A Synopsis of Amy Tans Book The Joy Luck Club

A Synopsis of Amy Tan's Book The Joy Luck Club â€Å"There are times when even the tiger sleeps.† This Chinese proverb is essential in understanding the character of Lindo Jong, mother of Waverly Jong, in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. The book, written as a series of interwoven vignettes, delves into the world of Chinese mother-daughter relationships. The Joy Luck Club tells about four Chinese families: the Woos, the Hsus, the Jongs, and the St. Clairs. Waverly Jong’s mother, Lindo, has always been strong and stubborn, criticizing everything around her and not yielding to persuasion. This pugnacity bothers Waverly, who has spent her entire life subconsciously trying to impress her mother, a seemingly impossible task. Waverly has always been plagued by her mother’s criticism, becoming increasingly agonized thinking that she cannot live up to her mother’s lofty standards. After finally deciding to confront her mother about her implacable personality, Waverly realizes that her mother is just a vulne rable old woman despite her inner strength. The Chinese proverb, â€Å"There are times when even the tiger sleeps†, suggests that even the strongest have an Achilles heel. This proverb is particularly relevant to the sleeping scene with Lindo Jong because even though Lindo is strong and combative, she is still a fallible old woman who worries about her daughter. The proverb can be interpreted literally, but it also has a deeper figurative meaning. The tiger, a powerful predator, is seen as an almost faultless warrior in the animal kingdom. Always on its guard, the tiger is a fearsome creature that is not to be meddled with. As with every creature, the tiger needs to sleep, thus making it vulnerable to attack. Viewing tigers as a dominant adversary and viewing sleep as a universally held moment of vulnerability, this ancient Chinese proverb correctly asserts that no creature is without its weaknesses or moments of weakness. Waverly and Lindo’s contrasting personalities highlight both of their personal weaknesses. By the Chinese Zodiac, Waverly was born a Rabbit, making her â€Å"supposedly sensitive, with tendencies toward being thin-skinned and skittery at the first sign of criticism† while her mother Lindo was born a Horse, making her â€Å"obstinate and frank to the point of tactlessness† (183). These two an animal signs do not bode well together, leading to a plethora of conflicts between the two Jongs. Lindo constantly criticizes everything from the food she is eating to the people around her. A good example of Lindo’s hurtful criticism is when she calls Waverly’s expensive fur coat present from her fianc? â€Å"just leftover strips† (186). As stated by Waverly, â€Å"[Lindo] never thinks anybody is good enough for anything† (183). This insatiability infuriates Waverly, who simply wants her mother to accept her surroundings. The proverb’s pertinence to Lindo Jong becomes apparent when Waverly discovers her mother sleeping. Waverly has always been angry at her manipulative mother for her â€Å"scheming ways of making†¦ [Waverly] miserable† (199). Waverly leaves early in the morning to go to her parents’ apartment and yell at her mother. When she finds Lindo, she sees a side of her mother she had never previously observed: The back of her head was resting on a white embroidered doily. Her mouth was slack and all the lines in her face were gone. With her smooth face, she looked like a young girl, frail, guileless, and innocent. One arm hung limply down the side of the sofa. Her chest was still. All her strength was gone. She had no weapons, no demons surrounding her. She looked powerless. Defeated. (199-200) Upon seeing her mother in this state, Waverly’s immediate thought was that her mother was dead; dead while she was thinking terrible things about her mother. Waverly shouts at her mother, tears flowing down her face. Lindo then wakes up, and with a look of motherly worry, says to Waverly, â€Å"Shemma? Meimei-ah? Is that you? Why are you here? Why are you crying? Something has happened!† Lindo had not called Waverly Meimei, her childhood name, in many years. After this, Waverly had realized the true state of mother: she was just a tired, worn old woman who only wanted the best for her daughter. The criticisms and the subtle, sneaky comments were only made so that Waverly would make a better life for herself and analyze the faults of her present environment. This epiphanous moment for Waverly helped her realize the subtle meaning behind the Chinese proverb, â€Å"â€Å"There are times when even the tiger sleeps.† Although it is never explicitly mentioned that Wav erly is familiar with the proverb, she soon learns of its meaning and verisimilitude. Waverly had always viewed her mother as the proverbial queen of the chessboard, â€Å"Able to move in all directions, relentless in her pursuit, able to find my weakest spots† (199). After seeing her tiger-like mother not on her guard, Waverly realizes that even Lindo sleeps. Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club is not only a story of Chinese mother-daughter relationships, but it is also an insight into the nature and mannerisms of humanity. Lindo Jong is a feisty, critical woman who is never happy with her circumstances. Despite this, she is still old, caring, and vulnerable. For these reasons, Lindo Jong of The Joy Luck Club truly exemplifies the ancient Chinese proverb â€Å"There are times when even the tiger sleeps.†

