The Joy Luck Club Essay

     The bond between a mother and a daughter is unbreakable. Daughters tend to forget that mothers know best. Mothers tend to forget their daughters are still learning to grow up. However, there might be reasons behind all of this. Miscommunication and misunderstanding between a mother and daughter is much of a result if cultural and generational differences.

     In the book, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, these differences are clearly portrayed. Linda Jong becomes upset when her daughter, Waverly, wants to be American no mater how hard she tries to teach Waverly to be Chinese. This is an example of cultural differences because Lindo wants Waverly to be Chinese when Waverly has something else in mind

     Jing-Mei's, also known as June's, mom dies. She is forced to take her mom's spot in the Joy Luck Club. She feels like she can't quite fill her mom's shoes. This is simply because they're different. Her mother lacked affection and had high expectations as well as rare emotions towards her. This is an example of generational differences because growing up June's mom Suyuan forgot June was still learning. This makes it hard for June to fill her shoes. 

     When Waverly becomes a chess prodigy, Suyuan wants June to become a piano prodigy as well or a Chinese Shirley Temple. Suyuan expected June to be the best, better than girls on the television. However, this is not what June wanted. This is an example of cultural and generational differences. This is because Suyuan wanted June to be good at something because she was Chinese and other Chinese girls were good at things. It's generational differences because it's not what June, at that age, wanted.

     Mothers and daughters miscommunicate as a result of cultural and generational differences. Mothers usually want one thing for their daughters and it's usually influenced by where they come from. Daughters want something different from their mothers and it's usually influenced by people around them and the generation they live in. Mothers and daughters may argue and drive eachother crazy, but they share a live greater than all. That's what makes a mother-daughter bond special.