The Joy Luck Club Quiz

June doesn't have the most successful life. She was always compared to the other girls by her mother, Suyuan. When she finally goes to Shanghai, she meets her half sisters and they all gain a better understanding of their mother. June embraces her Chinese heritage along with her mother's motivations for her actions.

Suyuan is determined to live her most fulfilling life. She firmly believes in the American Dream.Even though she had to leave her 2 girls behind in China, she makes it to America and remarries and has another girl, Jing mei. She does not forget her sacrifice; however, she continues searching for her 2 lost girls until her death.

Anmei is intrinsically fierce, but the world was harsh on her. Through her experiences, she has been conditioned to be meek and unable to speak up for herself. Anmei watched her mother cut a piece of her skin and put it in soup, attempting to cure her grandmother. Furthermore, Anmei's mother committed suicide because she wanted Anmei to have a better life. Anmei believes strongly in the maternal bond because of the many sacrifices her mother took for the women around her.

Rose is initially meek and can't stand up for herself when it comes to her marriage. When her husband finally asks for a divorce, she can't do anything about it. Her meek nature comes from her past experience when she was supposed to be watching over her little brother Bing but he drowned. In the end, she finally demands to keep her house during the divorce.

Lindo Jong is a cunning woman who values "invisible strength". She was arranged to be betrothed to a spoiled rich boy named Tyan Yu since birth due to their compatible zodiac signs. However, through her deviousness and "invisible strength", she was able to free herself from the shackles of her servant-like marriage.

Lindo feels that America has changed her-- both physically and mentally. She fears that her daughter Waverly has adopted these traits. She points the similarities between her face and Waverly's and realizes that they are both Chinese and American.

Waverly was a chess prodigy as a child. However, her mother Lindo was always taking credit for her chess skills. These constant tensions led Waverly to see her mother as her opponent instead of a mother figure. Waverly constantly seeks her mother's approval, which can be seen when she asks her mother to eat dinner with her and Rich, her husband. She desperately wants her mother to approve of her marriage when in fact, her mother already has.

Lena St. Clair never had the best experience with marriage. She is unhappy with her marriage with Harold. She had to translate for her parents because they spoke different languages, and to keep the peace, she mistranslated some words, which did not help their marriage. Despite Harold’s much larger paycheck, he and Lena equally divide everything monetary in their marriage.

Ying-ying was one of the most free spirited and proud girls in her village in China. After her first marriage, she became like a ghost without any spirit. However, she never complains. Her marriage with Clifford St. Clair led her to become completely passive, which set a bad example for her daughter. Her passivity is mostly due to her trust in fate. One such example of this is when she knew that her baby wouldn’t be alive and she does nothing about it.