“The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tang is a story about four immigrant mothers from China and their second generation Asian-American daughters. The story follows two main timelines: one is of their daughters which take place in San Francisco, California, and the other is of their mothers’ childhoods which mostly takes place in China. It follows the characters through their
lives, navigating their complicated mother-daughter relationship, cultural struggles and personal growth. The mothers try to preserve their Chinese heritage and make sure that their daughters receive every opportunity, especially the ones they never had. However, the mothers’ intentions are
not communicated well to their daughters, causing conflict within their relationship, issues of self worth and confusion about identity. The unresolved struggles and trauma from their mothers’ life in China are passed down to their daughters through their expectations, cultural clashes and communication barriers. The story captures the lives of several mothers who immigrate in order to create a new life for their daughters which differs from the negative aspects that filled theirs. In doing so, they pass down a series of intergenerational trauma from their lives in China to their daughters in America, foreshadowing their own experiences they attempted to erase.