ABSTRACT

Amy Tan is a famous Chinese American writer. Her maiden work, The Joy Luck Club, mainly tells the story of four pairs of Chinese immigrant mothers and daughters. Influenced by Chinese culture and traditions, mothers wanted to guide their daughters with their experiences. However, daughters could not understand mothers and Chinese culture, which led to many misunderstanding and conflicts between them. Under mothers’ impact, they finally established a harmonious relationship. This paper analyzes the oppression from the male-dominated society and the American dream to reveal the Chinese female immigrants’ experiences, conflicts and alleviations between Chinese and American cultures.

Keywords: American Dream；Culture Shock；Conflicts and Alleviation

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

    1.1 Brief Introduction of Amy Tan and The Joy Luck Club-1

    1.2 Literature Review-2

    1.3 The Significance of This Paper-4

Chapter Two VISION FOR AMERICA AND PREVIOUS FRUSTRATION-5

2.1 Oppression from Male-dominated Society and Mothers’ Revolt-5

    2.2 Mothers’ American Dream-6

2.3 Culture Shock after Arriving in America-7

Chapter Three INTENSE CONFLICTS BETWEEN TWO CULTURES-9

3.1 Conflicts of Values-9

3.2 Contradictions between Mothers and Daughters-10

3.3 Conflicts between Couples-11

Chapter Four ALLEVIATION BETWEEN TWO CULTURES-13

4.1 Reconciliations between Mothers and Daughters-13

4.2 Reestablishing Friendships-14

4.3 Harmonious Marriages-14

Chapter Five CONCLUSION-16

WORKS CITED-18