Tan, Amy Joy Luck Club Essays - Chinatown, San Francisco, Emotions

Tan, Amy Joy Luck Club In the novel "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan, the ignorance, the = disregard of, and the necessity of love are all introduced as the = characters tell their life stories and memories. The characters in "The = Joy Luck Club" take love for granted.=20 By ignoring love, concentrating more on material possessions, and = hiding their true identities, the characters don't realize loves = importance. One character that takes love for granted is Harold, Lena = St. Clair's husband. This occurs when Lena leans over to him in their = car and states "I love you." He responds by asking Lena a question about = his car, which seems to be more important to him than his relationship = with her. Harold does not realize the importance of love. He only thinks = about material possessions. By Harold not revealing his true nature, he = reveals that he has a lack of love for himself as an individual. The = love of yourself is a necessity in life because it provides = self-respect; if one respects oneself, one will respect and love others. = The story of Lindo Jong provides insight into the concept of revealing = your true nature. To "keep everything inside" as does Lindo Jong, = provides for not being able to experience love to its fullest. Lindo = Jong hides "under a red! marriage scarf" in attempt to shield herself from the outside world. By = hiding under the scarf, she demonstrates that to be able to love, you = must be able to first reveal your true nature. Ying-Ying St. Clair = stands as an example of the desire to remain hidden as she says, "All = these years I kept my true nature hidden, running along like a small = shadow so nobody could catch me." The image of the shadow relates = directly to the red marriage scarf. They both attempt to provide the = concealment of their true natures, because the result of revealing your = true self may be that of "pain". The importance of love goes unnoticed = as the characters take love for granted and expect it to naturally come = to them. The ceasing of taking love for granted does occur later and has = its results and consequences.=20 The characters realize that they are taking love for granted when they = feel meaningless and uncomfortable, and stop doing so by either ending = the relationship or confronting the problem. By not taking love for = granted and realizing "there's absolutely nothing left to save" in her = marriage, Rose Hsu Jordan recognizes that she must divorce her husband. = Rose Hsu Jordan does not feel comfortable with her life and feels that = she is living under false pretences. She comprehends that she is not = what she continually pretends to be. Therefore, she stops taking love = for granted and ignoring it, and instead moves on to a better, more = comfortable life with a feeling of being needed. Lindo Jong compares = love to a hill and as to heaven. This hill symbolizes the steps that she = must take to truly attain love and enter heaven, her comparison to = happiness and a comfortable lifestyle. Love proves hard to attain but = Lindo Jong learns to embrace it and accept it as best she can.=20 The "pained feeling" at the "beginning of love" provides insight into = the revelation of the true nature of the character. This pained feeling, = the lifting of the scarf or the shadow, opens the door to the true = nature of the character. This love provides better understanding and a = better love of your own character. It makes the people more comfortable = with themselves and makes them feel important, needed, and loved. =20