God In The Jewish Tradition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

God In The Jewish Tradition - Essay Example Clearly, the meaning of God is one that is uniquely personal to each and every person. Only the individual can decide what God means to them which is based to a great degree on the individual's values and personal beliefs. The role that God plays in that individual's life and religion will be strongly based on these subjective assessments, but it will also be strongly influenced by the teachings of the synagogue, the rabbi, and the traditions that the individual experienced as they grew. In many tales of the Jewish faith, it was God who helped keep the Israelites alive throughout all their various persecutions through history, creating a type of human-like heroic identity. It was God who led them out of Israel and slavery and it was God who spoke to them through burning bushes and from mountaintops while they wandered in the desert, giving them help and direction. Mordecai Kaplan, known as the father of Reconstructionism, who pushed this type of identification of God. In his writings , he said that God chose the Jews and determined to help them with their success (Kaplan, 1937). However, Kaplan was not necessarily suggesting that God was a personality. Instead, he was attempting to say that God was something greater than this. He said, â€Å"God is neither a being nor a philosophical abstraction. God is a creative force in the universe. He was an inspiration for the Jews and the voice that gave with both hands" (1937). Even here, though, God seems to be a greater than normal personality.

American Paradox, The US Iranian relations during the Shah of Iran Essay

American Paradox, The US Iranian relations during the Shah of Iran. The paradox between the US policy against the dictato - Essay Example However, there was a lot of discontent among the people of Iran due to his dictatorial attitude. Shah’s regime collapsed in 1979 during a period known as the Iranian or Islamic revolution. The Islamic revolution brought monarchical rule in Iran to an end. The Iranian Revolution took place in 1979, 1many analyst explain that during this time about eight million people, approximately one-fifth of the whole of Iranian population, took to the streets to demonstrate about the still-formidable regime of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi. After the victorious triumph of the revolution, it became evident that the powers affiliated with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni had gained control in the post-revolutionary struggle for power, the grand party that had managed to overthrow the Shah`s regime had begun to collapse. Consequently, progressive support for the new regime decreased to a very dedicated core base that comprised a division of clerical establishments, the middle class, and the urban poor enabling the new regime to combine its powers. 2 The recent history of the Iran an Islamic Republic is outstanding in its steady disintegration in the extent and capacity of public support for the regime. At the end of the twentieth century, Iran was a nation of frustrated hopes. The revolutionaries had pledged to reverse the course of dependent economic development, which favored economic growth and compensating a few well connected families that had been pursued by the Pahlavi regime. The revolutionary regime, promised to establish an economically developed and independent Iran in which the fruits ofthe economic growth and prosperity were to be added with equity and social justice. Civil liberties as well as the rights of citizens to petition their Government through the formation of voluntary association and political parties were to assured. The Government and the society were to become morally upright through piety and strict compliance with the dictators of Islam. 3â€Å"Sho rtly after the revolution, in search of self-sufficiency, the Iranian government nationalized a vast proportion of Iran’s large scale industries, as well as banking and insurance.† 4Iran`s economy had been deteriorating due to the country`s population. The country’s population has doubled, reaching approximately 64 million people, which is approximately 30 million above the population during the Shah`s regime. The population exploded as a result of the clerical elites who reintroduced the child marriage, and discouraged contraceptives after the revolution. Iran`s population is already expanding to the present regime which has caused even a more devastating consequences for the future. Relations between the United States and Iran during the reign of Shah were pleasant. During the reign of President Eisenhower in the United States, Moscow asserted that the United States supported a coup by Shah. 5â€Å"The United States had been pictured as actively intervening in Iranian affairs and as the inspirer of the attempted coup by the Shah.† This was contrary to the move of supporting freedom worldwide that the United States had taken after the Second World War. 6â€Å"The United States policy during that period was based on a policy of containment-an effort to contain the influence of communism.† Despite embarking on the policy of ‘