Different, yet Similar | Teen Ink

Different, yet Similar

March 27, 2011
By AliceDean GOLD, Skopje, Other
AliceDean GOLD, Skopje, Other
11 articles 10 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
The happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Life is a spell so exquisite that everything conspires to break it.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;One of the things that distinguishes man from the other animals is that he wants to know things, wants to find out what reality is like, simply for the sake of knowing. When that desire is completely quenched in anyone, I think he has become something less than human.&#039; &mdash; C.S. Lewis<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Wit beyond measure is man&#039;s greatest treasure.&#039; &mdash; Rowena Ravenclaw<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Every story has an end, but in life every end is just a new beginning.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &lsquo;Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really Great make you feel that you, too, can become great.&rsquo; &mdash; Mark Twain<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &lsquo;Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something.&rsquo; &mdash; Plato<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &lsquo;I am only one, but I still am one. I cannot do everything, but I still can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.&rsquo; &mdash; Edward Everett Hale<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &lsquo;You are no bigger than the things that annoy you.&rsquo; &mdash; Jerry Bundsen<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &lsquo;Cats are smarter than dogs. You can&rsquo;t get eight cats to pull a sled through snow.&rsquo; &mdash; Jeff Valdez<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;What gets us into trouble is not what we don&#039;t know. It&#039;s what we know for sure that just ain&#039;t so.&#039; &mdash; Mark Twain<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.&#039; &mdash; Benjamin Franklin<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;What is essential is invisible to the eye.&#039; &mdash; Antoine de Saint-Exup&eacute;ry in &quot;The Little Prince&quot;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;If you&#039;re holding out for universal popularity, you&#039;ll be waiting a long time.&#039; &mdash; Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I have balls of yarn.&#039; - Monika Spancheska<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Well, it [the news] changes every day, you see.&#039; - Harry Potter<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;You can&#039;t give a Dementor the old one-two!&#039; - Harry Potter<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;And they&#039;d [the Death Eaters] love to have me. We&#039;d be best pals if they didn&#039;t keep trying to do me in.&#039; - Harry Potter<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;There&#039;s no need to call me sir Professor.&#039; - Harry Potter<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;A Study of Hogwarts Prefects and Their Later Careers... That sounds fascinating...&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I want to fix that in my memory forever. Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret...&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Because that&#039;s what Hermione does. When in doubt, go to the library. - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Can I have a look at Uranus, too, Lavender?&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;...from now on, I don&#039;t care if my tea leaves spell &#039;die, Ron, die,&#039; I&#039;m chucking them in the bin where they belong.&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Percy wouldn&#039;t recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby&#039;s tea cozy.&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;And what in the name of Merlin&rsquo;s most baggy Y Fronts was that about?&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Well, I don&#039;t know how to break this to you, but I think they might have noticed we broke into Gringotts.&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Just because you&#039;ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn&#039;t mean we all have.&#039; - Hermione Granger<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Grawp&#039;s about sixteen feet tall, enjoys ripping up twenty-foot pine trees, and knows me as Hermy.&#039; - Hermione Granger<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I do love knitting patterns.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;And now Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I would assume that you were going to offer me refreshment, but the evidence so far suggests that that would be optimistic to the point of foolishness.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Time is making fools of us again.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;It&rsquo;s the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;From this point forth, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together through the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally the whole school knows.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Of course, any time the family produced someone halfway decent they were disowned.- Sirius Black<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure.&#039; - Severus Snape<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Ah, of course. There is no need to tell me any more, Ms. Granger. Which one of you will be dying this year?&#039; - Minerva McGonagall<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Really, what has got into you all today? Not that it matters, but that&#039;s the first time my transformation&#039;s not got applause from a class&#039; - Minerva McGonagall<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;We teachers are rather good at magic, you know.&#039; - Minerva McGonagall<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I wouldn&#039;t go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid.&#039; - Lily Evans<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts...but you cannot deny he&#039;s got style...&#039; - Phineas Nigellus<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I&#039;ll join you when hell freezes over.&#039; - Neville Longbotom


"The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan follows the stories of four women who emigrated from China to the United States during World War II, and their American-born daughters. All of the mothers and all of the daughters have very different lives, each accustoming to the American lifestyle as best as possible. However, when they start retelling memories from their childhood, it seems as though all the stories are actually a great one, melted together by their similarities.

All of the stories have a similar mood. The mothers feel nostalgic about their life in China, and cannot completely fit in America. The daughters, on the other hand, always feel misunderstood by their mothers and are often ashamed of their heritage. The general air of discontent and mistranslation is contagious and every relationship feels the sting of it, even though they all try to deny it. Nevertheless, the atmosphere is the same with all the families.

When the mothers tell their stories from China, it can be noticed that all of them suffered at least one kind of tragedy in their young days, and for that had to grow up earlier, perhaps, than most people. Some were forced to marry, some had to abandon their children; nevertheless, they are all bound by their similar past and the road on which they are now. The daughters, although adjusted to American life in many different ways, always feel like they have to impress their mothers, make them proud. For some that means being a chess genius, for others being a piano prodigy. Alas, they never feel they have accomplished that and yearn for their mothers’ approval of their actions.

Albeit strict maternal figures, the mothers can sympathize with their daughters in many occasions, since they have also felt the same way once. They, too, once rebelled against their mothers and saw just the big cloud of misunderstanding. Nonetheless, through different situations, they saw the wisdom behind their mothers’ actions, wisdom their daughters have not yet seen in them. And slowly, but surely, they try to show their daughters that they are not so different after all.

"The Joy Luck Club" is full of stories weaved through with tradition and culture, stories about four strong women who raised their daughters and made it in America. And even though they all have their own takes on life and handle situations differently, one might feel like it is only one story, about a woman who immigrated to the United States, and her Chinese-American daughter.

The author's comments:
Analytical essay - Analysis of "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

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