begins to understand and honor her. June takes on her mother’s spirit as she sits down at the East in the Joy Luck Club. You can also see this when she arrives in China to greet her sisters, with the swan feather at hand. Another symbol in the Joy Luck Club happens between Ying- Ying and Lena. It starts out by telling the story of Ying- Ying's past in China and how she recognizes the indirect way that her mother instilled in her a fear of unforeseen and disastrous consequences of her actions. The balance sheet on the refrigerator is the sign that makes it possible for Ying-Ying to redeem herself to her daughter. To show her daughter what a marriage is suppose to be made out of. The economic metaphor illustrates how poor her marriage is in the balance that really matters. Like the table that Harold built, the marriage is showy without being functional. Ying-Ying demonstrates to her daughter that surface balance is useless and that Lena’s conception of herself and Harold being equal is flawed. When the table falls it illustrates the breaking of the marriage, and the freeing of the spirit of the mother. This spirit gives Lena the strength to decide what she wants out of the marriage. You find out in the movie that she had left Harold and is going out with a young Chinese man that respects and loves Lena and her mother Ying-Ying.I am a Chinese-American 2nd generation. Meaning my mom and dad are Chinese but they grew up in America. I look at my family and culture and it seems like the American way has somehow covered the Chinese way. I look at the way that my grandma is and compare it with the way my mom is and see some resemblance in it. But then there are so many ways that it is different. For example when my grandmother comes over it seems like we can’t ever throw away anything she finds some kind of use for it. But on the other hand my mom throws everything away, she always says that we can buy a new o...
