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Isolation In Amy Tan's In The Joy Luck

778 Words4 Pages

In this day and age, everyone, regardless of age, will admit to the feeling of being an “outsider”. In accordance with that, Orson Scott Card’s definition of an outsider relates to a person isolating themselves to a particular group or a person not within a boundary. Moreover, outcasts see situations more clearly and have a stronger sense in self. Personally I do not agree. Although physical separation can lead to being an outsider, the lack of self- confidence is the true cause of isolation. Based on my definition of an outsider, Rachel Watson from Girl on the Train symbolizes this label. Rachel clearly described her feeling of isolation through her statement, “I was trespassing. That's what it felt like this morning, because it's their territory now, it's Tom and Anna's and Scott and Megan's. I'm the outsider. I don't belong there, and yet everything is so familiar to me.” (Hawkins P. 28) Seeing these people so often strengthened how lonely Rachel truly felt, …show more content…

Throughout the novel, Jing Mei explains her rocky relationship and lack of affection with her high demanding Chinese mother. She was ashamed and embarrassed of her heritage, and the "funny Chinese dresses with stiff stand-up collars and blooming branches of embroidered silk sewn over their breasts." She believed that the Joy Luck Club was a "shameful Chinese custom, like the secret gathering of the Ku Klux Klan or the tom-tom dances of TV Indians preparing for war." In addition, she constantly compared herself to Waverly, without recognizing her own talent. June’s lack of belief in herself led to her feeling alienated from the Chinese mothers and daughter in the Joy Luck Club. However, when June accepted the Joy Luck Club's generous gift of $1200, she took a first step toward fully discovering, accepting, and appreciating her culture, as well as

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