Many Misconceptions and Delusions
Conflicts play a crucial role in novels. Without conflict, novels would
be uninteresting and very dull. Conflicts are seen in many different forms,
as internal conflicts, when a character must deal with private problems, and
external conflicts, when a character must deal with problems originating from an external source, like another person or society in general. Some common conflicts seen in other novels are person versus society, as in The Scarlet Letter when Hester is forced to face her mistake of adultery due to the
obsession of the unforgiving town. An example of an internal conflict is
present within Animal Dreams, when Cody must decide where she belongs and must also deal with the pain of her lost baby. These types of conflicts and
more are visible within the novel entitled The Joy Luck Club written by Amy
Tan. Three prominent conflicts seen in The Joy Luck Club are between Waverly and Lindo, Lindo and Suyuan, and between June and Waverly.
The first prominent conflict within this novel deals with Waverly and her
mother Lindo. Waverly feels as though her mother is attempting to ruin her
life by causing her to “see black where there once was white” (Tan 186).
Lindo, Waverly believes, is attempting to influence her daughter for the
worse. She does not want to be influenced by her mother’s opinions, her
criticisms of everything that she loves, yet Waverly fears that even if she
“recognized her sneak attack, [she] was afraid that some unseen speck of
truth would fly into [her] eye, blur what [she] was seeing and transform
[it]” (Tan 181) into the thing that her mother saw, into something full
of faults, something that is not good enough for her. Waverly resents this,
yet Lindo believes that it is for Waverly’s own good. She does not want
Waverly to accept something just because it was a gift, like the fur jacket
that Rich gave Waverly. Lindo believes that she has taught Waverly to grow
up with values, with goals that everyone and everything must meet. As
Waverly shows Lindo the jacket, Lindo inspects it, finally reporting, “This
is not so good” (Tan 186). Waverly protests, “He gave me this from his
heart” (Tan 186), to which Lindo replies, “That is why I worry” (Tan
186). Lindo simply wants Waverly to strive for the best. Lindo believes
that her daughter deserves the best, and nothing should influence her for the
worse. The conflict between mother and daughter is finally resolved after
Waverly confronts her mother about the verbal abuse she has endured. Waverly realizes that her mother is only “an old woman… getting a little crabby as she waited patiently for her daughter to invite her in” (Tan 204). Waverly finally tells her mother about her life, especially about Rich, and they begin to get along better. Both must sacrifice a little pride to make the
relationship work, but as they both do so, they grow closer and their
relationship becomes stronger as a result.
The second prominent conflict visible within this novel is between Lindo
and Suyuan. These two women are supposedly best friends, yet their constant bickering and competition, which their children deem as “normal”, seems to negate this fact. June, Suyuan’s daughter, seems to know the truth: “Auntie Lin and my mother were both best friends and arch enemies who spent a lifetime comparing their children” (Tan 27). Waverly also agrees with June’s observation of their mothers’ friendship, simply stated as such: “They were very close, which meant they were ceaselessly tormenting each other with boasts and secrets” (Tan 194). Lindo and Suyuan spent most of their time comparing their cooking and their children, both believing that they were superior to the other. Suyuan and Lindo both believe that their own cooking skills greatly exceed the other’s. Lindo seems to be the best cook of the two of them, considering that she “learned to cook so well that [she] could smell if the meat stuffing was too salty before [she] even tasted it” (Tan
50). Also, as Lindo states to her daughter, “[Auntie Suyuan] can only cook
looking at a recipe. My instructions are in my fingers. I know what secret
ingredients to put in just by using my nose!” (Tan 195). Thus, Lindo still
competes with Suyuan, even though the evidence proves that Lindo is the
better cook. Lindo is also able to brag about her daughter Waverly, who wins
trophies for playing chess, so many that “all day [she has] no time do
nothing but dust off her winnings” (Tan 148), adding, “You lucky you don’t
have this problem” (Tan 149) with a bit of a flourish. This infuriates
Suyuan, who believes that the only way for her own daughter June to live up
to Waverly is for Suyuan to discover some sort of hidden talent within her.
Suyuan tells June, “You can be prodigy, too… you can be best anything.
What does Auntie Lindo know? Her daughter, she is only best tricky” (Tan
141). Suyuan strives to find something within June that can compare her to
Waverly’s success, yet by pushing June to succeed, Suyuan actually causes her to want to fail, to not achieve as much as she could because she has been pushed against her will. The conflict between Lindo and Suyuan is never resolved. They continue to compete and argue throughout their lives. Most likely, this competition gave them pleasure, something that they must dwell on and think of ways to overcome. This competition between the two mothers also carries over to the daughters, thus causing a new conflict to arise between them as well.
