entitled The Influence of Mothers’ Background on Raising

Their Daughters in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Yosepha used socio-historical

approach to analyze the factors that influence mother’s belief in raising their daughter.

She focused on the mother characters and Chinese culture more than American. She

discusses the mother’s social culture, their characters described, and how mothers who

are immigrants raise their daughters in America. From the analysis, she found out that

the mother’s past life was influenced by their habit, their characteristics, and their

behaviour. Yosepha used library research for her studies. In this study, in America, the

mothers still consider themselves as Chinese and raise their daughters with Chinese and

American cultures hope that the daughters have a bond with where they come from. The

mothers bring some Chinese tradition and culture to America. They have club named

The Joy Luck Club for share their sadness and happiness every week. They also bring

their daughters to the club, so they can learn and acknowledge Chinese culture. The

daughters started to try their best to live their life in American society, but society still

considers them as Chinese and still discriminate them. When the daughters grow up

they can accept their Chinese’ side and finally can find their own happiness in life.

5
 6

For the next related study, taken from a group of students, Amalia, Surya, and

Erna from their Journal in Jurnal Ilmu Budaya (2017) entitled The Way Chinese

Descendent Mothers Teach Chinese Culture and The Preserved Traditions in

Indonesian Chinese Multicultural Family: A Reflection Through The Joy Luck Club by

Amy Tan. They used cultural studies and multiculturalism to analyze this journal.

Research method that they used is descriptive qualitative method. And also, they used

the data triangulation method in order to ensure the validity and accuracy of this

research. This study focused on the way Chinese mothers teach Chinese cultures and

traditions within the family. They talk about similarities and differences between the

mothers in The Joy Luck Club and two cities in Indonesia in educating their children

with their cultural values. They used an interview method to compare mothers in the

novel and mothers in two cities in Indonesia. They found some of the mothers, both in

the novel and Indonesia, each of them plays an important role in guiding and educating

the children and focus on teaching integrity and obedience to the children. Actually, we

can find Chinese cultures that still exist at this time, like celebrating Lunar New Year

and the Moon Festival.

The next related study is a literary review of the novel, The Joy Luck Club. The

review is from Clare (2009). She lives a life with two different cultures, American and

French. In some aspect, the novel has a similarity with her. She said each of the chapters

could stand alone and feel this novel a bit slower than a more traditional novel. She

found interesting in the Chinese mother stories. She pays attention more in the mothers’

stories because she thinks the mothers’ stories range from poignant to funny and are

often both. One of her favorite chapter in the novel is Lindo Jong’s part, “The Red

Candle”. She found how Chinese mothers view their half Chinese daughters struggling
 7

with their cultures is fascinating. She said detail in this novel is astounding and wish

Tan’s other novels have more concrete plots. She recommended this novel to every

child of two cultures at least once to read this novel.

Last related study is a journal from a group of students from Universitas Pakuan

Bogor, Eva Monica, Ni Made Widisanti, and Sari Rejeki in (2020). The journal is

entitled Cultural Conflict Experienced by The Central Character in The Novel Crazy

Rich Asian by Kevin Kwan. They used qualitative research supported by descriptive

analysis method and library research techniques to support the process of analysis by

using the novel as a primary data. This journal focus on difference ideas between Nick’s

family which is crossbreed Chinese and Rachel’s family which is from mainland China.

They analyzed that there is social gap and way of thinking between two families with

different culture. Cultural clash in this journal happen because a group of people have

assessment of another culture on the basis of a culture’s values. This study shows that

cultural clash happens because of the multicultural life of society.

Those four related studies have similarity with this study. Some related studies are

using The Joy Luck Club as the object and some of them are having a same topic

(cultural clash). One of related study is discuss the same object with the same topic, but

they are comparing the multicultural mothers in the novel and multicultural mothers in

real life. Meanwhile, this study is focus in the cultural conflicts between Lindo and

Waverly as a mother and daughter.

B. Review of Related Theories

In this chapter, some theories will be applied to find the analysis. These theories

applied to help the author for analyze this study.

 8

1. Theory of Conflict

First theory that will be use in this study is theory of conflict. Every story always

have conflicts. In The Joy Luck Club, it has several conflicts between the mothers and

the daughters, including the conflicts between Waverly Jong and her mother, Lindo

Jong. Every conflict has a cause and effects. There will no conflict if there is no cause.

According to (Gillin & Gillin, 1954), “conflict is a social process in which

individuals or groups seek their ends by directly challenging the antagonist by violence

or threat of violence.” Gillin and Gillin state there are four roots of conflict: (1)

individual differences (2) cultural differences (3) clashing interest, and (4) social

change.

a. Individual differences

Gillin and Gillin say, “Individual differences give different point of view and

provide disparities which lead to clashes.” Every character is unique, they are all

have different point of view and purpose. And this difference will lead some

characters into conflict and clashes.

b. Cultural differences

Every society have their own culture. There are many cultures in the society and

have their own characteristic. Different culture may make some people judge a

culture and will make a conflict between several groups or individual.

c. Clashing interest

Every people have their own interest. Some individuals may have different

interests from others, this will become a conflict.

d. Social change
 9

Social change like economy change, trend, migration, will affects to several

groups into a conflict.

