Joy Luck Club

So far, I have noticed that there is a lot of symbolism throughout this book. In one of the other stories I likes, "Rice Husband," I think that the vase that Lena had put on top of the wobbly table symbolized her marriage. Like her marriage, even though she realized the vase was going to eventually fall off the table and break, she did nothing to prevent it. She saw that her marriage was going nowhere wand that it would eventually shatter like the vase, but she refuses to help prevent it. Her husband, Harold, also played a part in their unsuccessful marriage. Harold built the table when he was studying design, and he may have contributed because he wasn't stable or supportive enough. In the end, Lena's mother told her that you should prevent disasters it you know they are going to occur, then ignore then like she has done all her life.

Joy Luck Club

Of the second stories, I liked "The Voice From the Wall." I think that this story portrayed that the mother was becoming paranoid and a little crazy. She was very over protected of her child. I agree with some of the other blogs of my classmates that she was becoming this because America was full of crazy people who did anything.
One quote that really struck me in this story was,
"And after that I began to see terrible things. I saw these things with my Chinese eyes, the part of me I got from my mother. I saw devils dancing feverishly beneath
a hole that I had dug in the sandbox. I saw that lightning had eyes and searched to
strike down little children. I saw a beetle wearing the face of a child, which I promptly squashed with the wheel of my tricycle. And when I he came older I could see things that
Caucasian girls at school did not. Monkey rings that would splist into two and send swinging children hurtling through space. Tether balls that could splash a girl's head all over the playground in front of laughing children.

I think the main line from this quote stated that she saw all of those things with her Chinese eyes, the part she inherited from her mother. I think this is showing that it was because of her mother she was seeing these things. Her mother had told her about a story of her great grandfather whom had sentenced a beggar to death. She told her about how he was embraced with the the jagged pieces of his arm. In addition, Lena had gone inside a barricaded door in her old house and had fallen into a dark chasm. Her mother told her that if she hadn't come to rescue her, she would have been in great danger because of the evil man who lived there. After this, she began to see those terrible things. It was her mother who had gotten all these deathlike things into her head in the first place.

The Joy Luck Club

I have finished the second book and I really like the theme of the book, the mother daughter relationships. I like to read about the stories because they are in different perspectives, form China and from the United States. I think that I can relate this to the articles we had to read on our Midterm. I don't remember the exact quote but it stated that there are African all over the world with different stories, but they all started in Africa. While I was reading these stories, I came to see that they were pretty similar; they portrayed Chinese culture etc. Even though the stories themselves may be different, they portrayed same relationships between mothers and daughters. After all, all of the people in America came from China (or there ancestors did) and they share similar experiences.

Joy Luck Club

Character profile for Jing Mei Woo:

Name: Jing Mei Woo
Nick name: June
Age: 36
Ethinicity: Chinese
Location: San Francisco, California
Hometown: Shangai, CHina
Zodiac: Tiger
Favorite game: Mah Jong
Education: half a degree in art and half a degree in biology
Occupation: Copywriter
Clubs you've joined: Joy Luck Club
Family Life: Mother has died and she lives with her father
Regrets: Unable to comprehend her mother fully and not being able to communicate with her freely
Life goals: To find my two sisters in China in addition to living up to her mother's name

Joy Luck Club

I finished the first chapter, Feathers From A Thousand Li Away. SO far, I think the stories in this book are interesting. It is different to learn about other cultures. My favorite story was "The Red Candle". I think the red candle itself symbolized the customs and culture of a traditional Chinese marriage. There is a wick at each end of the candle with the name of Lindo Jong and her husband. The candle primarily symbloizes the traditions of a marrige, but also Lindo's self control over her marriage. zI think that the fact that it symbloizes the traditions first is because if it didn't, than there would be no meaning to Lindo blowing it out and thus ending her unhappy marriage.
I also enjoyed the "Joy Luck Club." It gave a perspective of Chinese culture form America. I liked to learn about the game of mah jong.

The Joy Luck Club

I have began reading The Joy Luck Club and have finished reading a few of the stories. In the beginning, they were boring but as I read on, I came to enjoy the stories. At first I was confused about how the stories were written, but after reading other classmates' blogs and observing the setting, I found out that each alternate story was form China and America.

"Your father was not my first husband. You were not my first babies."
~ This was one of the quotes that struck out to me while I was reading this book. It portrays how hard it must have been on people when the Japanese had arrived that they had to let go of their own children to save themselves.

"And when I arrived, I realized how shabby my dreams were, how poor my thoughts. When I saw the hills, I laughed..."
~ I think that the fact that she laughed showed that she was sad, full of grief. It was also sad how the people who had heard the great stories of Kweilin were so disappointed to see Kweilin when they finally arrived.

I have finished the book and it turned out how I imagined it would be. After Okonkwo thought to himself that how he hoped the people of Umuofia would be excited to see him, I immediately thought of the opposite. When I read on to find out that the Christians had taken over the village, I thought that it was going to happen. A once strong village, would eventually fall.
Another part with I predicted also came true. When Mr. Brown leaves the flock, I thought that he would get replaced, and if he did, it would be someone more strict and harsh.

Throughout this book, i also found some foreshadowing. When the crickets finally came to the village, I thought that they would have some significance, or there was no point of them in the book. I think this was foreshadowing of the colonizers which eventually took over Umuofia.
I also enjoed the imagery portrayed throughout this book. The imagery was a great aspect because it really made you feel as if you were there, in the book experiencing the evnets that took place. One scene I really remember is the one in which Ezinma was sick and Okonkwo held the pot against her. This scene made you feel as is you were suffocating along with Ezinma.