"JOY LUCK CLUB, THE" (AMY TAN) & "BARRIO BOY" (ERNESTO GALARZA).   Term Paper ID:24223 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Compares novel's & autobiography's portrayals of immigrants' experiences in CA, focusing on cultural & generational continuity.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Compares novel's & autobiography's portrayals of immigrants' experiences in CA, focusing on cultural & generational continuity. Paper Introduction: This study will provide a comparative analysis of two books about immigrants' experience in California. Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, portrays two generations of Chinese-American women, and Ernesto Galarza's autobiography, Barrio Boy, examines the experiences of Mexican immigrants, especially those of the author as a young male who settled with his family in the barrio of Sacramento. The essence of both works is the authors' intention to honor immigrants' lives, both fictional and factual, and to have the reader appreciate their humanity, heritage, courage and culture. If there is one theme in both works it is the theme of cultural, generational and familial continuity and endurance in the face of clashing cultures and the forces of assimilation. Tan wants the reader to understand the profound and intimate connections between the two generations of mothers and Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. She offers them hope for continuity intheir own lives: They are frightened. Somesense of the older generation's appreciation of the culture of the nativeland is inevitably lost by the new generation, but educational, economicand social opportunities are found which could not be found in either Chinaor Mexico. They see daughters who will bear grandchildren born without any connecting hope passed from generation to generation (Tan 31). This tale is anencapsulation of the hope for a better life passed from the mothers totheir daughters. Fleeing to California, andspecifically the barrio in Sacramento, Ernie finds both positive andnegative consequences. A Chinese woman has brought aswan---which she is told was once a duck which stretched it neck trying tobecome a goose---to America to one day give to her unborn daughter as asymbol of the capacity to become "more than what was hoped for" (Tan 3).The bird is taken by customs officers, but the woman keeps a feather,hoping one day to give it to her daughter and to tell her the story and itsmeaning in "perfect American English" (Tan 4). . Tan wants the reader to understandthe profound and intimate connections between the two generations ofmothers and daughters and between the two cultures those generationsbridge. In both books, the hope of a better life,especially economically, is what drives the Chinese and Mexican families toseek that better life. One difference between Ernie's experience and theexperience of the daughters in Tan's book is that Ernie (born and raised inMexico) never loses his appreciation of the culture of his native country,while the daughters in Tan's book, born in the United States, must learn toappreciate their native country through their mothers' stories and/or bypersonally traveling to China. At such gatherings, the family discusses therevolution and "the sufferings of the Mexican people, with detailedaccounts of great events, like the massacre of the mill workers of RioBlanco" (Galarza 24 ). I, for one Mexican, never had any doubts on this score (Galarza 2). . This study will provide a comparative analysis of two books aboutimmigrants' experience in California. The Revolution andeconomic hardship drives his family to the city, where little if anythingis improved for them. Just as California,its climate, economics and culture shape the lives of the Chinese andMexican families in the two books, so is California itself shaped by theethnically diverse population of immigrants seeking a new life there.California can safely be said to be the symbolic embodiment of the AmericanDream, although what the Chinese and Mexican immigrants find there ishardly a dream. The brief opening talein Tan's novel establishes the reason that the older generation of Chinesecame to the United States in the first place. Barrio Boy. Ying-Ying says, "Because I remained quiet for so long now mydaughter does not hear me. In me, they see their own daughters, just as ignorant, just as unmindful of all the truths and hopes they have brought to America. The elders in Galarza do not burden thechildren as much as do the mothers in Tan. Galarza wants to show that the inevitable acculturation processwhich he and his family went through did not erase his or their personal,familial or cultural identity. New York: Ivy, 1989.----------------------- 2 Notre Dame, Indiana: University of NotreDame Press, 1993.Tan, Amy. Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club,portrays two generations of Chinese-American women, and Ernesto Galarza'sautobiography, Barrio Boy, examines the experiences of Mexican immigrants,especially those of the author as a young male who settled with his familyin the barrio of Sacramento. Jing-mei promises the others to remember her mother and tell hersisters about their mother's life story and wonderful nature. . The Joy Luck Club. But the others "lookat me with doubtful faces" (Tan 31). . Onthe other hand, the unity of the family is lost as individual opportunitiesare increased. In Tan as in Galarza we find the same sense of duty emphasized--dutyto family, to keep pledges made, to the memory of one's kin. They see that joy and luck do not mean the same thing to their daughters. Works CitedGalarza, Ernesto. This means nothing to you, because to you promises mean nothing. The book itself doesnot tell us that he becomes a success, but he in fact does become a well-respect teacher and writer. At the same time, the veryexistence of the Joy Luck Club is evidence of their hope, skeptical andeven cynical though it may be at times, that their stories and theirmemories will indeed survive through at least one more generation. Jing-Mei first says she knows nothing about her mother,then, after the beseeching of the older women, she promises to tell hersisters (who did not know their mother) all about her. . I wished to be found" (Tan83). California is hardly a paradise, but it is thebeginning of a journey which will give him an education he never could haveachieved in Mexico, and a career as a teacher and writer is the result. . In both Galarza and Tan we see the elder members of the familyexercising a steely determination to build a better life for the children,sacrificing for their future. And tonight, on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, I alsoremember what I asked the Moon Lady so long ago. Work is hard to find, the violence continues, and thesurvival of the family as a unit is threatened. A daughter can promise to come to dinner, but if she has a headache, if she has a traffic jam, if she wants to watch a favorite movie on TV, she no longer has a promise (42). The first generation (as in Tan's book) and the oldermembers of a family (as in Galarza's book) find it harder to adaptculturally than do the second generation (in Tan) and the younger membersof Ernie's family. The events in both books which lead the characters to come to theUnited States are similar. At the same time, there is a conflict in thememories of both books' characters, While life in California is undoubtedlybetter in an economic sense, the memories of both Chinese and Mexicanfamilies are marked by a fondness for life in the China and Mexico, even ifthose memories are colored by unrealistic nostalgia. Lindo Jongtells her story in such a way that the narrator's sense of guilt mustsurely be touched deeply, ensuring that she will not allow Lindo's fears tocome to pass: I once sacrificed my life to keep my parents' promise. Clair recognizes that the passivity, self-effacementand silence which are fundamental parts of the Chinese woman's traditionalrole put in serious jeopardy the generational continuity which the womenhope for. For both Mexican and Chinese families, something is won and somethingis lost by moving to California in pursuit of the American Dream. . They see daughters who grow impatient when their mothers talk in Chinese. Forexample, Ying-Ying St. Galarza's book is meant to be a refutationof the "rumor" that Mexican immigrants and their offspring have lost their 'self- image' [and that] . Inevitably, however, the opportunities for personal and professionaladvancement for which the family went to California in the first place takethe acculturation process to another level, beyond the barrio. a Mexican doesn't know what he is; and if by chance he is something, it isn't any good. Following a chronological account, Galarza's book establishes thelife of Little Ernie in a mountain village in Mexico. She sits by her fancy swimming pool and hearsonly her Sony Walkman, her cordless phone" (Tan 64).By the end of her story about the Moon Lady, it is clear that Ying-Ying hascast off those traditional chains of silence and has dedicated herself topassing hope to the younger members of her family: "I remember all thesethings. As Ernie andhis family climb up the economic and social ladder, they come to miss thebarrio just as they earlier missed Mexico (Galarza 251). In fact, the Joy Luck Club itself was formed out of thedesire of the narrator's mother for a sense of hope in the new world ofAmerica and a sense of continuity with the old world of China. The promisegives the others hope and sets in motion the beginning of her own spiritualconnection with generations past and generations to come. By the end of thebook, Ernie's work experience and education expand. When thenarrator, Jing-Mei Woo, joins the Joy Luck Club after her mother's death,the other members emphasize the importance of remembering her mother.Again, the theme of hope and continuity is expressed, even if in askeptical context. Clearly, the hope these womenhave for continuity of memory and value from their own to the nextgeneration is not idealistic but is grounded in the most profound realism.They recognize how fragile the string is connecting the generations,connecting even a single mother and daughter, and they openly despair ofmaintaining that generational connection. . The conflict about Mexico (both missing it and yetbenefitting from having left it) is repeated with respect to the barrio.The Mexican culture is maintained in the face of forces of acculturation:"It was at family parties that the world of the Americans was completelyshut off" (Galarza 239). The vignettes of the mothers in Tan's book recount are interspersedwith the vignettes of the daughters, so that a mosaic is created, ratherthan the chronological story presented by Galarza. The essence of both works is the authors'intention to honor immigrants' lives, both fictional and factual, and tohave the reader appreciate their humanity, heritage, courage and culture.If there is one theme in both works it is the theme of cultural,generational and familial continuity and endurance in the face of clashingcultures and the forces of assimilation. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.