2. Theory of Characterization

The second theory that will be use in this study is theory of characterization. A

story must have plot and event, and characters as the main role of the story. Characters

play an important role in a story, without one character, the story will not complete.

Characterization is important for every author to develop characters and create images

of the characters.

(Murphy, 1972) mentioned nine methods of describing characters in literary work

to understand the character:

a. Characters are seen by another

Author can describe a person’s characters through the eyes and opinions of others.

b. Personal description

The author describes a character from their appearance through face, body, and

other physical appearance.

c. Past life

The readers can learn the characters from their past life. Character’s past life can

help the readers to know the shape of the characters.

d. Speech

From what person says, the author give clues to the readers the details about the

character’s personality.

e. Reaction

The readers can learn a character’s personality through their reaction from some

events or situations.
 10

f. Conversation with others

From a conversation between other people, author gives clue to the readers about

the characters.

g. Thought

The readers learn direct knowledge of what a person thinking about.

h. Direct comment

The author’s comment about a character’s personality.

i. Manners

The author describe a person’s way, habits, some features to help characterize a

character.

3. American Values

Because this study will discuss about cultural clash between American culture and

Chinese culture, we need to understand American and Chinese values. In America,

people have had individual freedom since they were children. This is one of American

values. People have permission to choose their way in life, choose their work and

relationship. These are some American values mentioned by (Kohls, 1984),

a. Personal Control Over the Environment

People consider it normal and right when Man can/should control nature, their

own environment and destiny

b. Change

In the American mind, change is seen as an indisputably good condition. Change

is strongly linked to development, improvement, progress, and growth.

c. Time and its Control

 11

For the average American, time is of the utmost importance. Time is also valued

in America, because by considering time to be important one can clearly

accomplish more than if one “wastes” time and does not keep busy.

d. Equality/Egalitarianism

For Americans, Equality is one of their most cherished values. Most Americans

believe that God views all humans alike without regard to intelligence, physical

condition, and economic status.

e. Individualism and Privacy

People are seen as separate individuals with individual needs. Americans think

they are more individualistic in their thoughts and actions, it is a fact. They join

groups, but somehow, they believe that they're a little unique and special, so they

tend to leave the group easily as soon as they enter the group.

f. Self-Help Concept

In America, a person can take credit only for what they have accomplished by

themselves. Americans climb up the ladder of success through their own hard

work and sacrifice.

g. Competition and Free Enterprise

Americans believe competition brings out the beat in people and free enterprise

leads to progress and produces success.

h. Future Orientation

Americans have traditionally been hopeful that the future would bring greater

happiness.

i. Action/Work Orientation
 12

Americans routinely plan and schedule an active day. Any relaxation must be in

limited time. They never make themselves “wasting time”.

j. Informality

Americans are one of the most informal and casual people in the world. They

consider informality as a compliment.

k. Directness, Openness, Honesty

One can only trust people who “look you in the eye” and “tell it like it is”. Truth

is a function of reality not of circumstance.

l. Practically and Efficiency

Americans have a reputation of being extremely realistic, practical, and efficient

people. Americans try to avoid being too sentimental when making their

decisions, they judge every situation by its merits.

m. Materialism/Acquisitions

Americans would like to think that their material objects are just the natural

benefits which always result from hard work and serious intent.

4. Chinese Values

In Chinese culture, people believe that someone’s character is based on their year

of date. It is known as the Chinese zodiac sign which represented by 12 Chinese

astrology signs, which are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey,

rooster, dog, and pig. Besides that, there are also Chinese zodiac elements like earth

which symbolizes stability, metal which symbolizes competitiveness and maturity,

water symbolizes all that flows, wood symbolizes femininity and creativity, and fire

which symbolizes energy and intelligence (Giles, 2001).

 13

In Chinese culture, the younger generation must obey and respect the elders.

Children must obey their parents and wife must obey their husband. Marriage in China

is usually arranged by a matchmaker. They usually arrange the marriage from a young

age. The matchmaker will look from family background, social status, and individual

characters. It is because two families must have balance. There are some Chinese values

(Chang-tu, 1960):

a. Fear of losing face

In China, “face” means someone’s moral and social status in the eyes of the

society. It is an awful embarrassment for any Chinese to lose face. Intended for

that reason, they never criticize anybody candidly.

b. Having face

Chinese like to have face. Having face means having high position or status in the

other eyes. They will not be despised by people.

c. Age, generation, and sex are the dominant influences on behavior in interpersonal

relationship.

Only difference in generation could alter the rule regarding relative age. For

example, a boy in his real age was older than his uncle, but the uncle would take

priority because he belonged to the generation of the boy’s parents.

d. Indirectness

Chinese people will speak openly only if it would hurt others and if they are

dealing with people that close to them.

e. Self-control

This value makes Chinese people shy when revealing what they want and their

thoughts.
 14

f. Politeness

Chinese people have good manners. They always show respect to elders.

g. Fate

Chinese people believe what will happen in their life, success and failure are the

God will.

C. Theoretical Framework

In order to find the objectives of the study, some theories were applied in the

analysis. The theories are useful to help the writer to identify and documenting conflicts

between individuals, communities, and cultures. For the first problem formulation uses

theory of conflict. Conflict theory is a theory that society is in state of perpetual conflict

because of competition for limited resources, it was developed by Karl Marx (Hayes,

2022). Conflict theory is used to identify the conflicts that appeared in every individuals

and communities, conflict that make Chinese and West culture become clash.

