Lindo In The Joy Luck Club

Being that she was adopted, she has no relation to her Chinese culture, yet still wants to belong to it. I feel she is judged because she lacks connection with her culture, and that is why she has this sense of determination to learn more

Another stereotype Waverly is confronting is society’s beliefs that being Chinese made someone less of a person. Struggling with the internal conflict of not being good enough or being thought of as Un-American. Waverly’s mother also struggled with the external conflict of the Chinese always having to prove themselves in an American world.

As a child, Waverly didn’t enjoy following her mother’s rules and Chinese tradition. At that age she would’ve loved to get rid of her Chinese features. But as an adult, Waverly seemed concerned that she would fit in with the locals during her trip to China, and upset when her mother told her that the people would know that she was a foreigner. Instead of trying to reject her culture as before, Waverly seems to want “the best of both worlds”, a way to embrace both her American lifestyle and Chinese culture. However, her mother, Lindo Jong, deemed the attempt at balance “too late” and describes her daughter as “American-made”.

The American society dominates over their Chinese descent. They want to accommodate to America, however, being that their mothers so strongly hold onto their descent, the daughters feel as if they too were born and raised in China. Being the children of immigrants makes them feel as if they are mediocre to everyone else, and “...at times they may wonder, “Can one really assimilate?” (Mohanram 74). As they grow up, they immerse themselves into this new society, yet while still trying to “hide” their Chinese background. When they were children, the girls would try to physically change themselves to appear more American. Lena would walk around her home and open her eyes as wide as she could, if efforts to make them seem more European. Jing-mei denied having any internal Chinese aspects, insisting her Chinese identity was only limited to her external features. Waverly would feel overjoyed if her mother told her she did not look Chinese. They realized that their image was what was ultimately holding them back from feeling accustom to San Franciscan lifestyles: “Furthermore, the daughters experience themselves socially as a recognizable ethnic minority and want to eradicate the sense of "difference" they feel among their peers” (Hamilton 30). By changing their physical presence, the daughters believed it could change who they are as a person. The daughters may have been taking aback by the realities of society, yet they still longed for the opportunities and experiences America

Lindo is upset at herself for trying to make her daughter both American and Chinese, soon discovering that the two do not mix. While comparing her face to Waverly’s in a beauty parlor mirror, she notices the similar features that convey similar joys, sadness, fortunes, and faults, establishing a bond between the two that transcends genetics. Lindo has spent so much time in America that when she returned to China, people could tell she was foreign despite wearing the local clothing and using the currency. “Which one is American? Which one is Chinese? Which one is better? If you show one you must always sacrifice the other” (266). The title of this section “Double Face” refers to the American and Chinese faces that Lindo holds. Lindo recognizes her American face as her insincere face, but it has become a part of her identity as an immigrant. In contrast, her Chinese face his her genuine face which shows her real feelings. While living in America, Lindo sacrifices her Chinese face, and people in China can see this as they identified her as an

The tale “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luch Wang depicts the story of three characters, Monkey, Jin, and Danny. They all have the problem of fitting into their new environments. Jin Wang has to deal with Asian stereotypes. Danny has to deal with embarrassment of his cousin. Lastly, Monkey has to deal with the fact that there is no position for him in the heavenly ranks. However, over time, these characters have to come together to fit in. Yet the question remains: what exactly about fitting in is the problem? Although Jin Wang takes the form of Danny to reject his Chinese roots, the embarrassment of Chin-Knee shows he cannot hide behind a false American identity, thereby delineating that race is the source of his problem.

Waverly is struggling with her cultural identity during her coming of age as a Chinese

Tan had expertly presented the dilemma of immigrant identity in Lindo and Waverly Jong’s narratives. There is a section in Double Face, “I taught her how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it’s no lasting shame.” (pg 287) Lindo believed in the American dream of equal opportunity for all but somehow, she also believed that the Chinese way of obedience and modesty are the best and is a cultural constant in China. These extremist views of the two cultures made Lindo have irrational fears for her daughter Waverly, who she described, “only her skin and her hair are Chinese. Inside – she is all Americanmade.” (pg 287), as not Chinese enough in the inside. She blames herself for this but her fears are unfounded because Waverly is very much respectful of her Chinese identity. This is seen by her quest for her mother’s approval and during the family dinner where she brought her fiancée, Rich. She is very much concern that Rich was doing these faux pas and that he was offending her

Culture Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans” claims utilizing race as a basis for identifying American is not valid, culture should be what defines a person’s identity. Rodriguez emphasizes how he “declares himself as a Chinese because he lives in a culture of a Chinese city” (Rodriguez 91). This demonstrates how Rodriguez is involved with cultures of many different races, including the Chinese. Because he lives in San Francisco where there is many Chineses around him, he see’s himself as part of Chinese. The essay also mentioned that “[Rodriguez] come to the individuals as having multiple cultures, such as being a Chinese person” (Rodriquez, 92).

