Literary Analysis #2

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan- Literary Analysis #2

General -

1. Jing-mei's (June's) mother Suyuon left her other two children behind in China when she fled to America during World War II. Sutuon was part of a little gathering of women who play mah jong. An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair are Sutuon's friends who participate in this gathering. After Sutuon's death, they find where Sutuon's other two long lost daughters (Chwun Yu and Chwun Hwa) are located in China. The women want Jing-mei to travel to China and meet her sisters and tell them about their mother. She is afraid that she doesn't know enough about her mother and realizes that she didn't have that close of a relationship with her. The story consists of these women and their daughters talking about their mothers and their life experiences. At the end of the story, Jing-mei ends up traveling to China and meeting her family.
2. The biggest theme that I picked up in this story was Friendship. The whole story is based on the club that these four women created. They all became very close friends, and even after one of the women died, the other three are still looking out for her and trying to carry out her life wishes. They all help each other in difficult times and know each other like they are more than family.
3. The tone of the story is emotional and reminiscent. They are all remembering their heritage and teaching their daughters more about their lives, experiences, and family legacy.
4. Literary elements-
   Symbolism – The pendant that June is given by her mother symbolizes the relationship she has with her.
   Imagery – This is often used when the mothers tell parables.
   Allegory – The stories that the mothers tell.
   Foreshadowing - “everything fall down” foreshadows the fall of a relationship.
   Metaphor – The marriage being compared to an unstable table.
   Simile - “as if she were blowing away like a small brown leaf” pg 153.
   Rhetorical Question – “How could I know these things do not mix?” pg 254.
   Allusion – An allusion to the “Ed Sullivan show on TV”
   Personification - “The chess board seemed to hold elaborate secrets waiting to be untangled” pg 93
   Hyperbole - “I felt such pain… as if someone had torn off both my arms without anesthesia, without sewing me back up.”