"Motifs of Amy Tan's 'The Joy Luck Club'" is about the motifs and themes in section 1 of Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club." It deals with motifs such as the color red, the five elements, and promises.

In the first section of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, there are many motifs threaded throughout each of the four stories. One of which is the color red. The color red is very symbolic towards early Chinese culture and tradition.

In the chapter, The Red Candle, the author explains everything in detail. She explains about the red columns in front of the house for decoration, the red dragons, the red wedding dress with the red wedding veil, the red banners, the red palanquin, and finally the red candle. I found this as a motif because it appeared in almost every section of the 3rd chapter. Ying-Ying also explains that her mother gave her a necklace made out of red jade. Red was a traditional color in Chinese culture, possibly a powerful color, as purple was to Europe.

Another motif is the five elements. These five elements, wood, fire, water, earth, and metal, seem very important to Chinese culture.

The Joy Luck Club (film)

The Joy Luck Club

English: Bamberg High School students and German s...

They appear more then once throughout the first four chapters, each time dealing differently with the stories. The stories indicate that the Chinese thought the elements had power. The Five Evils could also relate to the five elements because there is one for every element. A swimming snake could relate to water, a jumping scorpion to fire, a flying centipede to wind, a dropping-down spider to wood, and a springing lizard to metal.

Theme seeds have also began to spring up throughout the book. When Ying-Ying tells the story of the Moon Lady, she says, "So I thought as Amah only as someone for my comfort, the way you might think of a fan in the summer or a heater in the winter, a blessing you appreciate and love only when it is no longer there." This brings about...