Miscommunication in Joy Luck Club
Miscommunication
The Woos
Joy Luck Club
The novel, in fact, opens with the concept of communication: Mr. Woo, June's father, believes that his wife died because she could not express herself. Unvoiced ideas, he says, can literally cause death. A few paragraphs farther on, June alludes to the problems that she and her mother had communicating: "I can never remember things I didn't understand in the first place."
Two Kinds
As with all the Joy Luck Club mothers, Suyuan believes wholeheartedly that her daughter has limitless potential, especially in America, where talent can raise an individual’s status, regardless of one’s heritage. However, Jing-mei doesn’t see her mother ...
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told her mother “I wish you wouldn’t do that, telling everyone that I’m your daughter”. Lindo’s bragging is her way of showing love and pride, though Waverly doesn’t interpret the actions that way. The miscommunication in expectations leads to a rift between mother and daughter.
Four Directions
The perception of maternal disapproval is all in Waverly's mind. For example, Waverly interprets her mother's remark about Rich's freckles as an insult. Waverly responds to her mother's remark "a bit too heatedly." Clearly she is looking for a confrontation. Similarly, the Jongs do not criticize Rich's clumsy attempt to use chopsticks or his gauche gift of wine — only Waverly does. In the same way, Rich has no way of knowing that Mrs. Jong, by tradition, criticizes her own cooking as a way of eliciting compliments. Waverly is horrified when Rich agrees with Mrs. Jong's criticism about her famous steamed pork and preserved vegetable fish. Yet, because Waverly did not ...
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Miscommunication in Joy Luck Club. (2018, September 29). Retrieved June 20, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Miscommunication-in-Joy-Luck-Club/106840
"Miscommunication in Joy Luck Club." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 29 Sep. 2018. Web. 20 Jun. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Miscommunication-in-Joy-Luck-Club/106840>
"Miscommunication in Joy Luck Club." Essayworld.com. September 29, 2018. Accessed June 20, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Miscommunication-in-Joy-Luck-Club/106840.
"Miscommunication in Joy Luck Club." Essayworld.com. September 29, 2018. Accessed June 20, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Miscommunication-in-Joy-Luck-Club/106840.
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