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”I am to replace my mother, whose seat at the Mah Jong table has been empty since she died two months ago”.

This is a quote by Jing Mei, daughter of Suyuan. It shows that Jing Mei has more responsibility than she used to. This means more stress and hard work, taking care of The Joy Luck Club. She got her mothers seat due to her passing away. Taking her role and her responsibility was very difficult for her because Jing Mei did not know a lot about her mother. This quote shows the theme responsibility.

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"I watched my mother, seeing her for the first time, this pretty woman with her white skin and oval face, not too round like Auntie’s or sharp like Popo’s. I saw that she had a long white neck, just like the goose that had laid me. That she seemed to float back and forth like a ghost, dipping cool cloths to lay on Popo’s bloated face. As she peered into Popo’s eyes, she clucked soft worried sounds. I watched her carefully, yet it was her voice that confused me, a familiar sound from a forgotten dream."

This quote is showing a family theme, for the reason of An-mei's mother comes, but An-mei didn't know she was her mother, however she could recognize her face and she could the voice.

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"I looked at her with my know-nothing face, but inside I was trembling"

The narator uses this sentence to show the readers she looks one way on the outside but feels completely different inside. This also shows how strong she wants people to think she is and how she does not show any feelings that she has inside because it could be a weakness.

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"In other cities already, a man could choose his own wife, with his parents' permission of course.  But we were cut off from this type of new thought."

This quote shows that while some parts of China were developing newer, better systems, the people in Lindo's town and many other parts of China decided to keep using their old methods of doing things. They did this because that was how it had always been done ,and because people would spread rumors about how terrible new systems were, even though the old traditions were often worse than the new ones.

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Quote: “ ‘Annh! Jewish mah jong,’ she’s says in disgustedly tones. ‘Not the same thing.’ “

Jing-mei “June” is sitting in at the Joy Luck Club for her deseaced mother. She is around 40 years younger her than her aunts and uncles there, and is playing mah jong with them. Her Auntie Lin asks her if she’s plays regularly, or if she’s a pure winner like her mother was. She responds by saying not really, that she only played in college with her Jewish friends. Auntie Lin’s response is up above.

This quote tied into the themes of challenges of immigration culture translation and adaptation because it demonstrates how proud the Chinese are of their traditions and culture, so when they hear of other cultures participating in the sameness leisurely activities let’s say, the Chinese don’t approve and say how they are better, basically. They find it hard to accept other countries doing their activities, and not in the same way. Another theme related to the quote is Chinese families and culture. The quote paints the picture of Chinese families playing their traditional game of mah jong. However, not everyone is around the same age anymore, so this proves for different conversations. The quote is showing how the younger generation branches out to play games, like mah jong, with people from different countries/cultures. The younger Chinese generation sees no problem playing with Jewish friends, but in the other hand the older generation only shrivels their noses in disgust.

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"The wound begins to close in on itself, to protect what is hurting so much. And once it is closed, you no longer see what is underneath, what started the pain."

The meaning of this quotation is that pain that is formed from the past leaves a scar and never goes away. It symbolizes what was once a painful experience but is now shielded so that the scar would no longer be seen and no longer be remembered of the pain.

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"Already too tight from trying to keep her spirit in"
This quote indicates the theme of belief in this book which is a very important to the Chinese culture.

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Quote (Juan Diego) "My auntie said it was Popo's dying time and I must show respect."

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Quote (Juan Diego) "My auntie said it was Popo's dying time and I must show respect."

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"Because I was promised to the Huangs´ son for marriage, my own family began treating me as if I belonged to somebody else. My mother would say to me when the rice bowl went up to my face too many times, "look how much Huang Taitai´s daughter can eat."
my mother did not treat me this way because she didn't love me. she would say this biting back her tongue, so she wouldn't wish forsomethingo that was no longer hers"

This shows the feelings that the mom has towards her daughter and how she loves her but at the same time she can have her as she belongs to another family by her daughters future husband.

Lindo Jong knows that its hard for her mother to love her because she will leave in the future and her mother doesn't want to get to attach as she knows that her daughter will be leaving and never coming back.

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"Who is this ghost? Not an honored widow. Just a number-three concubine. If you take your daughter, she will become like you. No face. Never able to lift up her head."

This quote by An-mei's grandmother is referring to An-Mei's Mother. This shows how low she thinks of her. She calls her a ghost, meaning that she is invisible and must be ignored. She says she isn't an honorable widow, referring to how she married another man when her husband died, and a number three concubine meaning that she is not the only woman her man has.
The grandmother also says that if she takes her daughter, she will become like her, with a face full of shame and no pride to lift up her head with.

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"The pain of of the flesh is nothing. The pain you must forget. Because some times that is the only way to remember what is in your bones. You must peel off your skin, and that of your mother, and her mother before her. Until there is nothing. No scar, no skin, no flesh"

This refers to how hard is life and how the asian culture acts towards it, ignoring and going on. Forgetting everything that can worry you or guide you to act against what they think is politically  and social correct. So An-Mei should forget her mother, because she has no shou, no respect for ancestors or family. As she went away and got married with another man, living behind her family.

