Literature Analysis

 

 

  The Joy Luck Club

1) This book is about women who have emigrated from China to the United States, and their struggle to be independent without losing their identities. All of the women share the same struggle to find happiness. They meet up religiously to talk about their struggles with each other to help one another. It is about to generations of women. Both generations struggle to gain control over their lives. The second generation of women try to learn more about the backgrounds of their parents. Some of the main conflicts happen within the women's marriage. 

2) The main theme of this novel is self-discovery. Each of the women are working to find their own niche in the world.

3) The tone of this book is hopeful each of the women have traveled to America in the hopes of creating a better life for themselves and their families.

" and in my memory I can feel the hope that beat in me in the night"

" how else could I appreciate what my parents had done for me?"

" He gave me this from his heart"

4)Foreshadow- "I was beginning to think about how to escape my marriage"

 

diction-"Play note right, but doesn't sound good! No singing sound" The moms don't speak the best English, because they came from China

 

setting-" We were a city of leftovers mixed together"

 

imagery- " He had lost most of the hair on top of his and he had eyes that looked tired and sleepy

 

pathos- " I had just seen a little girl die right in front of me"

 

allusion-" The Vietnam war was wildly unpopular"

 

irony- " He told her he could make her beautiful, instead one side of her smile fell"

 

symbolism- "To make her point she crushed the stand of beads she had just given her"

 

flashback-"When the bombing sounds grew further away, we scratched our way back to the city"

 

dialogue- "What kind of punishment?'

" Too many questions"

 

Characterization

1)Indirect- " She yanked the full length of my hair like the reins of horse"

" My mom told me about a man who lived in a room I was never to go in. I have been scared to since then"

direct- " I was very confident with childish excitement."

" My mother had grand dreams of wealth"

2) The authors diction changes based on which generation of women the character talking is from. The first generation doesn't speak proper English, because they are from China.

3) There are many different protagonists, but I would describe them all as being very dynamic. Each of them have different background that have affected their lives today.

4)In the end I don't think this novel has really changed me too much. I have a better idea of what it must have been like to grow up in China during war. I feel like I have gotten to know all of the main characters on a personal level. I feel sympathy for all of them.