Cindy and the teacher had a trusted relationship. Having no friends that didn’t speak Chinese motivated Cindy to learn English; it her one year to learn to speak and understand English. However, it wasn’t until 6th grade that Cindy felt that she has mastered the English language. Cindy felt the difference between the two school systems. For example: Hong Kong teachers were a lot stricter then the teachers in the United States. Just like every other kid in a new place Cindy experienced fear and exhaustion. She shared how she felt through her film-strips. The filmstrips helped Cindy overcome her shyness. Just like the others; Cindy felt that the was caught in the middle of the two cultures. Cindy experienced some difficulty with cultural identity because of her dual cultural experience and language (p. 89).

In “Double Face” Lindo inform us that her daughter Waverly Jong is getting married for the second time. We witness their relationship as Lindo and Waverly prepare for the wedding as well as the honeymoon in China. Also, Lindo gave detailed account about what brought her to China, the Path to becoming an American citizen, how she met An-Mei and Waverly’s father. “Double Face” goes deeper in the complexity of being Chinese- American identity is a major role in the story. Lindo mother always talks about her physical features she feels Waverly isn’t proud of her because of those Chinese features. But, Lindo also doesn’t feel her daughter is Chinese enough. The climax arises when Lindo sees her daughter “crooked” nose in the mirror she tells her

One day, from the back seat of the car, “Luke announced that he didn't want to go to Chinese school anymore.” His parents looked to one another, while Jen said “Oh, really?” and continued driving. Though Luke is only four years old, he voices his opinions - twice eve – yet they are still quickly overtaken by those of his parents. Luke’s parents wanted him to grow up “embracing his whole complex ethnic heritage” and not being “more” Chinese than Irish. It could be that his parents yearned to show Luke what being Chinese really means – its language, its culture, and its people. With this knowledge, he might feel confident to display this part of his identity. It could also be that they have a deep rooted bias for Luke not to ignore his Chinese heritage, thinking they know what is best for him. It is like what Emerson once wrote, “These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world.” His parents hold a heavy influence on Luke’s future. The weight of parents’ ideas stretches farther than a stranger’s, for we emulate their words, their ideas, and their values and these soon replace our own. Yet, the more one thinks about this, the more one will find it absurd. It does not mean that his parents are right. Acceptance looks so normal, but his mother’s opinions that replace his own will never be as strong as his own conviction. His

Joy Luck Club deals a lot with differences between the Chinese and the American Cultures. This has to do with problems that each family has to deal with. Every family has a chinese mother and a Chinese/American daughter. The names of the families are the Woo’s Hsu’s Jong’s and St.Clair’s.

To exemplify, Jing Mei states “These kinds of explanations made me feel my mother and I spoke two different languages, which we did. I talked to her in English, she answered back in Chinese” (23). The author maintains the point that Jing Mei’s sense of picking up Chinese words here and there is very weak. She cannot comprehend and absorb information related to her mother tongue that is spoken and heard in her daily life. Furthermore, when Waverly has a conversation with her mom about always bragging about her, the mother responds, “So shame be with mother? Embarrass you be my daughter?.” The author asserts that the mother’s prepositions, subjects, and articles are not used in their speaking, making their English sound incomplete. However, English is their second language, so it is justifiable. Relating to this, many words in Chinese have no translation in English. This makes the mother’s seem uneducated as if what they are saying is useless to acknowledge, causing their daughters to regard them with stupidity in a dominant American society. Nevertheless, they do carry knowledge and wisdom which is underestimated by their daughters.

In the movie, the Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, we see many examples of the challenges of intercultural translations. The movie portrays cultural conflict between Chinese culture and the American culture as portrayed by the lives of four mothers and their daughters. The mothers were born and raised in China, adopting the high-content Chinese culture, while their daughters, born and raised in America, adopted the low-context American