Draft+one+-+JIn+Soo+Cheong

Pick at least one mother-daughter pair, and examine to what degree each has fulfilled the American Dream. How does the importance and/or definition of the American Dream change between generations?
In history, there have been many accounts of immigrants entering the United States for various reasons. However, many of those reasons are achieving the American Dream. We ask ourselves: what is the American Dream? Many see as most people do which is a “better, richer, and happier life”. Whether or not this is true for all people is irrelevant but how it applies to the Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is not. The Joy Luck Club focuses on four families of two generations; mothers and daughters. All stories have a common point; all the mothers wish a better and less painful life than their own. As a result, each family goes to America in hopes of reaching the American Dream. However, their belief that this ‘land of opportunity’ will give them new life was hurriedly crushed by the misfortunes brought upon them. Lindo Jong and Waverly Jong, mother and daughter, faced many problems but together, they each fulfilled their own American Dream as each dream is different.

Lindo Jong is a tough woman. She was able to wriggle her way out of a forced marriage while not losing her identity nor her respect for her parents. Her cunning plan allowed her to run away with dignity and self-worth. The force that supported this was her ‘invisible strength’ which would later become one of her strong beliefs. Lindo believes that each person has their own ‘invisible strength’ and with it, they can accomplish many feats. For Lindo, it was to escape the marriage and hopefully produce a life far superior than her own. When she was blessed with a daughter, all she ever wanted was a better life for her daughter, to never let her experience the same horror as she did. The only solution was to Americanize her and Lindo’s starting move was to name her after an American street: Waverly.

As Waverly grew up, she possessed many talents; one of which was strategy. Waverly had skill in chess and thus built up a career. She won several tournaments and soon found herself among the best chess players in the nation at only age 9. Any normal child would have been proud but something was nagging Waverly, something was not right with her pride. It was because her pride was feeding the boastfulness of her mother. Lindo had a tendency to brag about her daughter. Annoyed by the excessive pride, Waverly locked herself up in her room, isolated from the rest of the world. Waverly has grown up in American culture. Her values and beliefs may differ from those of her mother. As such, there were many conflicts. Waverly does not value a rich and successful life. Perhaps she desires and happy life even though it may not be the best life in the world.

A bond was created here. First of all, the ‘invisible strength’ that Lindo so strongly believes in is an art that one must believe in oneself in order to succeed in life. However, for Lindo, she views this as a decision between life and death due to her history. If one was not forceful and dominant, then they would fall and be dominated. However, this gap of time and culture proves otherwise. Waverly lives in an American society. This is not to say that America is a perfect land where everyone gets along but rather a less dangerous and more carefree land than China. The time difference also compliments this. One could clearly see the change of the American Dream between these two generations. The level of success was decreases significantly. One may also say that American Dreams differ within cultures. No one is to be the judge of a true American Dream.