Cycles in The Joy Luck Club

Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club contains numerous cycles that create its complex plot. One of the cycles that stands out the most is one that many American immigrants deal with, and it passed down from first-generation immigrants to second-generation immigrants. The problem of immigrant identity is one that spews many different issues as well as advantages that are generally passed down to their children in a cyclist manner.  When a new immigrant comes to America there is often a language barrier, cultural differences, as well as feelings of isolation. In The Joy Luck Club, Chinese mothers who are first generation American immigrants pass down their intense Chinese mannerisms and views of America to their daughters who are American born. This cycle of immigrant identity problems is one that sparks issues between the mother daughter relationships of the women and their daughters.

Often times the daughters would question the wishes of their Chinese mothers and it would create tensions within the mother-daughter relationships. The story “Two Kinds” examines the relationship between Chinese mothers and their American born daughters. Jing Mei and her mother Suyan Wu went through disaster as Suyan Wu forces her daughter to play the piano to ensure that she would become a child prodigy. The Chinese parenting methods that she encroaches upon her daughter lead to estranged relationships between them, only leading to more separation due to cultural issues.