FREE ESSAY ON JOY LUCK CLUB

JOY LUCK CLUB

In the novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, the ignorance, the disregard of, and the
necessity of love are all introduced as the characters tell their life stories and
memories. The characters in The Joy Luck Club take love for granted. By ignoring love,
concentrating more on material possessions, and hiding their true identities, the
characters don't realize love's importance. One character that takes love for granted is
Harold, Lena St. Clair's husband. This occurs when Lena leans over to him in their car
and states I love you. He responds by asking Lena a question about his car, which seems
to be more important to him than his relationship with her. Harold does not realize the
importance of love. He only thinks about material possessions. Since Harold does not
revealing his true nature, he reveals that he has a lack of love for himself as an
individual. The love you have for yourself is a necessity in life because it provides
self-respect; if one respects oneself, one will respect and love others. The story of
Lindo Jong provides insight into the concept of revealing your true nature. To keep
everything inside as does Lindo Jong, provides for not being able to experience love to
its fullest. Lindo Jong hides under a red marriage scarf in attempt to shield herself
from the outside world. Her hiding under the scarf demonstrates that to be able to love,
you must be able to first reveal your true nature. Ying-Ying St. Clair stands as an
example of the desire to remain hidden as she says, All these years I kept my true nature
hidden, running along like a small shadow so nobody could catch me. The image of the
shadow relates directly to the red marriage scarf. They both attempt to provide the
concealment of their true natures, because the result of revealing your true self may be
that of pain. The importance of love goes unnoticed as the characters take love for
granted and expect it to naturally come to them. The ceasing of taking love for granted
does occur later and has its results and consequences. The characters realize that they
are taking love for granted when they feel meaningless and uncomfortable, and stop doing
so by either ending the relationship or confronting the problem. By not taking love for
granted and realizing there's absolutely nothing left to save in her marriage, Rose Hsu
Jordan recognizes that she must divorce her husband. Rose Hsu Jordan does not feel
comfortable with her life and feels that she is living under false pretences. She
comprehends that she is not what she continually pretends to be. Therefore, she stops
taking love for granted and ignoring it, and instead moves on to a better, more
comfortable life with a feeling of being needed. Lindo Jong compares love to a hill and
as to heaven. This hill symbolizes the steps that she must take to truly attain love and
enter heaven, her comparison to happiness and a comfortable lifestyle. Love proves hard
to attain but Lindo Jong learns to embrace it and accept it as best she can. The pained
feeling at the beginning of love provides insight into the revelation of the true nature
of the character. This pained feeling, the lifting of the scarf or the shadow, opens the
door to the true nature of the character. This love provides better understanding and a
better love of your own character. It makes the people more comfortable with themselves
and makes them feel important, needed, and loved. 
Bibliography
Joy Luck Club . Amy Tan. 336 pages. IVY books NY.1989