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Chinese History 

During World War two Suyuan lived in Kweilin with two twin 

daughters. At this time the Japanese were invading China 

destroying and killing anyone, anything standing in their way. 

When the Japanese began their approach towards Kweilin Suyuan 

fled with only her baby girls, a suitcase, and some food. For many 

miles, many days, Suyuan walked. Soon the suitcases caused her 

blisters, not long after that the blisters burst and started to bleed. 

She dropped her belongings and the food but continued on with her 

daughters. Many miles later, delirious with pain and fever Suyuan 

could no longer go on. She couldn't stand to watch her babies die 

with her so she did the only thing she could. She begged others 

coming by to take them, but no one would. Knowing she would 

die, she stuffed all her jewelry under one daughters shirt and all her 

money under the other daughters shirt.

Chinese History Continued...

She left them with photos of her family, the picture of her father and mother, 

the picture of herself and her husband. She wrote on the back of each the 

names of the babies and this same message: 

"Please care for these babies with the money and valuables provided. When it 

is safe to come, if you bring them to Shanghai, 9 Weichang Lu, the Li family 

will be   glad and give you a generous reward. Li Suyuan and Wang Fuchi." 

(Tan 282).

Suyuan left to get them food and would be back. She walked down the road 

stumbling and crying, thinking only of this one last hope, that her daughters 

would be found by a kindhearted person who would take care of them. She did 

not remember how far she walked before she fainted. When she awoke, she 

was in the back of a truck with many other sick people and the face of an 

American missionary lady bent over her.

Suyuan and Jing-Mei   

Jing-Mei has never really understood her mother. When 

she was little she always felt her mother wasn't proud of 

her. Even into adulthood Jing-Mei thought Suyuan felt 

she was a failure, that Suyuan wanted a better daughter. 

It wasn't until many years later Jing-Mei found this 

wasn't the case. 

A dinner had been put together to celebrate the Chinese 

New Year and at this dinner there had been a crab with a 

missing leg, bad luck on the Chinese New Year as 

Suyuan had called it. No one had picked the crab except 

June, but Suyuan had refused to let her take it. Suyuan 

took it instead. That's the way Chinese mothers show 

they love their children, not through hugs and kisses but 

with stern offerings of food. 

Later that night when Suyuan and June were alone in 

the kitchen   Suyuan looked at June and smiled. 

"Only you pick that crab. Nobody else take it. I already 

know this. Everybody else want best quality. You 

thinking different." (Tan 208).

 "Tss! Why you listen to her? Why you want to follow 

behind her, chasing her words? She is like this crab. 

Always walking sideways, moving crooked. You can 

make your legs go the other way." (Tan 208).

After this dinner Suyuan Woo gave Jing-Mei her "life's 

importance," a jade pendant on a gold chain. This 

pendant, along with the words Suyuan had said to Jing-

Mei made her realize her mother actually was proud of 

her.

Americanization 

When Suyuan came to America in 1949 with her 

second husband, they came with only one leather trunk 

full with fancy silk dresses. Shortly after arriving in 

San Francisco, her husband made her hide those shiny 

clothes. she wore the same brown-checked Chinese 

dress until the Refugee Welcome Society gave her two 

hand-me-down dresses, all too large in sizes for 

American women. The society was composed of white-

haired American missionary ladies from the First 

Chinese Baptist Church. Because of their gifts, the 

Woo's could not refuse the societies invitation to join 

the church. Nor could they ignore the old ladies' advice 

to improve their English through Bible study class on 

Wednesday nights, and later through choir practice on 

Saturday mornings.

Theme

For Suyuan all she wants is for June to have everything she 

didn't have in life and to be the best she can be

Point-of-view

In Suyuan's point-of-view you can be anything you want to 

be in america. 

With Suyuan, the theme and point-of-view are shown in the 

chapter Two Kinds, told by Jing-Mei Woo. In this chapter 

Suyuan tries so hard to make June a child prodigy through 

practice and tests. Suyuan tries to make June be the best 

she can be.

Comment on Life

If Suyuan were to comment on life her comment would be even 

when life is hard you can still find joy and luck.

Suyuan's comment on life is shown when she started the first Joy 

Luck Club in Kweilin during WW2

"It's not that we had no heart or eyes for pain. We were all afraid. 

We all had our miseries. But to despair was to wish back for 

something already lost.What was worse, we asked among 

ourselves, to sit and wait for our own deaths with proper somber 

faces? Or to choose our own happiness?" (Tan 25).

"So we decided to hold parties and pretend each week had become 

the new year. And each week, we could hope to be lucky. That 

hope was our only joy." (Tan 25).

Tan's Style of Writing

Even when times were the worst of times Suyuan did all 

she could to keep her spirits raised. Before she left China 

she spent four years searching for her twin daughters, even 

after she came to America she never stopped looking for 

them. She never gave up hope in trying to find them. 

Through Tan's writing we can get a large sense of the 

destruction and loss the war caused, leaving Suyuan with 

nothing. Her husband and twin daughters, her home and 

entire family were taken from her.

With the Joy Luck Club, Tan conveys to us a universal 

theme seen everywhere, even in our own homes. Every day 

we see and personally experience our mothers trying to 

push us to achieve our best potential because that's all they 

want, the best for us. We push and fight those mothers that 

want to be treated with respect after they've done so much 

for us.

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