Book Discussion Questions

Book Discussion Topics for The Joy Luck Club:
 

1.  Each mother had expectations for her daughter and each daughter deviated from those expectations. Did you have a plan for your daughter that did not come to fruition? Were any of your expectations met? Did any of the deviations from the plan have pleasant results?

2.  Was there a specific point where any of the daughters saw her mother as an individual with her own history as opposed to a mother? Do you remember a time when it struck you that there was more to your mother than you realized?

3.  What was the importance of mah jong in the story? Did it serve the same purpose in the original Joy Luck Club as it did in the revised Club? Is there anything comparable in the American culture?

4.  Suyuan Woo was drawn to the other mothers in the novel when she met them at the church other refugees attended – she recognized the “numbness in their faces” and could sense they had left behind unspeakable tragedies. Have you ever bonded with anyone over a negative life circumstance?  Did the relationship last?

5.  Was the competitiveness between Suyuan Woo and Lindo Jong  serious or good-natured? Did it affect the relationship between their daughters, Jing-Mei and Waverly? If so, in what way?

6.  Many of Amy Tan’s scenes in the book evoked vivid imagery – were there any locations in the novel that you felt transported to?

7.  Rose Hsu Jordon contemplated losing her brother Bing and the demise of her marriage – events that were years apart – and said the following about fate and faith: “And I think now that fate is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention.  But somehow, when you lose something you love, faith takes over.  You have to pay attention to what you lost.  You have to undo the expectation.”  Do you agree  or disagree with her assessment? Why?

8.  What mother-daughter conflicts did you identify in the novel that were more universal than cultural? Was there a specific one that you identified with?

9.  Does a focus on raising children with humility conflict with the concept of building their self-esteem?  Is the latter a cultural or generational focus?

10.  The mothers in the story were pressured by their daughters to be more American and/or understand the ways of America. The daughters were pressured by their mothers to embrace the traditional Chinese culture. Have you ever entered a new group – married into a new family, started a new job with an unfamiliar culture, joined a social organization, moved to a new neighborhood – where you felt pressured by expectations of the group members to assimilate? What form did the pressure take? How did you feel when you encountered it? Were you able to bring some of your own culture to the larger group?

11.  What questions do you have for your mother that, if answered, might help you understand her better?

12.  What in your history shaped you?  Would sharing that with your children help them to understand you better?