The second theory that used in this study is theory of characterization.

Characterization is used to analyze every character in the story. From the

characterization, the reader can understand each character from their speech, act, past

life, through conversation with other characters, and their appearance. This method is

very useful to understanding what the characters want, what are they think about others.

Next is sociological approach. This theory is used to analyze the characters

relationship with society. The main influence of character establishment and life is

society. Sociological approach is to understand of how people get affected and dealing

with society. This novel itself is about the relationship between Chinese immigrant

mothers and American born Chinese daughters who grow up in different society.
 15

This research also uses American and Chinese values. Those values is use to help

analyze the characters. Both American and Chinese values influence the character, so,

those values are helpful to identify the details of character’s analysis.

 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of The Study

The object of this study is The Joy Luck Club novel written by Amy Tan. The Joy

Luck Club is Amy Tan’s debut novel. It was published in 1989 and consists of 332

pages.

The story tells us about four Chinese immigrant mothers who move to America to

survive and make a new life, with their American-born daughters. This novel consists of

4 parts and focuses on every character. In 1993, this novel was adapted into film

directed by Wayne Wang and starring Kieu Chinh as Suyuan Woo, Tsai Chin as Lindo

Jong, France Nuyen as Ying-Ying St. Clair, Lisa Lu as An-Mei Hsu, Ming-Na Wen as

June Woo, Tamlyn Tomita as Waverly Jong, Lauren Tom as Lena St. Clair, and

Rosalind Chao as Rose Hsu Jordan. The novel was also adapted into a play by Susan

Kim at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York.

The first story is about Suyuan Woo who comes to America after losing her

family and her twin daughters during war. She is remarried and lives in San Francisco

with her daughter, Jing-mei. In this novel, each of the four Chinese mothers has her own

thought of the world based on their experience in China. And as the daughters grow up,

they have problems understanding each other. All of the daughters, Jing-mei Woo,

Waverly Jong, Lena St. Clair, and Rose Hsu Jordan try to understand their mother’s past

with Chinese culture. But the four daughters live in America with American culture that

will make them have a clash in culture.

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B. Approach of The Study

This research uses sociological approach. It highlights the connection between

literature and society. Works of literature are always created in a certain social

contextual situation and condition. Writers may uphold or disapprove the social values

of the community in which they live. However, they write for the sake of the readers

and the readers are the society. Through the ages the writer has performed the functions

of priest, prophet, and entertainer: all of these are important social roles. The social

function of literature is the domain of the sociological critic (Smith, 2022).

Smith states further that literary works that do not concern with social issues may

have social issues as subtexts. The sociological critics pay much attention not only on

the stated themes of literature, but also in the latent themes. Like the historical critic, the

sociological critics try to comprehend the writer’s environment as an important element

in the writer’s work. Like the moral critic, the sociological critic usually has certain

values by which he or she judges literary works.

Because the individual appears in and reflective of society, the sociological

approach to comprehend the individual and its parts means that we must also understand

the society in which the individual is acting, and keep in mind that the individual is

always acting in a social context in which other selves exist (Stryker, 1980).

This theory can clarify the character of social facts, literature as a communication

method, particularly with assume to extrinsic aspects, such as social groups, social class,

social stratification social institutions, social systems, social interactions, social

conflicts, social awareness, mobility social, and so on (N.K, 2003). In general,

sociology of literature can be explained as the study of the relationship among literary

work and society. How the social relation influences the author in building her
 20

imagination and the purpose of her work of on social life broadly (Wellek & Warren,

1970).

C. Method of the Study

This research use library research. The main data are taken from the novel, and

the additional data are derived from journals, books, article in the internet. The data

collection is done by documentation and classification. There were some steps for the

analysis. First, I was reading The Joy Luck Club novel for several times. This step aimed

at understanding the novel and focusing to some elements that will be discuss on this

work. Close reading is very important to understanding the novel, what does the writer

wants to tell the readers. Therefore, close reading should be done in several times to

find the details of the story.

After reading the novel, then, she decides the subject that will be discussed. She

tries to find out the background of the novel The focus is what the writer wants to tell

to the reader. She, then, finds the conflict that appeared between the parties. How can

each parties deal with the conflict will be the next discussion. Then, She classifies what

kind of conflict that appeared in the novel.

After classifying the conflict, we should identify the characters in the novel. How

many characters appeared, what their relation, and how they deal with the conflict.

Then, make some problem formulations from the conflict.

Third was formulating the problems, she made two problem formulations in this

study. Then She collects the articles, journals, and other references related to the

problems for this study. After that, she decides the method of the study. Theory of

characterization and cultural studies and the reviews of the related studies were used for
 21

understanding the novel deeper. Because having some references related to the novel

and the main topic will help to analyze this study.

After having and understanding data to answer the problem formulation, then she

analyzes the problems related to the theory, problems, and the novel. The characters’

goals and the causes conflict appear in the relationship between characters. Then the last

step is answering the problems with the method, examining the characters’ background,

discovering character’s problem to other characters, and drawing a conclusion. Finally,

it is followed by the message which the author wants to convey to the readers.
 CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

This chapter is the analysis of the answer from problem formulation. This chapter

contains two parts. In the first part, I want to focus on the conflict and its parties in the

novel, what conflict that happened between two parties, and the details about the

characters. Then the next part will analyze cultural conflict in the novel, why this

conflict called cultural clash, values that become clashes and message from the novel’s

writer.

