The Joy and Luck of the Family Brawl
In Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club", the characters always seem t
o be fighting. Usually it's a Chinese mother going for the throat of her daughter. The major confl
icts in the book are caused by a clash of the strong willed Chinese, and revolutionary American cult
ures. Waverly's mom, Lindo, is the proud parent of a young chess prodigy. She takes great pride in
Waverly's success at the art of chess. But a conflict arises because Waverly is embarrassed whenev
er her mom shows her off in public. One day Waverly finally explodes at her mom in the marketplace,
telling Lindo that she shouldn't try and show off her young chess prodigy as if she had a part in W
averly's success. Lindo is intensely offended, and stops talking to Waverly. The conflict gets wor
se, until Waverly pretends to let her mom win by talking to her. Upon hearing her child's forfeit,
Lindo is vert upset: "'Why do you tell me this?' she finally said in sharp tones. 'You think it is s
o easy. One day quit, next day play. Everything for you is this way. So smart, so easy, so fast.'
" (p.189) The conflict is eventually resolved when Waverly gets chicken pox, and Lindo is forced to
care for her. But after she gets better, things aren't the same. Since the conflict, Lindo isn't
interested in her daughter's chess. She doesn't polish her trophies everyday, or make clippings her
name in the paper. Waverly immediately notices the drop in her mother's enthusiasm, and it critica
lly affects her chess. She is no longer able to wield "the secret weapons of each piece", and her r
ecord quickly goes sour. She eventually can't hold up to her name, and she quits for good. The con
flict may be common among all families, but Lindo's handling of the situation is not. Instead of r
ealizing that Waverly is a ignorant ten year old child, Lindo must have her way. This sense that au
thority is always right is ultimately what stops Waverly from becoming a world-champ player. When Wa
verly tries to introduce Rich, her fiance, to her mother, she tries to sabotage their relationship.
Throughout all her life, Waverly has seen her mother degrade all that is precious to her. Lindo wa
s ignoring, or interrupting Waverly every time she tried to talk about Rich. So Waverly has a plan.
She and Rich go to eat at Auntie Su's house. Waverly instructs Rich to pretend to greatly enjoy t
he food. After, Waverly and Rich send a thank you note, to Auntie Su, and it says that the food was
the best Chinese food that Rich had ever tasted. This is very smart on Waverly's part, because Lin
do's pride and joy is her cooking. A few days later, Lindo invites Waverly to a belated birthday di
nner for her father, and Lindo says that Waverly should bring a friend. Rich and Waverly arrive at
the house, and finally Waverly gets up the courage to ask her mother about Rich. Her immediate res
ponse is ill spirited and negative: "So many spots on his face" (p196). Waverly tries to turn it ar
ound by saying that spots are good luck, but Lindo is ready. She mentions that when Waverly was you
ng, she got chicken pox, how lucky was she then? Lindo just can't let anything go by without critic
ising it. The dinner goes horribly, as Rich tries to fit in, but fails horribly. Lindo is utterly
disgusted at Rich, the American pig. Waverly feels trapped at her mother's manipulation: "My mother
was doing it again, making me see black where I once saw white. In her hands, I always became the
pawn . . . she was the queen, able to move in all directions, relentless in her pursuit, always able
to find my weakest spots." (199) The conflict is only resolved when Waverly goes and fixes the pro
blem herself. She drives to her mothers house, ready to tell her off for all the criticism she's re
ceived about Rich, and everything else she holds dear. When she gets there her mother is sleeping h
elplessly on the couch. Waverly panics thinking she might be dead, and her build up anger is lost i
n an instant. She wakes Lindo up but she has lost her steam. She asks her mother through teary eye
s why she hates Rich, and why she is always criticising him. Lindo plays innocent and asks why Wave
rly is accusing her of all this false hatred. Waverly is defeated, and the conflict is over. The e
ntire time Lindo claims that she is only trying to be a good mother, and that Waverly is making up t
hese false accusations. It's possible that Lindo is correct. However, it's also possible that Lind
o is relentlessly seeking her goal, and Waverly just needs to try harder. The cultural differences a
mong the families greatly hurts them, and hurts their functionality a lot. Unfortunately it usually
is the mothers fault, but only because she fails to see her daughters point of view. Sadly, neithe
r party is willing to culturally conform to the other, and the problems keep on coming. luck family
brawl luck club characters always seem fighting usually chinese mother going throat daughter major c
onflicts book caused clash strong willed chinese revolutionary american cultures waverly lindo proud
parent young chess prodigy takes great pride waverly success chess conflict arises because waverly
embarrassed whenever shows public finally explodes marketplace telling lindo that shouldn show young
chess prodigy part success lindo intensely offended stops talking conflict gets worse until pretend
s talking upon hearing child forfeit vert upset tell this finally said sharp tones think easy quit n
ext play everything this smart easy fast conflict eventually resolved when gets chicken forced care
after gets better things aren same since interested daughter doesn polish trophies everyday make cli
ppings name paper immediately notices drop mother enthusiasm critically affects longer able wield se
cret weapons each piece record quickly goes sour eventually hold name quits good common among famili
es handling situation instead realizing that ignorant year child must have this sense that authority
always right ultimately what stops from becoming world champ player when tries introduce rich fianc
e mother tries sabotage their relationship throughout life seen degrade precious ignoring interrupti
ng every time tried talk about rich plan rich auntie house instructs pretend greatly enjoy food afte
r send thank note auntie says food best chinese food ever tasted very smart part because pride cooki
ng days later invites belated birthday dinner father says should bring friend arrive house finally c
ourage about immediate response spirited negative many spots face tries turn around saying spots goo
d luck ready mentions when young chicken lucky then just anything without criticising dinner goes ho
rribly fails horribly utterly disgusted american feels trapped manipulation doing again making black
where once white hands always became pawn queen able move directions relentless pursuit able find w
eakest spots only resolved goes fixes problem herself drives mothers house ready tell criticism rece
ived about everything else holds dear there sleeping helplessly couch panics thinking might dead bui
ld anger lost instant wakes lost steam asks through teary eyes hates criticising plays innocent asks
accusing false hatred defeated over entire time claims only trying good making these false accusati
ons possible correct however also possible relentlessly seeking goal just needs harder cultural diff
erences among families greatly hurts them hurts their functionality unfortunately usually mothers fa
ult only because fails daughters point view sadly neither party willing culturally conform other pro
blems keep comingEssay, essays, termpaper, term paper, termpapers, term papers, book reports, study,
college, thesis, dessertation, test answers, free research, book research, study help, download ess
ay, download term papers