Sandra Merinero

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"I tried to keep very still,but  my heart felt like crickets scratching to get out of a cage."
This quote is saying that the girl is so shocked to see her mother, who she was not allowed to even call by the name, and that was mentioned by Popo as a ghost.That her heart started to beat so fast and so loudly that the author used the metaphor "crickets scratching to get out of the cage",as if her heart was trying to get out of her body.

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"...She told me stories I could not understand. One was about a greedy girl whose belly grew fatter and fatter. This girl poisoned herself after refusing to say whose child she carried. When the monks cut open her body, they found inside a large white winter melon. "If you are greedy, what is inside you is what makes you always hungry"- Popo

This quote means that one should be honest kind and understanding with others, other wise one could end up making the wrong decisions in life.

The theme for this quote is fable because it's a fable about a mother who commits suicide while carrying a baby. When the monks cut her open they find a baby, which is represented as a white melon in the story.

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" And she had a daughter who grew up speaking only English and swallowing Coca-Cola than sorrow "
This quote means that the mother educated her daughter to be a proud American citizen  and the only way to not expressing sorrow is by swallowing Coca -Cola . The daughter will inherit what her parents lived for more than 2 generations which had fought World War II

" And she waited , year after year , for the day she could tell her daughter this in perfect American English "

Here in this quote the mother tells her daughter who she left behind that whatever happens to her it will carry her mother's good intentions and she wanted to wait until her mother says to her in a perfect American English

P.C.I

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V.E Quote:"In two years my scar became pale and shinny and I had no memory of my mother.That is the way it is with a wound.The wound begins to close in on itself,to protect what is hurting so much. And once it is closed,you no longer see what is underneath,what started the pain."

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V.E Quote:"In two years my scar became pale and shinny and I had no memory of my mother.That is the way it is with a wound.The wound begins to close in on itself,to protect what is hurting so much. And once it is closed,you no longer see what is underneath,what started the pain."

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This is trying to demonstrate to the audience how the main character was taught the harsh lesson that pain is like a wound, it begins at the core (the bones) and then spreads to the flesh and skin, however this pain must be hidden in order to live a life without sourness and mourn, therefore the wound(pain) must be healed, stitched up. And once all this pain is fully hidden, the individual can no longer remember what began the pain in the first place (the bone can't be seen neither can the pain), the main reason as to why they began to mourn, all of the sorrows are hidden underneath ones outside shell the skin.

This can be identified as a metaphor since it's comparing a wound to pain and hiding ones feelings/pain in order to live a life free of sadness. This is done by covering/healing the wound, the wound which is still filled with bad flesh also known as the sorrows inside.

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"Your own thoughts are so busy swimming inside that everything else gets pushed out"
Popo was referring to the little girl, that since she never listened to her elders and always say no and shook her head, one day she shook her head so hard that her brains and everything else in her head fell out.

The theme for this quote is a fable or a legend since it is ment to scare or teach kids about listening to their parents and elders.

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"Your dying clothes are very plain. They are not fancy, because you are still a child. If you die, you will have a short life - Your funeral will be very small. Our morning time for you will be very short." JDW 

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"Your dying clothes are very plain. They are not fancy, because you are still a child. If you die, you will have a short life - Your funeral will be very small. Our morning time for you will be very short." JDW 

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This quote from Popo is meant, not to scare An-mei, but to leave her with a sobering thought after she has had her accident. She explains about how the family will not waist a lot of their time mourning her, should she die. Popo tells of how they have not made much effort in preparing her funerary clothes or service, because, since she is a child and has not made a real impact on their lives, and has nothing to really be mourned for. She is showing how her injury has not caused pain down to the core, as pretty much everyone else in the family has moved on. So, this is supposed to help An-mei move from, and not give into, the pain coming from her nasty burn. I would say that this quote should be catagorized as a warning

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"She opened Popo's mouth, already too tight from trying to keep her spirit in."
This quote describe's the final meal of An-Mei's grandmother, Popo. Here, it is said that she was "trying to keep her spirit in", something that is quite common in Chinese culture where the elderly or the dying try to keep their mouths as close as possible to avoid dying early (keeping their "spirit" in). There is no exact name for this superstition seeing as it is not commonly used by many.

The theme of this quote is Chinese culture/customs.

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Quote: "Many times Popo said aloud to all who could hear that my brother and I had fallen out of the bowels of a stupid goose, two eggs that nobody wanted, not even good enough to crack over rice porridge."

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Quote: "Many times Popo said aloud to all who could hear that my brother and I had fallen out of the bowels of a stupid goose, two eggs that nobody wanted, not even good enough to crack over rice porridge."

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This quote states two important things simotaniously to the audience; Firstly it is revealed that the two children in this chapter are in fact the children abandoned by Suyuan Woo. Secondly it states how Popo, the uncle whom takes care of them, wants them to know they were abandoned. He goes out of his way to make sure everyone knows they weren't wanted, and makes it sound as if people were to pity him for taking them in. He, in no effort, makes them feel wanted. Not to mention he constantly makes sure the children think of their mother as a careless cruel being whom abandoned them with no worry as to where they'd end up.

-Sidney Wagner