Page "The Joy Luck Club" Paragraph 8

The second section relates important childhood stories of the Joy Luck Club's American-born daughters.

Lindo's daughter Waverly recalls being a national chess champion but her relationship with her mother is strained by how Lindo pressures her and brags about Waverly's accomplishments.

Lena St. Clair, Ying-Ying's daughter, relates her mother's nervous breakdown and her mother is extremely withdrawn to the point where first her father and then Lena winds up being Ying-Ying's voice.

In contrast, Lena notices and initially pities her neighbour's family, believing their noisiness is an expression of unhappiness but realizes later it is how they express their love.

An-Mei's daughter, Rose Hsu Jordan, reveals how her mother lost faith in God when Rose's youngest brother, Bing, drowned in a beach outing.

However, An-Mei still insists that Rose puts faith in her failing marriage.

The section concludes with Jing-Mei's story, where she reveals how Suyuan had high expectations that Jing-Mei would be talented like Waverly and tried to shape a disinterested Jing-Mei into a concert pianist, which ended after an embarrassing piano recital.