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This thesis develops to analyze the theme in the perspective of mother-daughter relationship: sometimes bitter, usually tender, and always deep relationship. We can easily conclude that the strong links between Chinese-American mothers and their American-born daughters are maternal love which shows the materilineal inheritance.
Due to the different languages, cultures, and locations etc., the bonds between the Chinese immigrant mothers and their second-generation Chinese-American daughters are more complicated. The maternal love serves as a bridge connecting the immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters. They understand that no matter who we are, wherever we come from, the bond between the mother and daughter is a complex enigma with full of emotions.
II. Brief Introduction to the Author and Her Work
2.1 Brief Introduction to the Author
Amy Tan was born in Oakland, California, America, in 1952. Tan’s Chinese-American parents settled in California and her father John Tan, immigrated there to escape the war in China. As for her mother, Daisy, who escaped from China to America before the communist take over in 1949. Because of Tan’s parents’ unusual background, Amy can have a lot of writing materials for her novels. In her childhood, she was raised up and educated in western culture which was different from traditional Chinese culture. She found that what she want to be was totally different from her mother’s hope. And she was also beyond her mother’s expectation. As Lindo says in the novel: “I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstance and Chinese character”(227; ch.8).
As she became an adolescent, Tan even can’t accept her Chinese face. She wanted to be a real American, not the one who has to be raised in Chinese way.
Tan lived in Santa Clara until her father, John Tan and her elder brother, Peter died of brain tumors. After their death, Tan’s mother Daisy Tan took the children to Switzerland.
During her high school time, Amy Tan and her mother usually argued about the college and plans for career. In fact, Tan dreamed of being a writer while her mother hoped she can be a great pianist or a doctor.
Her mother took the children back to the United States where she enrolled in a Baptist College in Oregon. She came to another university to be with her boyfriend, Because of this, her mother didn’t talk to her for even six months after the final act or rebellion. In 1973, Amy Tan got a master’s degree.