Sign-ups via BullsConnect: 1/15-1/24/2025
Week 1: 1/28/2025 - Orientation meeting
Week 2: 2/4/2025 - Discussion of Feathers from a Thousand Li Away (pg. 1-84 )
Week 3: 2/11/2025 - Discussion of The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates (pg. 85-156)
Week 4: 2/18/2025 - Discussion of American Translation (pg. 157-235 )
Week 5: 2/25/2025 - Discussion of Queen Mother of the Western Skies (pg. 236-329)
From the publisher's website:
In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan’s debut novel—now widely regarded as a modern classic—examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between these four women and their American-born daughters.
USF Libraries holds physical copies of the audio book, feature film based on the book, and the play based on the book. Visit our stacks, or request the items via Interlibrary Loan!
Each week, VBC discusses sections of the book together. Below is a collection of weekly discussion questions posed by VBC leadership and members. Be aware that these likely include spoilers, so please do not scroll further if you have not read the book.
Week 1: Orientation meeting
Week 2: Feathers from a Thousand Li Away
Week 3: The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates
This section opens with a story that highlights the tensions between the mother/daughter pairs, as the mothers try to impart their knowledge while the daughters seek independence. Did you look up the “26 Malignant Gates” book referred to in the prologue? Can you think of such cautionary tales in another culture’s writings? Did this literary device created by Tan to illustrate the cultural and generational themes within the story spark your interest as a reader? What is a literary device that you often enjoy and usually holds your attention as a reader?
Waverly’s mother Lindo taught her to develop “invisible strength.” Instead of openly demanding what she wanted, Waverly learned to manipulate a situation to her advantage: “My mother imparted her daily truths so she could help my older brothers and me rise above our circumstances” (89). This directly ties into Lindo’s story of how she escaped her marriage using her wits. Similarly, Waverly finds that strategizing helps her beat her chess opponents because it is a game of secrets in which one must show and never tell. Do you think this is an important lesson for children to learn? Why or why not? Do you consider yourself to have greater “invisible strength” or “obvious strength”? Do you feel people underestimate you or overrate you, and do you wish to change that during your college years?
Waverly desires to be the queen of her story, not a pawn. Waverly wanted her success to be the result of her own innate talent, not a reflection of her mother Lindo’s parenting. Page 101 states: “Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess?” What was your reaction to Waverly’s disapproval of her mother proudly paraded her around the neighborhood? Do you think that Lindo punishing Waverly by telling the family to ostracize her was an appropriate response? Why so, or why not?
Lena grows up afraid of what she can’t see: the demons haunting Ying-ying. Lena constantly expects the worst to happen. Page 106 states: “And after that I began to see terrible things. I saw these things with my Chinese eyes, the part of me I got from my mother. I saw devils dancing feverishly beneath a hole I had dug in the sandbox.” What was your opinion of Lena and Ying-ying’s mother/daughter dynamic? Do you believe that a child carries the negative or positive energy of their parent(s)? Where do you go to feel positive energy
When Lena’s mother arrived from China, her father filled out her immigration papers with the name “Betty” and changed her year of birth. What does this symbolize and/or tell the reader about Lena’s father? In your opinion, is this a positive or negative decision he makes? Do you believe this was something that “Betty” desired? Why or why not?
Page 128 states: “And although my father was not a fisherman but a pharmacist’s assistant who had once been a doctor in China, he believed in his nengkan, his ability to do anything he put his mind to. My mother believed she had nengkan to cook anything my father had a mind to catch. It was this belief in their nengkan that had brought my parents to America.” Do you have a belief in nengkan? What have you done that you “have put your mind to”? Do you think that anyone can really do anything they put their mind to? Why do you believe so?
Page 140 states: “You have to pay attention to what you lost. You have to undo the expectation.” What do you think Rose means by this statement?
An-Mei urges Rose to fight for her marriage, not to passively accept divorce. Based upon what you read about Ted and Rose’s relationship dynamic, do you agree or disagree with An-Mei and why?
Week 4: American Translation
Week 5: Queen Mother of the Western Skies