Jing-Mei Woo: A Pair of Tickets

Jing-Mei is carrying out her mother’s dream of going to China. She is with her father, Canning Woo. They are going to visit his aunt in Guangzhou. Then, they are going to visit Jing-Mei’s long lost sisters. The sisters did not know that their mother had died three months earlier. They had written a letter to her explaining their life stories and telling her that they always referred to her as their true mother. Canning Woo was heartbroken and gave the letter to Auntie Lindo, asking her to write back and gently tell them that their mother had died. Auntie Lindo and the rest of the Joy Luck Club wrote back and told them that she would be visiting them.

Jing-Mei asked Auntie Lindo to write her sisters a letter explaining her mother’s death. She handed her the letter right before she left for China. After visiting Canning Woo’s aunt, they fly to Shanghai. Jing-Mei steps off the plane and immediately sees her two sisters. They look identical to her mother. They are all overjoyed to see each other. Together, they had fulfilled their mother’s wish.

Lindo Jong: Double Face

Lindo explains how upset Waverly is when she tells her that she does not look Chinese. Waverly wanted to be American, so she did not listen to her mother when she tried to teach her to be Chinese. Lindo believes it is her fault because she wanted her daughter to be “American-made.” At Waverly’s beauty salon, she was told that she looked like her mother. This made her upset.

Lindo remembers looking into the mirror with her mother when they were in China. She had always wanted to look like her.  After her first marriage, she came to America and “lost her Chinese face.” She decides to tell Waverly the story. She also tells her that when she returns to China forty years later, people could tell she was not completely Chinese anymore. She was a foreigner. 

Ying-Ying St. Clair: Waiting Between the Trees

Ying-Ying has always been able to know something before it happens. She is saddened that her daughter, Lena’s, marriage is falling apart without her realizing it. Ying-Ying remembers her first marriage. She met a guy that she knew she would end up marrying. They had an arranged marriage and she always tried to please him.

She became pregnant and knew it would be a son. Her husband, however, left her several months into the pregnancy for an opera singer. In rage and sorrow, Ying-Ying aborted her son. Ying-Ying lost her spirit after her first marriage. She could see Lena losing hers and did not want the same to happen to her. She decided to tell Lena about her first marriage.

An-Mei Hsu: Magpies

An-Mei is convinced that Rose needs to speak up for herself in her divorce. She says, “If she doesn’t speak, she is making a choice. If she doesn’t try, she can lose her chance forever.” An-Mei was taught to desire nothing, but she raised her daughter the opposite way. Rose, however, still ended up like her and desired nothing.

An-Mei told how her mother took her back from her aunt and uncle. An-Mei’s grandmother was dying, so her mother came to see her. After she died, An-Mei’s mother was forced to leave. An-Mei decided to go with her. They went to live with Wu Tsing. In the winter, Wu Tsing’s wives came back from their summer homes. One night, Wu Tsing raped An-Mei’s mother. Second Wife went around telling everyone that An-Mei’s mother had seduced Wu Tsing. This was a major disgrace, and An-Mei’s mother was forced to marry Wu Tsing. She gave birth to a son, who Second Wife took as her own. An-Mei’s mother committed suicide after telling her that she was killing her weak spirit to make An-Mei’s stronger. 

Jing-Mei Woo: Best Quality

Jing-Mei’s mother gave her a jade pendant after a crab dinner celebrating the Chinese New Year. She told her that it was her life’s importance. Jing-Mei’s mother died shortly after, so she was never able to find out what that had meant. She then wore the pendant every day.

Jing-Mei had a FLASHBACK of the day her mother gave her the pendant. They were having a crab dinner and had to pick out eleven crabs. They chose the best quality of crabs until they had one whose leg was torn off. The store owner made them buy it, so they had ten good quality crabs and the one with the missing leg. The crab with the missing leg was a bad sign on Chinese New Year. At dinner, Jing-Mei and her mother were the last ones to get their crabs. All that was left was a large crab and the crab with the missing leg. Jing-Mei tried to take the crab with the missing leg, but her mother would not let her. After everyone left, Jing-Mei asked her mother about the crab with the missing leg. Her mother said, “Only you pick that crab. Nobody else take it. I already know this. Everybody else want best quality. You thinking different.” 

Rose Hsu Jordan: Without Wood

Rose was getting a divorce and her mother was trying to get her to talk to her husband, Ted. She was always trying to get Rose to listen to her, but Rose was stubborn. Ted sent Rose the divorce papers with a check for ten thousand dollars. Rose did not know what to do and was confused. Her mother said she was confused because she “was without wood. Born without wood so that she listened to too many people.” Rose had asked many of her friends for help, but none of them told her what the best option was.

Rose’s mother called her one day and told her to speak up for herself. Rose came up with a RESOLUTION and had Ted meet her at the house. She handed him the unsigned divorce papers and told him that she wanted to keep the house. She did not want him to just put her out of his life and throw her away.

Waverly Jong: Four Directions

Waverly took her mother out for lunch to put her in a good mood. She was going to tell her that she was marrying Rich. The lunch was a disaster. Waverly’s mother complained about the food and service the entire time. Waverly gave up trying to find a good time to tell her mother about her engagement, so she took her to her house.

Waverly thought of a way to get her mother to meet Rich. She stopped by her aunt and uncle’s house with Rich and stayed for dinner. They loved him and told her mother about him. Waverly’s mother called the next day and invited them over for dinner. A few days later, Waverly visited her mother and talked to her about Rich. It was IRONIC because her mother had already known they were going to get married. Waverly was worried about nothing.