周期性事件

Prompt: The Joy Luck Club is a cyclical in many important ways. Identify and explain the purpose of any cyclical elements of the novel.

Parents are an important factor in a child’s life- the mishaps and achievements that occur in a child’s life is shared with their parents. Many parents always want to portray their love in a variety of different ways- hugs, jokes, stores, gifts, etc. Therefore, the relationship between the parents and their children is a significant fortune to cherish.

While reading the Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, I have realized that they are several repetitions in every section- they have similar incidents and cyclical events that occur. In addition, many of the mothers share a common gift they give to their daughter- jewelry/gifts- this shows the love and kinship they have with their daughters. Also, they attachment and the will to not let their children forget about them.

In the Red Candle, written from Lindo Jong’s perspective, she discusses when her daughter, Waverly Jong, was leaving her home and moving into her Husband house. Her mother was really sad and wanted her to act kindly and to respect them. Lindo Jong states:

“But he [her father] could not stop my mother from giving me her chang, a necklace made out of a tablet of red jade. When she put it on my neck, she acted stern, so I knew she was very sad,” (53-54).

The red jade symbolizes the connection both, Waverly Jong and her mother have together. She gave her the necklace to remind her where she came from and what her mother told her to do: “‘Obey your family’. ‘Do not disgrace us, act happy when you arrive’.” She wanted Waverly to keep the families reputation high. Although she did not want to live there, she still had to respect her parents and make them proud. The red jade always reminded her about why she was there in the first place.

Another example is in A Pair of Tickets, written from Jing-Mei Woo’s perspective. This talks about when her mother left her two other children on the curb in china during the invasion of the Japanese. She could not hold them any longer and wanted someone to take them. In addition, she gives gifts to her children. She states:

“She tore open the lining of her dress and stuffed jewelry under the shirt of one baby and money under the other,” (282).

The jewelry and other gifts, in this case, were to help the people taking her children to have some supplies to work with. On the other hand, the jewelry, was for the children- she wanted them to remember her and to see who her biological family was, when “she reached into her pocket and drew out the photos of her family, the picture of her father and mother, the pictures of her self and her husband on their wedding day,”. She wanted her children to know their true identity ad where they initially came from- and, hopefully, came back to their rightful family. The jewelry and other gifts symbolize love, remembrance, and care.

Overall, the cyclical events where shown from the jewelry and gifts the mothers gave to their offspring’s.

P.S – Here are a few more quotes they prove my premise (I was too last to write about them, though):

From Half & Half: “And she opened her fist. In her palm was a ring of watery blue sapphire, a gift from her mother, who had died many years before,” (129).

From Best Quality: “She grabbed my hand and put a necklace in my palm, then shut my fingers around it, “(208).