Study Questions
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Feathers From a Thousand Li Away
The Parable (pg. 17)
1. Discuss the symbol of the swan in the parable on pg. 17.
2. What barriers between mother and daughter does the parable mention on pg. 17?
Jing-mei Woo (daughter of Suyuan Woo): The Joy Luck Club (pg. 19-41)
3. Suyuan died of a cerebral aneurysm, how does her husband describe her death (pg. 19)
4. What do the four women of the San Francisco Joy Luck Club have in common?
5. Compare the Joy Luck families to the family in Catfish and Mandala. Why do they consider themselves
“rice Christians”?
6. On pg. 22, Suyuan describes the soldiers and northern peasants—how does her language contribute
to the story? Can you find other examples in the chapter?
7. What was the Joy Luck Club formed to celebrate (25)?
8. What is Suyuan Woo’s refugee story (26)?
9. Why is Jing-mei attending the Joy Luck Club in San Francisco?
10. Why do the Joy Luck couples invest in stock (30)?
11. What was Suyuan’s assessment of Auntie An-mei’s personality (30)?
12. What are the personality “elements” according to Chinese tradition? Describe each (31)?
13. Compare Suyuan to Amy Chua’s description of the Chinese Tiger Mother in “Chinese Mothers are
Superior”.
14. What was Suyuan’s saying about the direction of the east (33)?
15. What is expected of “overseas Chinese relatives” from the Chinese (36)?
16. On pg. 37, Jing-mei says “My mother and I never really understood one another. We translated each
other’s meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard more.” Explain
what this means.
17. What do the women of the Joy Luck Club (the aunties) want June to do?
18. What is the biggest fear of the aunties (40-1)?
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An-mei Hsu (mother of Rose): Scar (pg. 42-48)
1. Why was An-mei’s mother considered a “ghost”?
2. What lessons was An-mei taught by her grandmother, Popo?
3. What does “losing face” mean on pg. 44 and 46?
4. How did An-mei get a scar on her neck?
5. What is the meaning of the scar (47)?
Lindo Jong (mother of Waverly): The Red Candle (pg. 49-66)
1. What is Lindo’s criticism of her daughter (49)?
2. What is the reason Tyan-yu is spoiled (51)?
3. How was Lindo’s mother a “Chinese Mother”?
4. Describe the traditional mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship as shown by Lindo Jong and
Huang Taitai (55-56).
5. On pg. 58, why does Lindo compare herself to the wind?
6. What is the significance of the red candle (59-60)? What happened to it?
7. What happened to Lindo when they took the “metal” from her person (60)?
8. How did Lindo Jong leave her marriage to Tyan-yu?
Ying-ying St. Clair (Lena’s mother): The Moon Lady (pg. 67-83)
1. On pg. 70-72, what is Ying-ying being taught about girls and how they should behave?
2. What was the point of the Moon Lady’s story (81)?
3. Why is it ironic that the Moon Lady is a man (82)?
4. Why does Ying ying wish to be found (83)?
The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates
The Parable (pg. 87)
1. What is the book The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates about?
2. What themes does the parable introduce for this section?
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Waverly Jong (daughter of Lindo Jong): Rules of the Game (pg. 89-101)
1. Lindo Jong told the story of The Red Candle in the previous section. Knowing this, what is the
significance of her lesson to Waverly about the salted plums (89)?
2. What lesson does Lindo try to teach her daughter in paragraph 6 of pg. 94?
3. On pg. 96, p. 4, what does Lindo give her daughter? Where did she get it from?
4. Why is it significant that Waverly describes the wind as telling her how to win against her opponents
(96-7)?
5. How does Lindo embarrass Waverly on pg. 99? Do you think Waverly has the right to be
embarrassed?
Lena St. Clair (daughter of Ying-ying St. Clair): The Voice from the Wall (102-15)
1. Why does Lena think it’s important to know the bad things that can happen to a person (103)?
2. Why does Lena describe Ying-ying as a “ghost” (103)?
3. What do Ying-ying’s scary stories do to Lena? Why would she try to scare her daughter (103-4)?
4. Is there a theme to Ying-ying’s lies to her daughter (103, 105, 106)?
5. How did Ying-ying’s husband take advantage of her poor English (104)? How did Lena (106)?
6. Look up “Feng Shui” online and describe how it relates to how Ying-ying was feeling.
7. How do you know Ying-ying is upset about her pregnancy (109)?
8. When Ying-ying miscarries the baby and is hallucinating, what does she say happened to her other
baby (112)?
9. What are the differences between Lena and Teresa’s homes?
10. What is the point of the “vision” Lena sees in her mind on pg. 115?
Rose Hsu Jordan (daughter of An-mei Hsu): Half and Half
1. How did Rose and Ted’s marriage begin?
2. Describe Rose’s personality/disposition (119).
3. Does Rose see a difference between faith and fate (121)?
4. What happened to Bing?
5. What two ways does An-mei try to get Bing back? What does this tell you about her beliefs?
6. In this chapter, An-mei lost something and Rose lost something—what did each of them lose?
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7. Why do you think this chapter is called “Half and Half”?
Jing-mei Woo (daughter of Suyuan Woo): Two Kinds
1. What does Suyuan believe is possible in America?
2. What did Suyuan want for Jing-mei? How did it end up making Jing-mei feel?
2. Was Suyuan a “Chinese Mother” according to Amy Chua’s definition in the article we read?
3. According to Suyuan there are only two kinds of daughters—what are they (142)?
4. On pg. 142, Jing-mei says “I never found a way to ask her why she had hoped for something so large
that failure was inevitable.” What do you think Suyuan would say to this?
5. What were the two parts of the piano music on pg. 144? Is there any meaning to this?
American Translation
The Parable
1. What are the two different worldviews of the mother and daughter?
2. How does the mother find a compromise?
Lena St. Clair (daughter of Ying-ying St. Clair): Rice Husband
1. What types of things does Ying-ying see (149)?
2. What happened to Arnold and why did Lena think it was her fault?
3. What role does money play in the relationship of Harold and Lena (157, 160-1)?
4. On pg. 160, Lena says “It’s just not enough.” What is she talking about?
5. Ying-ying calls Lena a “ghost” on pg. 163. Why is it ironic that Ying-ying thinks Lena is the ghost? How
are mother and daughter similar?
6. What does the table designed by Harold symbolize?
Waverly Jong (daughter of Lindo Jong): Four Directions
1. Why is a story involving Lindo Jong entitled “Four Directions”?
2. What is Waverly’s biggest fear/insecurity?
3. Why did Waverly quit playing chess (171)? Who did her quitting hurt the most?
4. What does Waverly fear will happen to her love of Rich (176)?
5. What “sins” does Rich commit on pg 178?
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6. How is Waverly a self-fulfilling prophet?
7. What scares Waverly on pg. 180?
8. How does Lindo react to the news of Waverly’s engagement?
9. What does Waverly realize about her mother at the end of the chapter?
Rose Hsu Jordan (daughter of An-mei Hsu): Without Wood
1. What does An-mei say about Rose seeing a psychiatrist (188)?
2. On pg. 191, what reason does An-mei give for why Rose is so confused?
3. What does An-mei want for her daughter? How do you know?
4. What changes in An-mei? What does she realize on pg. 196?
5. What do the weeds symbolize in this chapter?
Jing-mei Woo (daughter of Suyuan Woo): Best Quality
1. What did Suyuan give Jing-mei (197)?
2. What does Waverly do to humiliate Jing-mei?
3. Why is Suyuan proud of Jing-mei for picking the dead crab?
4. What do you think is the meaning behind the jade necklace (208)?
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