Something was always missing. Something always needed improving. Something was not in balance. This one or that had too much of one element, not enough of another. The elements were from my mother's own version of organic chemistry. Each person is made up of five elements, she told me. Too much fire and you had a bad temper. That was like my father, whom my mother always criticized for his cigarette habit and who always shouted back that she should keep her thoughts to herself. I think he now feels guilty that he didn't let my mother speak her mind (Tan, 31).
Too, little wood and you bent too quickly to listen to other people's ideas, unable to stand on your own. This was like my Auntie An-mei (Tan, 31).
Too much water and you flowed in different directions, like myself, for having started a degree in biology, then half a degree in art, and then finishing neither when I went off to work for a small ad agency as a secretary, later becoming a copywriter (Tan, 31).
Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. Penguin Books, 2014.
Hi Laura, I really like these sections you pulled from the book. They really stood out to me too. It is interesting to read about the mothers thoughts and views of things and then the daughters. Enjoy reading it.
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