Faith in Joy Luck Club Analysis Essay Example

Faith is a double-edged sword. In the book, Joy Luck Club, Amy tan writes multiple chapters where faith causes many problems. These chapters share unique insight on the negative effects of blind faith. In each of these situations we see a different way that faith can cause fear, denial, or physical pain. In difficult situations following tradition blindly can lead to more problems and pain.

The chapter scar shows that faith in tradition can lead physical pain in a situation that it was not needed. One way that scar shows how faith can make something worse is with this quote said by An Mei "This is how a daughter honors her mother. You must peel off your skin and that of your mother, and her mother before her" (Tan 48.). This shows that there is a tradition of cutting your arm to heal and honor your mother. This shows that An-Mei's mother and many other daughters have cut their arms in the name of tradition.

One more way this chapter scar proves that blind faith can make a situation worse is when An Mei thinks, "and then my mother cut a piece of meat from her arm. Tears poured from her face and blood spilled to the floor" (Tan 48.). This quote shows that An-Mei's mother hurt herself in order to heal her mother. she hurt herself because she had faith that cutting her arm would create a cure that would heal her mom. Faith can make a situation more painful by causing physical pain.

In Half and Half An-Mei's blind faith in tradition and Christianity cause her to have denial and not address her grief. We can see this when Lena says "My mother had a look on her face that I'll never forget. It was one of complete despair and horror, for losing Bing, for being so foolish to think she could use faith to change fate" (Tan 130.). This quote shows that An Mei's blind faith caused her to not only feel the loss of her son but also feels the pain of her faith not working. An Mei's blind faith caused her to feel more pain than she would have if she did not believe so much. The effect on An-Mei's faith is shown in this quote, "That leatherette bible wound up wedged under a too-short table leg, way to correct the imbalances of life. It’s been there for over twenty years" (Tan 116.). If An Mei had not depended on her faith in order to try and save Bing, she may still have her faith which helped her in her immigration to America. The backlash of An Mei's faith in tradition being able to save her son is was so bad that it caused her to give up on the faith that she so blindly followed. This chapter shows that Blind faith can cause a person to have denial which will inevitably make a situation worse.

In Rice husband Lena's faith causes her to fear and create a unhealthy relationship with food. A quote that shows this is when Lena thinks, "I saw what I to do so I would not have to marry Arnold. I began to leave more rice in my bowl" (Tan 153) This quote shows that Suyaan's fear that she would marry Arnold caused her to start giving up on food, This is seen as the start of Suyaan's giving up on food to not marry Arthur as we see that it gets worse as the chapter goes on. Some evidence that it gets worse is the quote from Lena, "And I remember wondering why it was that eating something good could make me feel so terrible, while vomiting something terrible could make me feel so good" (Tan 154.). This tells us that Suyaan's relationship with food is unhealthy. even when she is an adult the effects of the fear that she felt in the past are still affecting her today. Blind faith can control people through fear and make them develop bad habits

Beliefs and patterns can be harmful if you do not question or criticize it. An Mei's mother, An Mei, and Lena all face backlash from the blind faith they have in various beliefs. It is important that we review this repeating theme so that we can understand why we should question faith. Today, people fight wars for their beliefs in what happens when we die without seeing the irony in it because we blindly follow our faith. Questioning our faith instead of recklessly following can save lives or prevent struggle in situations where they are not needed.