The Joy Luck Club Summary
...he location of her half-sisters and was happy to see how well they fathomed each other's stories. The other members of the Joy Luck Club included An-mei, who ran away with her mother to avoid poverty, Lindo, who escaped to America from an arranged marriage long ago, and Ying-Ying, who was cheated on by an older, vulgar husband. These elderly women each came from broken marriages, were forced to abandon their children, fled from poverty, and started new families in America. Overtime, the secret of their pasts grew as barriers between them and their American daughters. They are so tenacious about their superstitious beliefs that they often use parables and myths to reason human behavior. The senses of knowledge and traditional Chinese beliefs treasured by these mothers are misunderstood by their daughters and are typically mocked as old-fashioned, conservative superstitions. Nevertheless, as each of the daughters uncover the secrets of their mothers' heritage-a bond of appreciative understanding is formed. The daughters treasure the sacrifices their mothers have made which give them the freedom they have taken for granted. Each daughter eventually learns that no matter how Westernized they are, once a person is born a Chinese, he or she will forever be Chinese. Foreshadowing is a literary element Amy Tan used repeatedly in The Joy Luck Club. The element of foreshadowing was most evident in Lena's story about grains of rice. As...