Rose Hsu Jordan In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

Rose Hsu Jordan is a character in The Joy Luck Club who acknowledges the intensity of the seemingly cryptic stories of life in China that actually held deep lessons. As Rose is facing a struggling marriage with Ted and is required to make the decision of completing the divorce process, her mother An-mei talks Rose into not settling the divorce case. All her married life, the relationship with her husband was very monotonous and she forcefully agreed with Ted about everything to not fight. Rose was going to sign the papers to avoid discrepancies, but her mother is sick and tired of Rose always having to settle and not speak up for herself. As a child, An-mei grew up as the daughter of the fourth wife. An-mei’s mother was forced to be taken advantaged of and had no rights in society. An-mei saw her mom struggle with trusting other people and was never able to form a strong relationship with other people. She taught An-mei that she had to face all hardships of life without reacting in anyway to not make the hardship even worse.

She was born in a democratic government that gave every man and women certain rights in which they are allowed to act upon. An-mei didn't want Rose to settle, she said that the women in China when she was growing up “had no choice. They could not speak up. They could not run away. That was their fate” (272). Since Rose had the ability to stick up for herself and what she wanted from the divorce, An-mei wanted her to use that ability. She was tired of seeing women in her family oppressed because of what society wants them to be. Rose was able to use her mother’s advice to show Ted that she is an independent women who can thrive without