Joy Luck Club by Amy Tran Kyerra L. Ruth V. Elijah S. Chandler G.

Characters  An Mei Hsu: was burned with hot soup when she was young. She witnessed her mother cut a piece of her skin and put it in a soup for her dying popo. Her mother taught her to hold back her tears. Her mother committed suicide due to the misery she was going through living with Wu Tsing and his wives. An Mie has children of her own and one of them drowns in the ocean.  Lindo Jong: was in an arranged marriage that she didn’t want. To get out of the marriage, with out breaking her parents promise, she tricked her mother in law (using her fears and suspicions) into letting her leave. Lindo had a daughter when she went to America and her daughter saw her as controlling. She has two sides, her Chinese and American side depending on who she is around.  Ying Ying St Clair: went to the moon festival when she was young. She fell off the boat and made a wish to the Moon Lady ( who turned out to be a man) to be found. She had a daughter and was going to have a son, but he died at birth. She went crazy after her babies death.  Suyuan Woo: started the Joy Luck Club when she was in China. She had to leave her twin daughters in China and moved to America and had another daughter. She died and her daughter took her place in the club.  Lena St. Clair: had to deal with her mother going crazy when she was young. Her husband, Harold,was controlling and wanted them to always be even with money.  Rose Hsu Jordan: had a brother, Bing, who drowned at the beach. Ever since then she doesn’t like to take responsibility and make decisions because she felt Bing's death was her fault. She lets her husband, Ted, make all decisions.  Waverly Jong: was a star chess player as a child. She had a daughter named Shoshana and then got engaged to Rich ( a white man). She feared her mother not liking Rich.  Jing Mei Woo: mother died and she had to take her place in the club. She found out about her two sisters that her mother had to leave behind in China and she traveled to China to met them.

Setting  Chinese Villages  San Francisco  Mothers’ homes  Daughters’ homes

Important Plot Event  Suyuan Woo creates the San Francisco version of the Joy Luck Club in  Suyuan leaves her twin daughters behind in China.  Suyuan dies and Jing-Mei takes her place  Jing-Mei “June” was taught to be a prodigy and goes to China to meet her sisters.  Waverly is an amazing chess player but quits after standing up to her mom.  Ying Ying’s baby dies and she somewhat loses her mind.  Lindo tricks her husband’s family so she can escape and still managed to keep her parents’ promise.