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- subject = English 1A
- title = The Joy Luck Club Movie vs Book
- papers = In
- the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, it tells of four Chinese women drawn
- together in San Francisco to play mah jong, and tell stories of the past.
- These four women and their families all lived in Chinatown and belong to the
- First Chinese Baptist Church. They were not necessarily religious, but found
- they
- could improve their home China. This is how the woo's, the Hsu's, the Jong's
- and the St Clair's met in 1949.
- The first member of the Joy Luck Club to
- die was Suyuan Woo. Her daughter, Jing-mei "June" Woo, is asked to sit in
- and take her mother's place at playing mah jong. Memories of the past are
- shared by the three women left, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong and Ying-ying St Clair.
- June Woo learns of the real secret her mother carried to her grave from her
- mother's friends. The twin baby girls, her half sisters, Suyuan pushed in
- a Wheelbarrow as she escaped from the Japanese. Due to sickness, Suyuan can
- no longer carry her babies, and is forced to leave them on the side of the
- road. She lives her whole life not knowing if they are alive or dead.
- In
- the book, the Woo's left for America to build a better life for themselves.
- Suyuan Woo wanted to have a daughter like herself, and no one would look down
- on her. It was important that she speak perfect English and hopefully not
- share in the same tragedies and sorrows she had known.
- The movie brought
- this concept out very vividly. You were able to imagine the time and place
- and the emotions of the characters. Their anger in the early years, how women
- and children were treated as possessions.
- The book spoke of Rose Hsu Jordan,
- daughter of An-mei Hsu, who had seven brothers and sisters. A very tragic
- time in her life when her brother Bing drowns at age 1 while she was in charge
- of watching him.
- The movie does not touch upon this tragic event and brings
- out the rich family Rose marries into, and the instant rejection from her boyfriends
- mother. Rose unhappiness in her marriage with Tod, is similar to the unhappiness
- her mother had throughout her life.
- Lindo Jong was a special character in
- the book , referring to promises she made to her mother as a young girl, and
- keeping them throughout her life. She was actually abandoned by her family
- and Lindo was sent to live with her future husband's family. She never complained
- because she would never dishonor her mother.
- The movie did an excellent job
- of showing us the culture during that time in China and how the matchmaker
- arranged the marriages at an early age. She is a very smart girl and figures
- out how she could get out of this marriage and still keep her promise to her
- mother. She puts the blame on the matchmaker and is released from the marriage.
- When
- speaking of strong characters in the book, one would have to include Waverly
- Jong, daughter of Lindo Jong. She was a bright child who became a famous chess
- player, which made her mother very proud.
- The movie brought out her unhappiness
- in her life and the unhappy relationship with her mother. The two shared similar
- fcars even though they lived in different countries and different times.
- Ying-ying
- St Clair, according to the book, was married at an early age and referred to
- her husband as a "bad" man. In fact she tried so hard to forget him she forgets
- his name. She tells of taking her baby before it was born because of the hate
- she has for her husband.
- The movie tells the story a little different in reference
- to her baby. After her husband comes home with his mistress and causes her
- shame, she drowns her tiny infant while bathing him. A tragic and emotional
- part in the movie.
- Lena St Clair, daughter of Lindo St Clair, may not have
- had such a tragic relationship with her husband as did her mother; but she
- was unable to find happiness in her marriage. The book and movie were similar
- in showing us the relationship she had with Harold. They were business partners
- also, but he made more money than she. They shared everything right down the
- middle and kept a running journal. They also decided not to have children
- which goes along with their relationship.
- In the final conclusion, the twin
- baby girls did live and reunited with their half sister, June Woo, in China.
- This story actually includes three generations of mothers and daughters sharing
- same or similar tragedies and unhappiness. Mothers protecting their children,
- wanting their daughters to know their worth. The influence of mothers on their
- daughters every day life, showing respect was very important. The cultural
- rules these women were raised with for so many years in China had a life time
- effect on their lives. They wanted things different for their daughters in
- America, but they still compared life as it should be in China. I was touched
- by the strength and courage these women had whether they lived in China or
- America.
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