Study Guide: The Joy Luck Club (A BookCaps Study Guide)

By BookCaps

The perfect companion to Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club," this study guide contains a chapter by chapter analysis of the book, a summary of the plot, and a guide to major characters and themes.

BookCap Study Guides do not contain text from the actual book, and are not meant to be purchased as alternatives to reading the book.

We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookCaps
• Release date: Dec 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465812797

BookCaps

We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.Visit www.bookcaps.com to see more of our books, or contact us with any questions.

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Amy Tan’s

The Joy Luck Club

By BookCaps Study Guides

© 2011 by Golgotha Press, Inc.

Published at SmashWords

www.bookcaps.com

Historical Context

Amy Tan is a first generation Chinese-American born in Oakland, California in 1952. Tan lost her brother and father when she was teenager; both died of a brain tumor and only one month apart. While she was dealing with this tragedy, Tan learned that her mother had been married before in China and her ex-husband had been horribly abusive. Before the Communist takeover began Tan’s mother fled from China leaving behind three daughters. After learning this news Tan and her mother had a tumultuous relationship and argued often, mostly about Tan’s plans for college and for the future. She ended up attending college in San Jose where she earned a Bachelor’s in English and a Master’s in Linguistics. After marrying, Tan pursued a PhD in Linguistics which she gave up to work with disabled children and to do freelance business writing. Despite her success, she was bored and began to take up writing fiction. Tan’s mother fell ill and Tan vowed that if her mother pulled through, she would take her to China to visit her abandoned daughters. Tan did just that and she was introduced to her half-sisters for the first time in her life. She saw her mother in an entirely different light, and this served as her inspiration for her first novel, The Joy Luck Club (1989). The novel became an immediate success and earned Tan a National Book Award as well as the L.A. Times Book Award. Tan continues to write, mainly focusing on the Chinese-American experience.

Plot

The Joy Luck Club was first formed by Jing-mei’s mother, Suyuan, as a way to forget the struggles and devastation of the war in China. When she came to America, Suyuan started a new Joy Luck Club with some friends she met at church; Lindo, Ying-ying, and An-mei. After her mother’s death Jing-mei reluctantly takes her mother’s place at the mahjong table in the Joy Luck Club and learns that her mother had twin daughters whom she had left behind when she fled China; Jing-mei had half-sisters and Suyuan had found their address just before she died. Jing-mei decides that thought she does not know her mother’s story she must find her sisters and tell them about the mother they never knew.

Through the novel, Jing-mei, Lindo, Ying-ying, and An-mei each have chapters documenting their stories as Chinese-Americans and their struggles throughout life, many of which have to do with trying to