We all can accede when I say that we all have dreams. Despite this being true,
the difference is the way we realise our dream, acquire our dream, and how our dream
affects us. People have different dreams and aspirations that they aspire to accomplish
during their lifetime. This is defined as the longing or desire for a condition or
achievement. Dreams contain both positive and negative aspects. This is evident in the
stories, “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan, and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant.
Although these stories accommodate the same ideas on dreams and aspirations, they
express these ideas differently.
In “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan, Jing-Mei Woo and her mother wish to reach
the American dream. They believe that the American dream allows them to achieve and
be anyone they desire to become. As a result, the mother is determined and has high
hopes to turn her daughter into a prodigy. The mother is certain that her daughter
possess a great ability, but is unsure of what it is. Throughout this process, the daughter
and mother spend a large amount of time with one another. Paragraph 4 states, “We
didn’t immediately pick the right kind of prodigy.” This suggests a positive aspect of
dreams because of the relationship that they established when they were with each
other. After the daughter experienced many hours of not pleasing her mother, she
developed no desire to cooperate with her. This was troublesome and creates a
negative aspect because of the developed tension between them. Paragraph 16 states,
“So now when my mother presented her test, I performed listlessly, my head propped
on one arm. I pretended to be bored. I was.” This proposes that because of the anguish
and despair the daughter no longer enjoyed being around one another.
Amy Tan was greatly influenced by her mother to write each story in “The Joy
Luck Club”. In an interview she states, “My relationship with my mother has much to do
with each story”. She exclaims that the club also has some basis in her life. Her mother
and father were apart of the real Joy Luck Club. Tan’s mother had three daughters that
she had left behind in china when she moved to America. According to Tan she was
reunited with them in 1987 when she went to China with her mother. Tan stated in an
interview, “In the story version, my mother believed her twin baby daughters died during
the war, and after the mother died, June learns the other daughters are alive and goes
to meet them.”
In “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel desires to appear
wealthy. She frequently daydreams about what she does not own. Throughout the story,
she is shown as a materialistic, ungrateful, and greedy woman. W...
