1. Biography of Edith Wharton
For it deals not in the least, as to unapproachability, with things exalted or refined; it only confers on its sufficiently vulgar elements of exhibition a final unsurpassable form " (Norton Critical Edition, 414). ... The novel neither praises nor condemns the actions of the selfish, flighty, confused protagonist, but instead presents them with an ambiguous stance. ...
Nearly from the moment of its publication, The Joy Luck Club was a critical and public smash. ... In a way, it affirms the mothers" stance; although they often seem to be doing nothing more than making their daughters" feel inadequate - as is evident through the inner sections featuring the daughters" stories - it is all merely an attempt to care for their children and protect them the best way they know how. ... This search requires each of the stories which chronicle a critical moment in their respective lives to be separate from one another in order to truly hit home the idea of personal ...
His choice to deprive us of this knowledge at this most critical time renders us powerless to understand the situation-we have all the facts, but are given no direction on how to interpret them. ... When the shop bell startles Hepzibah, our perspective is figuratively and literally limited to her stance behind the counter, where we watch with sympathetic horror as "the door [is] thrust open, although no human form [is] perceptible on the other side of the half-window" (49). ...
Moses allows us to understand his perception that Claudia's role as a storyteller is supported by the blues lyrics that punctuate the narrative at critical points, suggesting a folk knowledge mood. ... Cholly as a child was impressed by watching the father of a family's god-like stance raise a watermelon over his head to smash it on the ground and sees this example as the opposite of the unimpressive white image of God, as the white image is woefully inadequate for Cholly who at this time embraces his African heritage. ...