Women’s Self—esteem and Mother’s love

楊丹++薛偉超

As a girl， I always like the stories which explore the Feminism.The Joy Luck Club talked about the Feminism in the age of social change， it described the status of the women and what they had done for their self-esteem. In old China， women lived without freedom or dignity， but they never stopped pursuing their social status.This movie showed us the change of women`s social status and their personalities. When the four mothers recalled their past， they hoped the tragedies would not happen again to their daughters， so they gave their daughters too much pressure with higher expectations. Unfortunately， it caused a deep gap between the mothers and daughters.

Anti Lindo was a mother of personality， she got rid of the identity of the child bride with her sharp and strong will. After living in America， she had high expectation for her daughter， she taught the power of invisible strength to her daughter Waverly. When Waverly won the championship， Lindo showed off the magazine for everyone in street， but her daughter did not like this behavior， which caused a big quarrel between the mother and daughter.Waverly apologized to her mother， but mother`s response is ignorance and indifference.As a result， Waverly became depressed and upset， her mother killed her talent in chess.After watching this part of story， I imagined that what kind of mother will I be？ If I had a daughter in the future， I will respect her whatever she decided， I will connect with her when she is in trouble and help her solve problems when she at a loss rather than ignore. Because I believe that parents play a very important role on the growth of children.

Anti Ying-Ying`s daughter， Lena， married a man asked her to live in a strict AA system life， but this kind of life made Lena feel that she living without dignity.Ying-Ying felt very sorry when she saw her daughter living in this kind of life.Therefore， she told Lena she is respectable and she must leave her husband to find a new life. As a result， Lena left her husband and met an American man who loved her and cherished very much.As a woman， I think we should respect ourselves and we must realize our own value because we are not the weaker.We also should live with our own willingness.

Anti Amie`s daughter， Rose met a boy `s love who came from a very rich family， after they getting married， she gave up her academic and put all of herself on her family and her husband.But his kind of life style made her lost herself.She can`t release herself until she found he had affair. Then Rose wanted free herself by separating with her husband.When Amie knew why her daughter wanted to break this marriage， she encourages her daughter to speak out her real thought and waked up her self-esteem.Finally， Rose`s husband found her value and her glamour again， and they fall in love again.I think Anti Amie had suffered a lot when she was young， so she had a high requirement for her daughter while she did not realized that this education way hurting her daughter deeply until her daughter lost herself in marriage.

Jing-Mei June has never fully understood her mother and seems directionless in life.Her mother was also very strict with her， the high pressure made June lose confidence.At the end， her mother told her she love her deeply and she said， “I see you”！ These words thaw June`s heart for she getting support and respect from her mother. Finally， June is trying to deal with her mother`s death， and she visited China to look for the twin half-sisters whom her mother had been forced to abandon in the Anti-Japanese War.

Viewing from the whole movie， it may just four stories about four mothers and daughters， but it describes the contradiction between the two generations. It also reflects a history about women`s fight for their self-esteem.The women found their true value and gained their own happiness.

References：

[1]譚恩美.喜福會[M].上海：外語教學與研究出版社.2016.

作者簡介：

楊丹，陜西寶雞人，寶雞文理學院外國語言文學系，碩士研究生，研究方向：英語教學。

薛偉超，陜西寶雞人，寶雞文理學院外國語言文學系，碩士研究生，研究方向：翻譯。endprint