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 ...

• Word Count: 1953
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography

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). ...

• Word Count: 1547
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate