Joy Luck Club

Joy Luck Club

Plot

The eight main characters of the movie all had to contend with different types of conflicts, some such as Waverly’s Mother had to endure a type of social conflict from the 1st wife and other concubines, the unjust discrimination of the husband’s family, while other characters such as Mei-mei had to endure a life of living under the shadow of Waverly. But each of the characters despite having different types of conflicts be it elemental, physical or psychological, all had to endure one glaringly similar psychological conflict - Each woman had to contend with their own weaker selves, before being able to confront their respective problems, be it an abusive husband or an overbearing mother, each protagonist had to first find their self-worth, self-confidence and self respect. Upon finding their own value they managed to confront their respective problems, although not always in a successful manner, such as one of the mothers who had an abusive husband of whom she had to drown her child , but they managed to get past the tragedy and even became instrumental in helping the other characters (daughters) in finding their self-esteem. In other instances such as Mei-mei’s case, she did not understand her worth in her mother’s eyes until she understood the tragedy that happened. Seeing that Waverly was always better she depreciated herself, but upon learning the great sacrifice made by her mother, and all the hope given to her by her mother, she finally understood her true value.

The plot of the story is simply the trials that women endure in order to become happy or fulfilled. The plot concentrates on empowering women most especially minorities, further sub-divided into two groups, the mothers who eventually surpassed the suppression of Chinese culture, and the daughters who led lives as the children of immigrants and had experience the life of an adult American female, including marital woes and parental relations. It is the story of eight women, Four of whom are the mothers not only bound by being Chinese immigrants but also bound by the hardships they had to endure in their homeland. One was a mother who had to escape the tyranny of an arranged marriage, who used superstition to gain her freedom. Another was a battered wife who had to endure the philandering and beatings of her husband before killing her own child. While another suffers from the lifestyle of her concubine mother and fighting back at the hated step-family. While the mother of the main protagonist, suffered from the trauma of leaving behind her twins in the war due to her sickness but somehow surviving the ordeal. It is through the main protagonist’s eye that we learn of the stories of each protagonist in her own sub-story, thus through a series of flashbacks we chip away at the personalities of each woman. The daughters plight was quite different, since each daughter was raised in America, a land of different cultures. Lena had to contend with her husband’s infidelity, but through civility she managed to salvage her marriage. But Rose the daughter of the mother who had to kill her baby had to muddle through a one sided relationship, although not physically abusive, an emotionally draining one. Getting her strength from her mother’s ill experience she managed to free herself from that farce and manage to find happiness with another man. Waverly constantly waging war against her mother for control over her life, from being a chess prodigy to chump, and what type of man to marry, Waverly finally understands her mother’s sternness as love after finally expressing their emotions towards each other, that results in their developing a tighter relationship. Finally Mei-mei whose constantly had to live up to the standards set by Waverly, until finally learning that her Mother had left her sisters during the war, and all of their hopes and dreams were instantly transferred to her. All of the character’s had a very realistic approach as to how they resolved each of their own conflicts.

Character

There are 8 main characters in the story:

The Mothers

Mei-mei’s mother

Consistent in her maternal love for her daughters. Full of life since she wanted survive and make her daughters happy. Realistic, is there a mother who would not love her child. Motivated to find and make her twin daughters happy. We can sympathize with her trials during the war.

Waverly’s mother

Consistent in being headstrong, since it she outwitted her in-laws from her arranged marriage. Has vitality since she was dynamic in her action, and thought processes realistic