The third important conflict within The Joy Luck Club deals with the
competition between June and Waverly. Their conflict begins at birth,
considering that they are only one month apart. Their mothers started the
competition by comparing which baby was the smartest, strongest, prettiest,
and so on. They compare “the creases in [their] belly buttons, how shapely
[their] earlobes were, how fast [they] healed when [they] scraped [their]
legs, how thick and dark [their] hair” (Tan 27). As the children grow, they
follow their mothers’ examples and begin to compete on their own, especially Waverly. Once Waverly becomes famous from her chess playing, she begins to rub her success in June’s face. Waverly was never afraid to make June feel bad about herself, stating after a bad piano recital, “You aren’t a genius like me” (Tan 151). June resents all that Waverly does to her, to make her lose confidence in herself. Even Waverly’s compliments are sneak attacks on June. The simplest statement could turn ugly in a second. For example, Waverly compliments her haircut at New Year’s, yet when she discovers that June still sees David, the gay man, she states, “He could have AIDS… you can’t be too safe these days…” (Tan 229). June writhes with anger, and finally, after many years of torment, she sees her opportunity to prove
Waverly wrong, to show her that she also makes mistakes. June states, “Maybe I could afford Mr. Rory’s prices if someone’s firm paid me on time” (Tan 230). However, this also backfires on June. Waverly is initially surprised and hurt, then she simply tells June that her copy writing was not what their firm was looking for. June is crushed again. She will never triumph over the genius which is Waverly. June finally realizes that she will never be as smart or as strong as Waverly. June knows that “[she is] good at what [she] did, succeeding at something small like that” (Tan 233). She finally accepts herself as she is, ending her competition with Waverly once and for all.
The conflicts within this book deal with internal and external conflicts
for each character, but three of the most visible conflicts are between Lindo
and Waverly, between Suyuan and Lindo, and between June and Waverly. Each of the conflicts are resolved through some sort of compromise on one or both sides, except for the conflict between Suyuan and Lindo, which is never
resolved. One of the conflicts that I can relate to within this novel is
between Waverly and Lindo. Waverly believes that her mother is out to ruin everything that she holds dear, while Lindo is just trying to make her see that she deserves better. I relate to the essence of that conflict. I too
look for flaws in people and situations, just as Lindo does for her daughter.
Yet, I do it to sabotage my own happiness, as though I feel subconsciously
as if I do not deserve to be happy. I would see flaws in people that I
liked, or in my own work, thinking that I could do better each time with
everything that came my way. I think that, because of this scrutiny that I
put myself through, it has helped me to become a better student. I am able
to see little details that require changing, that need to be improved. Also,
I have recently come to realize that I deserve to be happy, that I am a good
person, that I deserve what everyone else seems to have: pride in themselves
and in others. I am gradually learning to accept others for what they are
and have stopped looking for flaws in people. I now let them be what they
are. I have accepted myself, and now am able to accept them. This book has
helped me to see what qualities I have inside of myself and how pointless it
really is to be so scrutinizing of myself and of others.
Другие работы по теме:
The Joy Luck Club Essay Research Paper
The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan s The Joy Luck Club is a story about four women from China, Suyuan Woo, An-mei Hsu, Linda Jong, and Ying Ying St. Clair, and their four daughters, Jing-mei Woo, Rose Hsu Jordan, Waverly Jong, and Lena St. Clair. The Asian mothers had fled China in the 1940 s to escape the political unrest and formed a social group called the Joy Luck Club upon meeting each other.
MotherDaughter Relationships From The Joy Luck Club
Essay, Research Paper The relationships between mother and daughter brought up in the film, “The Joy Luck Club” are very conflictive. They reflect a great deal of the way in which mothers act towards their daughters and viceversa. The film shows a very realistic view of the mother and daughter relationships in our modern world; which are very traditional in many ways.
Inhumane Treatment Essay Research Paper When groups
Inhumane Treatment Essay, Research Paper When groups and nations come into conflict, they sometimes act in inhumane ways. They use cruel and harsh treatment toward others. Two conflicts that occurred between 1900 and 1945 that resulted in the inhumane treatment of people are the Nazi Holocaust and the Salt March.
Tan And Wang Essay Research Paper The
Tan And Wang Essay, Research Paper The Joy Luck Club The film and book, The Joy Luck Club, directed by Wayne Wang and written by Amy Tan, respectively, although still depressing at times was a nice departure from the blunt death and destruction featured in the works we discussed the first half of the semester.
The Joy Lack Club Review Essay Research
Paper “Blow from the South. The wind leaves no trail. Throw sand from the East to distract him. Blow, blow, blow. He cannot see. He is blind now. Make him lean away from the wind so he is easier to knock down.” (p.98) What kind of thoughts go through a reader’s mind when they come across a paragraph that has gibberish for its structure? How about a whole book of Chinese proverbs and bits of fragmented wisdom? The Joy Luck Club is a book that fits this description.
