Grade 9 model essay: The Joy Luck Club
Question:
Discuss Amy Tan’s use of symbols in The Joy Luck Club
Brainstorming
Yin/yang = east and west, balance
North/south/east/west = the four compass points = east and west, balance
Chess game = American rules/Chinese rules = culture clash
Bible – faith? Respect? Balance?
Mah jong = four players
Four daughter and mother pairs, is this symbolic? Four = death?
Feather = culture differences, HOPE
Tan’s writing is noted for its use of symbols
They develop our understanding of characters and themes, as well as giving a structure to the
book by making CONNECTIONS
Thesis:
The Joy Luck Club uses a number of symbols which not only connect the stories, but also reveal
its themes.
Outline
introduction
1.
2.
3.
4.
East to west
Chess games
Number four
Bible
Conclusion
A standard format for body paragraphs:
PEE = Point, Evidence, Explanation (or another way to remember is)
SEX = Statement, Evidences, explanation
Each paragraph = topic sentence, PEE, concluding sentence
>> ACTIVITY: Highlight Point, Evidence, Explanation in different colors
The Joy Luck Club uses a number of symbols which not only connect the stories, but also
reveal its themes. These symbols help us understand the deeper meaning of the book. The
main symbols that the book presents are: east to west, the chess game, the number four, and
the bible. East symbolizes Chinese culture and west, American. The clash between these two
cultures and the journey between them is at the heart of the book.
Throughout the book we see how things appear differently whether viewed from the
east or west. A good example of this is on the very first page when June’s father describes her
mother’s death as “a new idea in her head … the thought grew too big and burst.” (Tan, 19)
However, the western doctor said “she died of a cerebral aneurism.” (Tan, 19) Those from the
east, the mothers, see things very differently from their daughters, who have grown up in the
west. Because of their different ways of looking at things, they clash over and over again. The
symbol of the direction from east to west also represents the theme of June’s self acceptance.
At the beginning, June denies her Chinese heritage, but as her stories develop, she learns more
about and grows more accepting of her Chinese background. "And I am sitting at my mother’s
place at the mahjong table, on the East, where things begin” (32). She learns that East and West
are both needed for balance.
The number four has both a deep meaning in Chinese culture and a symbolic meaning in
the story. In Chinese culture the number four stands for Death, si. In the novel, Bing is the
fourth son of the family and he ides aged four, which seems to suggest there is some truth to
Chinese superstition. On the other hand, the number four also symbolizes completion and
harmony. There are four mother and daughter pairs, and four sides of the Mah Jong table,
which creates balance. “Like a table with three legs, no balance.” (pg.23). This quote explains
how in Chinese culture that a mah jong game needs four players in order to be able to play
otherwise it would be unbalanced and it would be unlucky. These meanings seem to contradict
each other, which is interesting. Perhaps Tan is suggesting that life contains good luck and bad,
death and harmony in equal measure.
The chess games in the book symbolize the mother daughter relationships as well as
their cultural differences. Waverly understands the American rules of the chess game, and her
mother understands the Chinese rules. They have different ways of playing and winning the
game. Waverly’s mother teaches her the “art of invisible strength … biting back your
tongue”(89). Waverly cleverly uses this against her mother when she said that she “didn’t want
to play in the local tournament. They would have American rules. If I lost, I would bring shame
on my family” (97). Waverly understands the official, American rules of chess, but her mother
uses her Chinese wisdom to make choices. This theme is also developed through the other
mother daughter relationships in the book because all of the mothers and daughters see each
other in different ways, and they have different tactics for winning arguments. The daughters
use logic and an air of importance, with their perfect American English. The mothers
manipulate their daughters with blunt truths, said in frosty, disappointed broken English. They
do not seem to understand each other and their relationships are often like battles.
In the story Half and Half, the bible symbolizes balance and respect, perhaps not only
for God but for Chinese culture and heritage. Before Rose’s brother Bing died, her mother
always respected and believed in God. However, when Bing fell off the rocks and her mother
could never bring him back again, she lost faith in God. The bible in the story represents
balance because Rose’s mother uses the bible to balance the kitchen table and she hopes that
there’s something to maintain the balance in her life. “…A way for her to correct the imbalances
of live is been there for over twenty years” (122). The quote shows that her mother is trying to
balance her life; however she was never able to because she has lost her faith and her son. In
addition, respect towards God is also revealed. “…After all these years, that Bible is still clean
white” (122). This excerpt demonstrates that after her mother decided to give up her trust in
God because of Bing’s tragic death, she still respects Him. She values God by dusting the Bible
everyday and keeping it clean. Perhaps this relates to the mothers’ attitude to their Chinese
culture and heritage; they have lost touch with it after leaving their home country, yet they still
have a great deal of respect for it, and need it to be balanced. Their daughters need it to be
balanced, too, but they find it harder to accept.