A. Conflict and Its Parties in The Novel

This novel, The Joy Luck Club, tell us a story about Chinese immigrant mothers’

life struggle in raising their children in America society. The mothers are immigrant

who was born in China then live in America. What will we focus in here is about

Waverly Jong’s family. Lindo Jong, Waverly’s mother, she is a Chinese immigrant who

moved to America and decided to live in there. As a Chinese immigrant, it was not easy

to live with two different cultures.

1. Lindo and her Cultural Belief

Lindo Jong lived as a Chinese a half from her life. She is always adapting Chinese

values, which is becoming an obedient daughter, so her family would not be disgraced.

To understand the conflict between two characters, we need to understand Lindo Jong’s

characteristics.

Lindo was born in China, in a Chinese family who adapt Chinese values and

culture. One of Chinese culture is married by a matchmaker. Every family who have

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daughter in their house will meet their husbands by matchmaking. Lindo is no

exception. In a very young age, she has married with Tyan-yu from Huang family. She

must obey her parents and be a good daughter and good wife in Huang family so her

family would not be disgraced. She has no choice to get married with Huang’s son who

younger than her.

I was actually a very obedient child, but sometimes I had

a sour look on my face—only because I was hot or tired
or very ill. (Tan, 1989, p. 51)

When she was twelve, Lindo moved to Huang family’s house. She started

separate from her family and lives with her husband’s family. Her marriage life with

Tyan-yu, make her to not only be an obedient daughter, but also an obedient wife.

Huang Taitai, her mother in law, always demanding her, she ordered her to be able to do

house hold and even ask the servant to teach her basic things that Lindo already know

how to do it.

“Teach her to wash rice properly so that the water runs

clear. Her husband cannot eat muddy rice,” she’d say to
a cook servant. Another time, she told a servant to show
me how to clean a chamber pot: “Make her put her own
nose to the barrel to make sure it’s clean.” That was how
I learned to be an obedient wife. (Tan, 1989, p. 56)

Sometimes, Huang Taitai and Tyan-yu make Lindo upset, but she keeps that in her

mind for the sake of being an obedient daughter and wife for her family. Lindo was

chosen by a matchmaker with someone younger than her. If in other city a man would

choose his own wife with his parents’ permission, in Taiyuanese tradition, they were told

stories of sons who were so influenced by bad wives that they threw their old parents out

into the street. Because of that, Taiyuanese mothers continued to choose their daughters-

in-law, ones who would raise proper sons and care of the old people. And so, Huang
 24

Taitai, the Taiyuanese mother was chosen Lindo to be her future daughter in law and of

course Lindo has no choice but obey it. After that, Lindo’s parents start to treat her like

she belongs to someone else’s family. However, Lindo can understand why her mother

treated her like that.

Because I was promised to the Huangs’ son for

marriage, my own family began treating me as if I
belonged to somebody else. My mother would say to me
when the rice bowl went up to my face too many times,
“Look how much Huang Taitai’s daughter can eat.” My
mother did not treat me this way because she didn’t love
me. She would say this biting back her tongue, so she
wouldn’t wish for something that was no longer hers.
(Tan, 1989, p. 51)
Her mother even warned Lindo that there was no use for crying because they

already made a contract with the Huangs and cannot be broken. She told her if Lindo

misbehaved, the Huangs would not want her and her family will be disgraced. Lindo

managed to hold back her feelings.

This is when my mother would say, “Such an ugly face.

The Huangs won’t want you and our whole family will
be disgraced.” And I would cry more to make my face
uglier. “It’s no use,” my mother would say. “We have
made a contract. It cannot be broken.” And I would cry
even harder. (Tan, 1989, p. 52)

After Lindo come into Huang Taitai’s house, she began to get mistreatment from

her mother-in-law and even her younger husband. The time when she arrived at the

Huangs, there was no big celebration, Lindo was forced to go to the kitchen, a place for

cooks and servants. That day, she realized that she arrived where her life belonged and

strengthened her heart, so she would not disgrace her family name.

But I was also determined to honor my parents’ words,

so Huang Taitai could never accuse my mother of losing
face. She would not win that from our family. (Tan,
1989, p. 55)
 25

Tyan-yu, Lindo’s husband also means to her. He would complain about his food

not being good enough and spill the bowl as if it were an accident. He also would wait

until Lindo already on her seat then would demand another bowl of rice. (Tan, 1989, p.

55). However, Lindo was able to escape from those difficult situations because she has a

strong heart. She was able to manage her feelings to not drag on her sadness and show

good behavior. At the end she felt grateful about her married.

After a while I didn’t think it was a terrible life, no, not

really. After a while, I hurt so much I didn’t feel any
difference. What was happier than seeing everybody
gobble down the shiny mushrooms and bamboo shoots I
had helped to prepare that day? What was more
satisfying than having Huang Taitai nod and pat my head
when I had finished combing her hair one hundred
strokes? How much happier could I be after seeing Tyan-
yu eat a whole bowl of noodles without once
complaining about its taste or my looks? (Tan, 1989, p.
56)

After Lindo left China to America, she made a new family there. She has two sons

and a daughter. She showed much love for her daughter, Waverly. When Waverly sick

because she had a chickenpox, Lindo took care of her.