Better School Environment Essay Research Paper In
Better School Environment Essay, Research Paper In order to create a safer school environment through positive peer pressure, you have to have at least two variables. That way, in case one doesn?t work, you can always resort to the second, or even third method if needed. The first way could be to have a popular club dedicated to promote nonviolence, and the other way could be to always discuss having a safer school environment with the students.
Huck Finn Essay Research Paper Setting 2
Huck Finn Essay, Research Paper Setting : A rainy night, Jim and Huck find a cave to stay in for the night. Jim caught some fish for dinner. Huck: Gee Jim, dis fish be tastin mighty fine.
Joy Luck 2 Essay Research Paper The
Joy Luck 2 Essay, Research Paper The Joy Luck Club successfully intertwines culture and mends generation gaps. By using different methods of uniting the characters in the book, Amy Tan shows the characteristics of relationships between mothers and daughters. Through life and death, Suyuan Woo and Jing-mei Woo learn to understand each other.
Stories Of Amy Tan And Fannie Flag
Essay, Research Paper Two of My Favorite Books Two novels that I could read over and over again, “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan and “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Caf?” by Fannie Flag. The two novels share similar qualities while conveying their different story lines.
Joy Luck Club Essay Research Paper Over
Joy Luck Club Essay, Research Paper Over the years, she told me the same story, except for the ending, which grew darker, casting long shadows into her life, and eventually mine. Discuss the significance of the sentence to what unfolds between pages 20 to 26. In your discussion, refer to the writer s style to emphasise and bring out meaning.
Edgar Allen Poe Biography Essay Research Paper
This Paper is about Edgar Allen Poe. Through out his life bad luck and misfortune seemed to follow him until his death. It seems as if from women and through out his time as an author there was no escaping it. This paper will discuss some of the misfortunes and bad luck that was in Poe’s life.
Boundaries Essay Research Paper This article tells
Boundaries Essay, Research Paper his article tells us the early conflicts, fears, vagueness and historical backgrounds over territorial expansion. The United States had been established with obscure concept of national boundaries. The constitution itself did not articulate geographic limit of the states, partly because the members of the constitutional convention were unsure of their territorial limit and expansion.
The Joy Luck Club Essay
– Amy Tan Essay, Research Paper The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is a story base on Chinese women in American tradition. One of the characters in the novel, Lindo Jong was born as a female in China. Lindo was undervalued because as a Chinese woman, she had an arranged marriage, she was treated unfairly by her husband, and also her own parents.
Joy Luck Club Essay Research Paper Erica
Joy Luck Club Essay, Research Paper Erica Tam November 5, 2000 Final Draft In Amy Tan?s ?Two Kinds,? Tan uses the central conflict and symbolism to emphasize the idea that achieving the American Dream is a struggle and can lead to disappointment. The central conflict of the story is about the mother wanting her daughter to become a child prodigy, but her daughter cannot fulfill her mother?s dream.
Joy Luck Club Essay How The EastWest
Conflict Affected June’s Relationship With Her Mother Essay, Research Paper Joy Luck Club Essay: How the East-West conflict affected June?s relationship with her mother
Two Kinds
– Jing-Mei Character Analysis Essay, Research Paper While trying to understand the reasons for her mother wanting Jing-Mei to be great, Jing-Mei discovers the real meaning of two kinds. ?Two Kinds? is written by Amy Tan. Jing-Mei, a young Chinese girl, grew up in America with her mother, a member of the Joy Luck Club.
Roaring Camp Essay Research Paper The Regeneration
Roaring Camp Essay, Research Paper The Regeneration of Roaring Camp And so the work of regeneration began is Roaring Camp (9). The regeneration referred to takes place in a California mining camp in 1850 after
Group Work Outline Essay Research Paper Group
Group Work Outline Essay, Research Paper Group Conflict Resolution Annotated Outline I. Introduction In this section, we will state our topic, which is group conflict resolution. We will present the subtopics we will focus on in the paper. We will briefly tie the four subtopics into each other under the umbrella topic of group conflict resolution.
A Raisin In The Sun
– Character’s Reactions To Conflicts Essay, Research Paper Throughout A Raisin in the Sun even the characters are faced with various conflicts, the inheritance, the new house, and the liquor store. In these conflicts all of the characters react in a different way. Walter reacts by giving in, Beneatha reacts by being selfish, and Mama reacts by being generous.
