Monday, December 15, 2014

Joy Luck Club Essay

    Love and family. Throughout the history of time, the idea of love and family seemed to have gradually changed over the past centuries. Over time, as the values of love and family change so do the perspectives toward marriage, divorce, and child rearing. Love and family set the generations of the past, apart from the current generation.
    Love and family. To older generations, love and family can be seen as a topic that today's generation has in common. Genuine love has been the same throughout history. Family has been an important part in a person's life. Whether it is ruling all of ancient china, or working at a gas station.
   Throughout history, marriage has been a conforming topic. In today's world, marriage has been about being with the one you love and being able to live in harmony with love and equality. In the book however, Lena St. Clair's relationship is an example of an unbalanced relationship. She is a very passive person, so it reflects on her relationship. This shows that her and her husband are not on the same page. In the past, marriages were set up by the parents in order to marry into a rich family. This can be seen in the play, Romeo and Juliet, where Juliet is forced to marry Paris, who is a wealthy kinsmen to the prince. It reflects why this form of marriage is unpopular among society. Whether or not, marriage will continue to evolve and change under the views of different generation.
    In America alone, divorce has become a very occurring topic. Divorces in this generation are handled similarly to divorces in previous generations. Divorce can come from a lack of balance and a hunger for freedom. For example, Rose Hsu Jordan wants to divorce her husband Ted Jordan. Even though her mother disapproves, she wants Rose to be free like her garden. This example shows the view of the older generations, Rose Hsu Jordan's mom, perspective of divorce. Her mother doesn't recommend divorce, but she is willingly smart enough to let her daughter be independent in making critical life changing decisions.
    Bringing up a child, expectations have been a byproduct of bringing a child. For instance, the mother and daughter relationships are quite similar. The mothers, throughout the book, criticize their kin in order to guarantee their success in the new world. Even though, the daughters see it as a lack of affection they know it's the way that their mothers grew up also. This shows the love between them.
    It's not simply black and white between the way each generation deals with topics like this. Generations of the past have learned to keep pace with the new to make dealing with issues a much more fluid task. Love and the fondness of family changes how generations view various topics. In a novel about balancing traditions and cultures, it shows the thought needed to balance a family.

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