“That night I developed a high fever, and she sat next to

my bed, scolding me for going to school without my
sweater. In the morning she was there as well, feeding
me rice porridge flavored with chicken broth she had
strained herself. She said she was feeding me this
because I had the chicken pox and one chicken knew
how to fight another.” (Tan, 1989, p. 172)

Every morning before Waverly goes to school, Lindo will help her to do her hair to

formed two wound pigtails.

Each morning before school, my mother would twist and

yank on my thick black hair until she had formed two
tightly wound pigtails. (Tan, 1989, p. 91)
 26

Another Lindo’s action that shows kindness is when Waverly cried loudly

because she wants to buy salted plums. The next week when they come to the store that

sold the plums, Lindo quietly put the plums on the counter.

The next week I bit back my tongue as we entered the

store with the forbidden candies. When my mother
finished her shopping, she quietly plucked a small bag of
plums from the rack and put it on the counter with the
rest of the items. (Tan, 1989, p. 89)

Lindo really gives much love for Waverly. The same day when Waverly have

chicken pox, in the afternoon, her mother knitted a pink sweater for her.

And in the afternoon, she sat in a chair in my room,

knitting me a pink sweater while telling me about a
sweater that Auntie Suyuan had knit for her daughter
June, and how it was most unattractive and of the worst
yarn.” (Tan, 1989, p. 172)

The last characteristic of Lindo Jong is unpredictable. Lindo often be an

unpredictable person. When Waverly told that she will play chess again, she thought her

mother will be happy to hear that. She hoped that Lindo would not mad at her again.

But her reaction was different from what she thought.

But instead, she gathered her face into a frown and stared
into my eyes, as if she could force some kind of truth out
of me. “Why do you tell me this” she finally said in
sharp tones. “You think it is so easy. One day quit, the
next day play. Everything for you is this way. So smart,
so easy, so fast.”
“I said I’ll play,” I whined.
“No!” she shouted, and I almost jumped out of my scalp.
“It is not so easy anymore.” (Tan, 1989, p. 172)

Another example is when Waverly tried to speak to her mother that she was

uncomfortable when Lindo showed her off in front of everyone in a very polite way.
 27

Suddenly, Lindo was filled with anger because she thought Waverly was ashamed of

her. Lindo’s emotions sometimes changed.

“Aiii-ya. So shame be with mother?” She grasped my

hand even tighter as she glared at me.
I looked down, “It’s not that, it’s just so obvious. It’s just
so embarrassing.”
“Embarrass you be my daughter?” Her voice was
cracking with anger.
“That’s not what I meant. That’s not what I said.”
“What you say?” …..
“Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to
show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess.” My
mother’s eyes turned into dangerous black slits. She had
no words for me, just sharp silence. (Tan, 1989, p. 99)

2. Waverly and her Cultural Perspective

Waverly is the only daughter of Lindo Jong. She was born as a Chinese, but live

in America her whole life. She is such an interesting character. To analyze Waverly’s

personality, we need theory of characterization to help us. In this part, I will use nine

ways of characterization (Murphy, 1972). Waverly Jong’s name is taken from an

apartment where the Jong’s family live. Amy Tan describes Waverly Jong’s characters

through how they act, their speech, reaction, what they do, and what other character’s

say.

In the novel, the author describes Waverly’s stubbornness towards her actions. No

one can stop Waverly when she has a will, including her mother. We could see when

Waverly wants to play chess again but Lindo forbids her.

“I am ready to play chess again,” I announced to her. I

had imagined she would smile and then ask me what
special thing I wanted to eat.
But instead, she gathered her face into a frown and stared
into my eyes, as if she could force some kind of truth out
of me.
 28

“Why do you tell me this?” she finally said in sharp

tones.
“You think it is so easy. One day quit, next day play.
Everything for you is this way. So smart, so easy, so
fast.”
“I said I’ll play,” I whined. (Tan, 1989, p. 171).

The next characteristic of Waverly is self-confident. This characteristic applied

three methods of characterization. Those are actions, conversation with others, and

thought. From Waverly’s actions and words it is shown that she is a confident person.

Waverly brave enough to ask a man named Lau Po to play chess with her.

… I came back to the park and approached a man who

was observing the game. 
“Want to play?” I asked him. His face widened with
surprise and he grinned as he looked at the box under my
arm.
“Little sister, been a long time since I play with doll,” he
said, smiling benevolently. I quickly put the box down
next to him on the bench and displayed my retort. (Tan,
1989, p. 95)

Other than that, Waverly never felt that her family was poor, even though her

family live in a small apartment with two bedrooms. She lived in Chinatown in San

Francisco with her family. 

Like most of the other Chinese children who played in

the back alleys of restaurants and curio shops, I didn’t
think we were poor. My bowl was always full, three five-
course meals everyday, beginning with a soup full of
mysterious things I didn’t want to know the names of.
(Tan, 1989, p. 89)

Waverly is shown as a smart person through her actions. This characteristics use

two methods of characterization which are thoughts and actions. She learns chess from

her brother, Vincent. She has an interest in chess and asks her brother to teach her. Then

she learned chess by herself and became more interested in it.

