First+Draft-+Lena+&+Ying-Ying+St.+Clair

Q: In what way is a daughter the “American Translation” of her mother? Choose a mother/ daughter pair and discuss.

In __The Joy Luck Club__, all four daughters and the mothers share common characteristics. Not only do they experience similar incidences in their lives, but the mothers and the daughters also begin to understand each other better as each short story about the pair of the daughter and the mother moves on. Yet, one pair that stands out the most among the four pairs is Lena and Ying-Ying St. Clair. Although Lena and Ying-Ying are from different generations and have spent most of their lifetime in different countries, the way that they view the world is quasi-identical. Hence, despite the differences that Lena and Ying-Ying St. Clair have, it is true that Lena is the “American Translation” of her mother, Ying-Ying.

There is no doubt that Lena is an American version of Ying-Ying St. Clair. Although they are from different background, the way that they perceive the world is always cynical and negative. For instance, in “The Voice from the Wall”, Lena clearly shows the common characteristic that she shares with her mother, Ying-Ying. “Then I heard scraping sounds, slamming, pushing and shouts and then whack! whack! whack! Someone was killing. Some was being killed” (//Tan// 114). By looking at the descriptions of Lena’s imagination, it is clearly shown that Lean has an abnormal way of seeing the world or events. Instead of imagining a girl fighting with her mother, Lena thinks of a murder. Although this thought might seem reasonable considering the tension in her neighbor’s house, Lena always thinks in a pejorative way.

Similar to Lena, Ying-Ying is also extremely cynical towards the world and this can be found in “The Voice from the Wall”, which talks about Lena’s childhood. When Lena crosses the street with her mother, she talks about how Ying-Ying sees “danger in everything, even in other Chinese people” (108). Also, when an Italian man makes fun of her by pretending to be Ying-Ying’s lover, Ying-Ying reacts to this quite extraordinarily. “As soon as we got home from grocery shopping, she began to put the cans and vegetables away. And then, as if something were not quite right, she removed the cans from one shelf and switched them with the cans on another. Next, she walked briskly into the living room and moved a large round mirror from the wall facing the front door to a wall by the sofa” (111, 112). Ying-Ying’s overreactions to the incidence with the Italian man show that she always reacts to and thinks of every event as harmful and deleterious. Therefore, by comparing Lena’s imagination and Ying-Ying’s overreactions to this event, it is obvious that they are similar to each other and Lena is an American translation of Ying-Ying.

Not only is the way that they react to certain events similar, but these two ladies are both born in the year of the Tiger and this common characteristic relates to their expression of love. In “The Voice from the Wall”, Lena talks about how Ying-Ying is depressed because of her second son, who is born without a brain. At first, Lena feels bad about her mother because Ying-Ying mentally suffers due to her tragic past and the loss of her second son. Then, Lena hears the voice from the wall and imagines how her neighbor has the worst life. However, after witnessing the truth of her neighbor, Lena realizes that things aren’t necessarily as bad as they are when people experience the worst events that can possibly happen in their lives. Then, Lena imagines herself slashing Ying-Ying with a knife to help her overcome her deep sorrow.“Then a girl pulled out a sharp sword and told her mother, “Then you must die the death of a thousand cuts. It is the only way to save you...The mother nodded: “Now I have perfect understanding. I have already experienced the worst. After this, there is no worst possible thing”...And the girl grabbed her mother’s hand and pulled her through the wall” (120,121).

Alike her, Ying-Ying tries to help Lena by forcing her to loose her tiger spirit when Ying-Ying witnesses Lena’s unhappy marriage. By mentioning the nature of tigers, she talks about how making her experience the worst pain is the best method to help her overcome her current sadness. “I will hold the pain in my hand until it becomes hard and shiny, more clear. And then my fierceness can come back, my golden side, my black side, I will use this sharp pain to penetrate my daughter’s tough skin and cut her tiger spirit loose. She will fight me, because this is the nature of two tigers. But I will win and give her my spirit, because this is the way a mother loves her daughter” (286). When Ying-Ying is hurt, Lena tries to help her by giving pain. Then, Ying-Ying does the exact same thing to make Lena become a stronger woman. Although their expressions of love to each other might seem ridiculous, it is clear that they both have common way of revealing their love.

Despite the several distinctions between Lena and Ying-Ying, it is an indubitable truth that Lena is clearly an American translation of her mother. Furthermore, these two characters prove that daughters can never be different from their mothers in spite of the differences in their generations or cultures. Thus, daughters should always respect their mothers no matter what happens.