cycles-joy luck club

family essay

My family has a lot of stories that were past down for a long time. There is one story that really

gets to me every time i hear it. It's the story my grandma told me not to long ago and i can 

remember it word for word.  The way in which my grandmother tells the story replays in my mind just like a movie.

My grandmother's grandparents lived in Texas. They where two school teachers who had about a 12th grade education. At that time in Texas for African American people that was considered to be rather high. My grandmother said that her grandfather was a very dark man and his wife was a light skin black women. her skin almost looked as if she was white. that was because her mother was raped by a slave owner that why her skin is so light.  so anyways back to the story, my grandmothers grandparents had this friend named Jim. Jim had been friends with them for a long time he would always help the children during school. That was because my grandmothers grandparents could use a little help every once in a while. so that is what Jim offered to them.

Oneday Jim had came running into my grandmothers grandparents house begging them to give him mercy and hide him somewhere. the reason in which he was needed to behind en was because he had been accused of raping a white women. in the state of Texas at that time would mean that a black man would be lynched. so my grandmothers grandparents hid there friend jim under theses floor boards. if Jim was to be found in my grandmothers grandparents house all three of them would be lynched because they where apart of hiding this man. For them to avoild that from happening they moved to the state of California.

When my grandmothers grandparents moved to the state of California they had lost their teaching jobs. they moved to a small town called allens's town which now is know as Fresno.in this small town their was a lot of black families moving in. now in a near by town there where white people in which they did not want black families to live next ti them. Now for them to stop black families from coming into this town they poisoned their water. that caused them not to be able to have clean drinking water which simply had met that they would have to move to another town. The town in which my grandmothers grandparents was down in southern California where they would own a farm.  

That is where my grandmother said her mother would move to a city called Bakersfield. That is where my grandmother would spend  her childhood. 

The reason this story has lasted so long in my family i think is because it shows the moral of friendship and also courage. What i learned about my self after hearing this story from my grandmother was i was not sure if i would be brave enough to do the things they did to save this mans life. i do not know if i would be able to handle that risk.In a way though i feel like if that was me back then i still would have had to do my best to save the life of my friend. 

Amy Tan and Amy Chuan

I think that there are many similarities and connections in The Joy Luck Club. in the story tiger mom Amy tan is both of the  authors. Amy tan was talking about how strict her mother was and how hard she was pushing her so she can become really smart. also how she did not allow her to live her life by not letting her do things like watch TV and kick it with the friends and stuff. in a way i think this made Amy Tan feel as if she had no freedom in her life because her mother was controlling it.

In the third chapter of the Joy Luck Club it talks about how hard the moms treat there daughters. an example would be when Wavarly mother was making her play chess. This then makes her feel as if her mother is asking to much of her and she doesn't like that at all.  That probably the reason why she gives up playing chess. Its almost as if Wavrly mother is pressuring her to much. this is just like Amy Tan mother when she was pushing her to be good at everything. This si the reason why Waverly stop playing chess.

I think thats moms have more past life experiences both good and bad so thats why they want there daughters to do somethings and not others. It is so they dont make the same choices as they did. Although  i think sometimes you should let people make there own mistakes because thats how they grow as people.  In the story of "rice husband" lena's mom always notices that things are not going right. she seems to struggle a lot. anyways the experiences the moms have should not be connects to there daughters. 

the joy luck club

the purpose of Amy Tan introduction to the second section of the book is that it was explaining or foreshadowing what will occur in the next two stories , "rules of the game" and " the voice from the wall". the introduction talks about a book , the 26 malignant gates,that speaks about the 26 bad things that can happen. the intro is the mother speaking to her daughter not to ride her bike. "it is a book , the 26 malligant gates , all the bad things that can happen to you outside the protection of your house"(87).

In the end of the introduction page , the daughter does not listen to what her mother told her not to do. the little girl got on her bike and before reaching to the Conner she falls. this goes to show that everyone should listen to thier parents in order to stay away from danger.

this foreshadows what happens in the next chapter of the joy luck club, "the rules of the game". the little girl did not listen to her mother and then she ran away for a while. when she returned the entire family was ignoring her and they did not eat the feast with her.

this to me is rather harsh. if i was that girl and i had run away and then came back and the family was still being jerks i would have more than likely ran away again and this time have not come back. its almost as if they want the girl to run away and to not return. i guess the family would feel bad then.