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I read the rules and looked up all the big words in a

dictionary. I borrowed books from the Chinatown
library. I studied each chess piece, trying to absorb the
power each contained. (Tan, 1989, p. 94)

Even though she often loses in playing chess, Waverly never gives up. She learns

about this game’s secret and finds out the tactics to win the game.

I loved the secrets I found within the sixty-four black and

white squares. I carefully drew a handmade chessboard
and pinned it to the wall next to my bed, where at night I
would stare for hours at imaginary battles. Soon I no
longer lost any games or Life Savers, but I lost my
adversaries. (Tan, 1989, p. 95)

This characteristic uses actions and thought as methods of characterization.

Waverly is a sensitive person because according to her Chinese zodiac which is rabbit,

she is supposed to be a sensitive person. She is easily upset and affected by other

people’s attitudes. We can see that Waverly changed her mind about Marvin, her ex-

husband after listening to Lindo’s comment about him.

But by the time my mother had had her say about him, I
saw his brain had shrunk from laziness, so that now it
was good only for thinking up excuses. (Tan, 1989, p.
174)

Waverly becomes sensitive when she falls in love with Rich.

But I worried for Rich. Because I knew my feelings for

him were vulnerable to being felled by mother’s
suspicions, passing remarks, and innuendos. (Tan, 1989,
p. 175)

The last characteristic of Waverly is competitive. Method of characterization that

use in this characteristic is actions. Waverly joins many chess tournaments, she hates to

lose. This shows that she is a competitive person.

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I attended more tournaments, each one farther away

from home. (Tan, 1989, p. 97)

Waverly lives in America with her Chinese family. She learns Chinese values,

Chinese way most from her mother, Lindo. But Waverly applied to her Chinese society

only until she left home. Even though Waverly also learns American values by her

mother, she adapts American values mostly from the outside, from her American

society.

3. The Conflict between Lindo and Waverly

This conflict between Waverly and her mother, Lindo is different views. Lindo

who got lesson from what she had been experiencing from where she belonged, applied

and taught it to her daughter but Waverly started to learn about life from the society

where she lives not only by her mother. So, her personality not only appeared from her

family, but also society from the outside. When a child start learning from the outside,

there will be different perspective between children and parents and they got into

conflict. Conflict between mother and daughter happened because of the different

thoughts.

Even though Lindo ever told to her daughter to not show her feelings directly, she

is very active to express her feelings. She says what she wants to say and do what she

wants to do. Unlike Lindo when she was young, cannot speak back and say what she

wants to say because it will affect to her family. She could only keep what she felt in

only in her mind. Lindo also told that her daughter likes to speak back. She likes to

question what her mother said. It was showed when Waverly wanted to go to China for

her second honeymoon and her mother said people in America already know if she is an

outsider.
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“When you go to China,” I told her, “you don’t even

need to open your mouth. They already know you are an
outsider.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked. My daughter
likes to speak back. She likes to question what I say.
(Tan, 1989, p. 253)

Her society influences Waverly because she is not afraid to speak with older

people. It is shown when Waverly asks a man to play chess with her.

… I came back to the park and approached a man who

was observing the game. 
“Want to play?” I asked him. His face widened with
surprise and he grinned as he looked at the box under
my arm.
“Little sister, been a long time since I play with doll,”
he said, smiling benevolently. I quickly put the box
down next to him on the bench and displayed my retort.
(Tan, 1989, p. 95)

Waverly does not like when her mother shows off about her achievement in being

a chess genius. Waverly thought her achievement is only belongs to her. She does not

like when Lindo spread the news and showing her off to other people.

..”Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want

to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess.” My
mother’s eyes turned into dangerous black slits. She had
no words for me, just sharp silence. (Tan, 1989, p. 99)

Lindo teach Waverly to not show their feelings too directly and should put their

feelings behind her face (Tan, 1989, p. 89). Another example is the second time

Waverly does not like when her mother shows her off. She hated the way her mother

takes all the credit and said she should shut up. Lindo really gives her silent treatment

and would not speak to Waverly. After that happen, Waverly won’t play chess for a

while and made a show of it. But still, her mother ignores her. Even Waverly sacrifice a

tournament with hope her mother will come to her, crying. That was no use until
 32

Waverly tired herself and pretends to let her mother win (Tan, 1989, p. 171). What

Waverly did was really selfish.

Another American value that influences Waverly personality is self-confidence.

As we see in Waverly Jong’s characteristics, one of her characteristics is self-

confidence. She is aware that her ability to play chess is a gift, she loves to win and she

knows what other people don’t see on the chessboard.

I was ten years old. Even though I was young, I know

my ability to play chess was a gift. It was effortless, so
easy. I could see things on the chessboard that other
people could not. I could create barriers to protect
myself that were invisible to my opponents. And this
gift gave me supreme confidence. I know what my
opponents would do, move for move. I knew at exactly
what point their faces would fall when my seemingly
simple and childlike strategy would reveal itself as a
devastating and irrevocable course. I loved to win.
(Tan, 1989, p. 170)
The conflict between Waverly and Lindo are realistic conflict between mother and

daughter which causes disagreement because of different views. Lindo sometimes push

Waverly so hard that Waverly took her mother’s actions differently and sometimes

think that Lindo tried to control her.

