Before I go on about the next part of my reading assignment I would like to take the time to explain to you why I choose this book. In all honesty I went to the library and while searching for the other books I glanced at “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan and from the first sentence I read I knew I had to pick that book. The first sentence went something like this “My father has asked me to be the fourth corner at the Joy Luck Club” (Tan page19). Simple, yes but there was just an attachment that drew my attention towards the book.
Recently I read “Half and Half” which is part of the second section The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates and this story was personally touching and very inspiring. A woman is going through a divorce and tells her mom about it and in this situation her mother tells her to work hard on making it work with her husband. However what inspired me the most was the story in between her problems. The story was about how she lost her bother and since then her mother who use to always carry around her bible has placed it under the table. The significance from her brother’s death to her marriage is after her brother had fell into the sea her mother went back the next day to pray because of their traditional beliefs; moreover, the narrator made that connection after her brother died the mother knew it wasn’t good and he probably wouldn’t come back yet she tried so now the narrator had to try regarding all the lost in faith.
It’s interesting because the narrator does compare fate and faith, two words sounding very alike but yet so different in meaning. Fate is more like fortune and destiny and faith is more like belief and devotion. The narrator ends with the thought that it was fate that happened when she lost her brother and now she is losing her husband; however, when all things go wrong people seem to have a high level of faith. Now when you hear the word faith you might automatically think God but faith can be in even saving your marriage. This story did a good job in showing how faith can be used in different way and that is very inspiring.
The first story was a little different from the second, but at the end of the day the main plot of Asian immigrants dealing with their Americanized kids is still a main factor in the story I recently read. As a child of immigrating parents I know how hard it might be for both the children and the parents. The transition of a comfortable tradition to a brand new can be incredibly hard at times but it’s a learning process and time consuming. Now that I think about it maybe that is the real reason why I was immediately connected to this book by Amy Tan.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post. You definitely put more of yourself and your thoughts into it. I got lost in the second paragraph. It felt like you were writing your thoughts quickly and forgot to some periods to help the reader. There were many compounds sentences in that paragraph, which made it hard to follow. Yet and still, I got the gist of the plot.
My biggest piece of advice is to read what you write out loud slowly to make sure it will sense to others who may read it. Your thoughts are great. You did a good job of showing your understanding of the fate/faith theme of this portion of the book and related it to your life.
I am very glad that you were able to see why you were drawn towards this book to read. I look forward to your thoughts on the next 100 pages or so. If you take the time to read aloud and put in periods where there should be pauses, the final product will come out even clearer.
Good job
- Derrick