Huck Finn Superstition Essay Research Paper Mark
Huck Finn Superstition Essay, Research Paper Mark Twain saturates the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with many examples of superstition and myths. These aspects of the novel help the story progress, they
Joy Lock Club Essay Research Paper The
Joy Lock Club Essay, Research Paper The Joy Luck Club Log #1 In the novel, “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan, the ignorance and disregard of, and the necessity of love are all introduced. As the characters in the story explain their life stories and memories. The characters in “The Joy Luck Club” seemed to take love for granted, by ignoring love and concentrating on material possessions and hiding their true identities.
The Joy Luck Club 2
The Joy Luck Club – Culture Differences Essay, Research Paper The Joy Luck Club, a novel by Amy Tan, is a compilation from eight different women and their lives. The stories are based on their Chinese culture and their mother/daughter relationships. In the novel and in the film production, the women go through many obstacles in life and must overcome them in order to survive.
Joy Luck Essay Research Paper The Joy
Joy Luck Essay, Research Paper The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, is a powerful portrayalThe Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, is a powerful portrayal of four Chinese women and the lives of their children in America. The book discusses the conflicting cultures between the United States and China, and how men treat women throughout their lives.
The Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan
Essay, Research Paper Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. NY.:Ivybooks, 1989 In the past few weeks, I have been reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Suyuan Woo and her daughter June are the main characters mentioned in this essay. While reading the novel, Amy Tan has demonstrated the mother and daughters attempt to articulate their concerns of the past, present, and intentions of themselves which will affect them later on.
Joy Luck Club 2 Essay Research Paper
Joy Luck Club Guilt is a powerful means of controlling someone else. Parents use it because it s often an easy way of controlling their children. In Amy Tan s Joy luck club, June s Mom knew great ways to control her daughter by using guilt. She used guilt because that was the only way she knew. Because she had such a tragic and sometimes even dramatic life, she wanted better for her daughter.
Symbolism Joy Luck Essay Research Paper Symbolism
Symbolism Joy Luck Essay, Research Paper Symbolism of The Joy Luck Club and The Zoo Story There are numerous conditions in human life that mold people into who they presently are. A person’s identity and way of thinking are influenced greatly due to their surroundings, and relationships they are involved in.
The Joy Luck Club 4 Essay Research
Paper The Joy Luck Club The Joy luck club was a book written by Amy Tan. The story is set here in America and in China and is set in the 1940 s and also takes place now. The book is about four Asian women who fled china and their Americanized daughters.
The Joy Luck Club Essay Essay Research
Paper The Joy Luck Club Essay The Generation Gap in The Joy Luck Club “Hey, Ben, are you Japanese or Chinese?” I asked. His reply, as it seems to be for a lot of minority groups, was, “Neither, I’m Chinese-American.” So, besides his American accent and a hyphenated ending on his answer to the SAT questionnaire about his ethnic background, what’s the difference? In Amy Tan’s captivating novel, The Joy Luck Club, I found out the answer to that question.
Bartender Essay Research Paper If you want
Bartender Essay, Research Paper If you want to make a lot of money and have fun doing it, then becoming a bartender would be a good choice. The only thing you really need to do to become one, is go to a vocational school. Even then, that can t set you back too far. You would only have to take a couple of classes, then you re in.
The Joy Luck Club 3 Essay Research
Paper The joy luck club…Mother daughter relationship in The Joy Luck Club is a representation of the persistent tensions and powerful bonds between mother and daughter in a Chinese- American society. The book illustrates the hardships both the mother and daughters go through in order to please the other.
Conflicts Essay Research Paper ConflictsIn the three
Conflicts Essay, Research Paper Conflicts In the three stories To Build a Fire, The Use of Force, and A and P there are some different conflicts. A conflict is struggle between two or more objects. In these stories the three different conflicts are man versus nature, man versus man, and man versus self. The three stories that contain these conflicts are To Build a Fire by Jack London, The Use of Force by Williams Carlos Williams, and A and P by John Updike.
Macbeth Internal Conflicts Essay Research Paper Everyday
Macbeth, Internal Conflicts Essay, Research Paper Everyday people deal with conflicts with their peers. In the play Macbeth there are both examples of external and internal conflicts. Three main conflicts were when Lady Macbeth pressured Macbeth into murdering Duncan, after Macbeth murdered Duncan and also after he murdered Banquo.
Conflicts Essay Research Paper There are many
Conflicts Essay, Research Paper There are many conflicts shown in ?The Bass, The River and Sheila Mant? that are different from ?The Cold Equations? In this English paper I will explain to you three
Journal Entry From 1920
′S Essay, Research Paper May 22, 1921Sandy s Journal Dear Kitty, Something really big and I mean BIG happened today.It s is almost too incredible to believe. My fingers are still shaking as I try and write. But I ve got to get this down because whatever happens, these pages will be proof that I was at this amazing place.I found a giant club in the downtown district.