B. Cultural Clash in the Novel through The Conflict

Cultural clash is conflict from interaction of morals, attitudes, opinions, of two

different cultures. Cultural clash and hybridity are world-wide phenomenon and it has

gained great fame in this age of globalization (Akhter, 2020, p. 25). In positive way,

cultural clash helps us to learn many cultures and languages in the world. But in

negative way, sometimes it will make people fighting and make chaos, it could be an

inter-ethnic fight. In this novel, cultural clash is a most related conflict.

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First, we have Waverly and Lindo as main topic in this study. The conflict already

started since Lindo gave birth for Waverly in America. Waverly was born in a Chinese

family, but she was raised in America. Unlike her mother, Lindo, who was born

Chinese and lives with Chinese culture and values. In Chinese culture, people believe

that someone’s character is based on their year of date. It is known as the Chinese

zodiac sign which is represented by 12 Chinese astrology signs, which are rat, ox, tiger,

rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Besides that, there

are also Chinese zodiac elements, earth which symbolizes stability, metal which

symbolizes competitiveness and maturity, water symbolizes all that flows, wood

symbolizes femininity and creativity, and fire which symbolize energy and intelligence.

(Giles, 2001)

In Chinese culture, the younger generation must obey and respect the elders,

children must obey their parent wife must obey their husbands. Marriage in China is

usually arranged by a matchmaker. They usually arrange the marriage from a young

age.

“Instead, the village matchmaker came to my family

when I was just two years old.” (Tan, 1989, p. 50)

The matchmaker will look from family background, social status, and individual

characters. It is because two families must have balance.

“The matchmaker bragged about me: “An earth horse

for an earth sheep. This is the best marriage
combination.” She patted my arm and I pushed her
hand away.” (Tan, 1989, p. 50)

Meanwhile in American culture, people are equal regardless of their age. All of

them have the same social position and rights. We can see from Waverly characteristic
 34

that she was so brave to dare a man to playing chess with her. Unlike Chinese, if

someone from a family wins a competition, they will be a pride for their family.

American is competitive. They like to compete with themselves to break their

records. Waverly once practice chess in her imagination. She imagines saw a

chessboard and has a play with someone.

Different from Chinese culture, the culture teaches people to be independent and

self-sufficient. In America’s way of thinking, the daughter’s success is her own and has

nothing to do with their parents. This view was shown between Waverly and her

mother. When Waverly won all the tournaments, she does not like when her mother

proudly walks with her to visiting many shops only to show her that Waverly Jong is

her daughter. (Tan, 1989, p. 99).

Chinese who live in America are classified as two generations. First, people like

Lindo who are Chinese immigrants growing up in China, their first language is Chinese.

Unlike Waverly, she is considered as second or third generation, because she was born

and grew up in America, and also their first language is English.

Waverly was born and raised in America. She lives with her Chinese family in

Chinese society, so she knows Chinese values from her family. But Waverly did not

grow up only with her Chinese family. As she grows up, she meets many people in

America, where she socializes, be friends with Americans, and of course she also knows

more American values. Waverly accepts Chinese values from her family, especially her

mother, and American values from her society. Because of this, those values clashed

and influenced Waverly’s personality. Waverly is influenced by American values,

directness, openness, and honesty.

 35

People in America mostly have their competitive side, they believe competition

brings out the best in people and free enterprise leads to progress and produces success.

Just like Waverly who has a competitive side. It is seen when she joins many chess

competitions, she hates to lose. Americans are self-confident people. At a young age,

they are so brave and have confidence to speak in front of many people or older people

like Waverly who never ashamed to talk with the elders. Children in America have an

equal relationship with elders. Waverly also have her self-confident side. Her family

live in small apartment in Chinatown, but Waverly never thought that she was poor.

Because she always has three five-course meal everyday.

Another American values that Waverly adapts is individualism. In America,

everyone is their own person, not a representative from a family or group. And also

people respect other people's privacy.

Waverly learns about Chinese society most from her mother, Lindo. Because for a

daughter, mother has the biggest influence on a child's character building. As a mother,

Lindo want her daughter to be a person who adapts both Chinese values and American

values in equal. There is no mother who does not want her child to live well. It applies

to Lindo, she wants her daughter to have a better life, not like her. When she comes to

America, she always fulfills her family needs so her children do not feel lack. Lindo’s

effort for her family to fulfill their life makes Waverly never feel her family is poor.

Like most of the other Chinese children who played in the

back alleys of restaurants and curio shops, I didn’t think
we were poor. (p. 89)

Lindo also tells her to not feel ashamed even though they were poor.

If you are born poor here, it’s no lasting shame. You are
first in line for a scholarship (p. 254)
 36

Lindo teaches Waverly about Chinese values. One of the values that Lindo taught

to Waverly is that someone should not show what they want too directly and put their

feelings behind their face. It shows when Waverly cried because she wanted salted

plums.

