Study Questions &
Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. Throughout
The
Joy Luck Club, characters think and communicate using stories.
Why might they choose to use stories instead of direct statements?
As stories seem a less efficient way of relaying information, do
the characters show stories to have some power that normal speech
lacks?
2. Most of the
female characters in
The Joy Luck Club struggle
with oppressive societal structures, often in the form of patriarchy
and attendant sexism. But in America as well, the women characters
fall victim to sexist structures. Many of the characters respond
to this suppression simply by becoming passive, silent, and indecisive.
What alternatives might the characters have? Does the book suggest
methods by which a woman can become powerful? What are the positive
and negative aspects of these methods?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Jing-mei fears that she cannot
tell Suyuan's story to her half-sisters because she feels that she
did not know her mother well enough. Considering her doubts, what
is symbolically significant about her agreement to fill Suyuan's
place in the Joy Luck Club? What hints do we receive over the course
of the book that her fears may be unfounded?
2. Consider some of the cyclical
elements in the narratives of the joy luck club. What
are some possible reasons for the cyclical nature of the novel?
3. When Jing-mei tells the story
of her childhood conflict with Suyuan over piano lessons, how does
her perspective of herself and of her relationship with Suyuan change?
How does their conflict represent the conflicts between the other mothers
and daughters in the book?
4. How are the daughters in joy
luck club American “translations” of their
mothers?
5. Over the course of joy
luck club, the mothers find themselves learning
as much from their daughters as their daughters are learning from
them. Discuss what lessons the mothers might have to learn from
their daughters. How might the very activity of narrating their
stories lead them not just to the sharing of insights but the discovery
of new ones?
