I am very happy to announce the Essay of the Week recipient: Marco! This is his second win. Congratulations. As usual, Marco writes a clear essay with a strong thesis, along with solid organization. Particularly impressive is his last body paragraph, in which talks about Amy Tan’s use of point of view.
Congratulations also to the EoW finalists: Nathaly, Pauline, Ellie, and Esteffany.
Please read Marco’s essay and leave comments. Thank you.
Eating Symbols
In a novel, an eating scene can symbolize much more than just a meal. In the Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, a dining scene between Lindo and Waverly Jong, Rich Shields who is Waverly’s husband, and Waverly’s family, reveals a lot about a family’s Chinese tradition. In her book, Tan expresses how the traditions in Chinese culture fit into the lives of their Americanized offspring.
Through the dining scene, Tan reveals the significance of Chinese tradition. The scene revolves around Waverly’s husband, Rich, who is not aware of the traditions Waverly’s family holds. At the dinner table, Rich drinks two glasses of wine, while the family had only drank less than half of one. Here, Rich is not aware that the glass of wine is just for tasting, and not for pleasure. Following this event, Rich takes a big portion of the best dish prepared by Lindo Jong. Since it is the best plate at the table, everyone is supposed to take a small portion of it, and then wait to get more until everyone else at the table had had a portion of it. Finally, in the end of the scene, Rich unknowingly criticizes Lindo’s cooking. It is Chinese cook custom for the cook to insult their dishes, but only those cooked with best pride. Instead of proclaiming it to be the best dish she had cooked, Rich instead adds on condiment to it in order for it to taste better. The dinner scene here reveals the importance of knowing the customs and traditions of other cultures besides your own.
The scene incorporates the main theme of keeping customs and traditions in each culture. The novel follows four daughters who have been Americanized and their four Chinese mothers. Throughout the novel, the daughters want to prove to their mothers that they are capable of being on their own, and following their new American traditions. Although they want to be independent, they still want to maintain their Chinese traditions. Each daughter wants their parents to accept their American partner, so it is important for them to also know the Chinese customs. Rich proves to Waverly’s mother and family that he is not aware of their customs, and therefore cannot show the family respect. Rich does not prove that he is not a rude person, he just is ignorant of the customs he needs to follow. The ignorance Rich holds is what Waverly’s mother does not want in the family.
The dinner scene is effective at portraying the message Tan expresses in her novel. Without this scene in the novel, the significance of following a different culture’s traditions would not be there. The scene has a bit of humor in it, allowing the reader to sympathize for Rich as he blindly insults Chinese traditions. Having Waverly explain the scene, and not Rich or Lindo also makes the scene effective. Her point of view allows for the reader to see what he is doing wrong, and allowing the character to express her mother’s and her feelings towards the traditions. If the point of view of the scene had been from Rich’s perspective, the reader would not be aware of the mistakes he is making. The scene from the perspective of Lindo would show anger towards Rich which would lead the reader to believe he is just a rude person in general.
It is through this dinner scene that the reader can see the importance of being aware of a different cultures traditions. The novel shows the importance of keeping customs in each culture. Rich being an outsider and not knowing Chinese culture is what Lindo tries to protect her daughter from.