“Bite back your tongue,” scolded my mother when I cried

loudly, yanking her hand toward the store that sold bags of
salted plums. At home, she said,”Wise guy, he not go
against the wind. In Chinese we say, Come from South,
blow with wind-poom!-North will follow. Strongest wind
cannot be seen.” (p. 89)

According to Baumrind (1966), there are three styles of parenting, permissive,

authoritative, and authoritarian. By referring to Baumrind’s states of parenting, Lindo

was an authoritative parent. We can see Lindo’s style of parenting from her actions

towards Waverly. She cares for Waverly, but somehow, she sets limits for her. Children

from authoritative parents mostly have self-confidence, academically successful, and

independent (Maccoby & Martin, 1995). It shows from Waverly’s personality that she

has self-confidence when first getting into chess and becomes more curious about it.

She also dares to ask a man called Lau Po to play chess with her. It is also shown

because Waverly wins many chess tournaments, we can tell that Waverly is a chess

genius.

Lindo teaches Waverly both about Chinese values and American values, with

hope Waverly can live her life well in American circumstances but with Chinese

characters.

I taught her how American circumstances work. if

you are born poor here, it’s no lasting shame. You are
in the first line for a scholarship. If the roof crashes on
your head, no need to cry over this bad luck…. (p.
254)
 37

But Waverly only follows Chinese values that Lindo’s taught to her until she

learned how to go outside by herself. Waverly also grown up and starting to know the

environment that she lives. After Waverly goes outside her house, she gets more known

with American values from her American society.

All those years I tried to teach her! She followed my

Chinese ways only until she learned how to walk out
the door by herself and go to school (p. 253)

One of Waverly’s personalities is smart. Lindo said they were smart because they

are from the Sun clan (Tan, 1989, p. 182). Waverly is a good speaker. She is good at

winning arguments. She is able to learn tactics in playing chess. Waverly said it is

because of her mother (Tan, 1989, p. 89).

Lindo teach Waverly Chinese culture in hope she can live with both of the culture.

But it was hard for Waverly that she did not accept culture that she has not experienced.

At the end Waverly finally accept her Chinese side and got mad when Lindo said she

did not look Chinese. Lindo said Waverly only Chinese from the outside, but in the

inside she totally American (Tan, 1989, p. 254).

In the last chapter, both Lindo and Waverly go to the barbershop to cut Lindo’s

hair. The barber said that Lindo and Waverly look alike. Then, they talk about how they

have two faces. One is being an American and one is being Chinese. When they talk

about this, Lindo said that you can see your future from your face.

“You can see your character in your face,” I say to my

daughter without thinking. “You can see your future.”
“What do you mean?” she says.
And now I have to fight back my feelings. These two
faces, I think, so much the same! The same happiness,
the same sadness, the same good fortune, the same faults.
I am seeing myself and my mother, back in China, when
I was a young girl. (1989, p. 256)
 38

Lindo remembers the past with her mother. She tells Waverly how her mother told

her how her character could lead to good and bad circumstances. How a nose shape can

show good sign, the wider your forehead is you will be clever, and if your hair is thick

you will have some hardships in your early life. And then, they both truly understand

each other because they have the same idea about their two faces. Waverly also accept

her both sides, being Chinese and being American.

 CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

This chapter concludes the conclusion of all the analysis stated in the previous

chapter. Based on the answers of problem formulation, there are some main ideas of this

study. The first part of the analysis is what conflict that happened in the novel. This

novel is about Chinese immigrant mothers who lives and raise their daughters in

America. The mothers were born in China, so they were adapting Chinese culture.

Different from their daughters who were born and raised in America. Because China

and America are different countries, they absolutely have different cultures and values.

We can view their way of thinking through their characteristics.

The conflict is between Lindo Jong, a Chinese mother and her daughter, Waverly,

an American born with Chinese face. Both of them have different perspective about

thinking and custom. At that time, Chinese immigrants were moving to America and

living there. Lindo Jong, Waverly’s mother, is one of those immigrants. Lindo has

adapted Chinese culture and values since she was born, and she wants her children to

have American circumstances and Chinese characters, but Waverly has American

characters more than her Chinese. So, there were clashes between Waverly’s

understanding about American and Chinese culture with her mother, Lindo.

The second part of the analysis concludes conflict between Lindo and Waverly

that conclude cultural clash. Waverly’s society made her characteristic more like

American than Chinese because she only learns Chinese values from her mother, not

experienced it by herself. But American values that applied in Waverly’s characteristics

39
 40

lead her to become a chess genius who wins many tournaments. Her desire to win the

tournaments makes her have a competitive side and she loves to win the game. Human

personalities appeared because of the society they live in. She understands American

society better than Chinese society because she lives there and has direct experience

with it.

Society plays important role to build someone personality. Those values influence

the way she thinks, she feels, and it plays an important role in building Waverly’s

characteristics. When she was younger, she lives and learns things from her mother

because Lindo have an important role in Waverly’s early life. The way she taught

Chinese things to Waverly make her understand about Chinese culture. As soon as she

grows up, Waverly starts to learn things from outside her house, American society.

American society taught Waverly about American values.

However, when Waverly already an adult, she finally can accept her Chinese

sides. She can understand Chinese values that she got from her mother. When someone

lives in two different societies, one of the societies can have more influence in order to

build a person’s personality. If a person lives in two different cultures, there will be

clashes between those cultures. But if we learn both cultures and it values, it can make

our perspective and views becomes wider.

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