The Initiation of Chinese-American Daughters in The Joy Luck Club and Everything I Never Told You

Abstract

The protagonists in The Joy Luck Club and Everything I Never Told You face multiple challenges related to identity, family expectations, and social pressures within different cultural backgrounds and family environments. In The Joy Luck Club, the protagonist, June, embarks on a "journey of self-discovery" that leads her to gradually recognize and embrace Chinese culture, ultimately achieving a balance between her Chinese and American identities. The protagonist Lydia, in Everything I Never Told You, suppresses her true self under the weight of family pressures and social isolation. Though she experiences an epiphany that helps her realize her true needs, she is ultimately unable to escape her predicament. This paper uses the theory of the Bildungsroman to compare and analyze the growth experiences of the Chinese-American daughters in these two works, revealing how, in a multicultural context, ethnic daughters seek cultural identity and self-recognition, and examining the roles that family and social environments play in this process.