Depiction of Mother's and Daughter's Relationships Throughout the Three Generations of the Hsu Family in the Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club (1989) has been translated into 17 languages. The novel was adapted into a feature film in 1993 (3). It consists of sixteen chapters divided into four sections and each section is introduced by a tale. The main theme of the book is Chinese mothers’ and their American daughters’ relationships.
The reader meets the Hsu family when he is introduced with Popo and An – mei’s mother called “a ghost” in the story “An – mei Hsu Scar”. Popo uses hate and respect gained through fears to control daughter’s and granddaughter’s behavior. It seems that over the years Popo is not even trying to establish warm, mutual mother and daughter relations. Why did not Popo try to understand her daughter’s action? Perhaps she had had a childhood trauma or it was an impact of stereotypical thinking or severe upbringing. However, Popo curses An – mei’s mother and ejects her from home. …