Family Ties

Stronger Than Wind

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     Sixteen stories. Four winds, and four mothers stronger than wind itself... In Amy Tan’s collection of short stories, The Joy Luck Club, the four winds are a recurring theme that is intertwined within these women’s lives. Furthermore, Lindo Jong’s daughter Waverly uses the four winds to succeed in chess, the mothers of the Joy Luck Club applied it in their game of mah jong.

     For instance, Waverly became a chess champion with the help of the four winds advising her with winning strategies. This occurs when “a light wind began blowing past [her] ears. It whispered secrets only [she] could hear” (Tan 98). These winds also give her confidence that she is doing better than her opponent when it tells her that “he [the opponent] cannot see. He is blind now” (Tan 98). These four winds gave her invisible strength, a strategy for success.

     In addition, these winds are crucial to the game of mah jong. It is represented by “four women, one for each corner of [the] mah jong table” (Tan 10). Each position in the game has a significant role. Jing-Mei takes her “mother’s place at the mah jong table, on the East, where things begin” (Tan 32). Mah jong can only be possible with four players, bù duō bù shǎo (no more, no less).

     Furthermore, the four winds helped Lindo escape her arranged marriage by giving her confidence and courage. “I . . . looked in the mirror. . . . I was strong. I was pure. I had genuine thoughts inside that no one could see, that no one could ever take away from me. I was like the wind” (Tan 48). It was this moment when Lindo felt that she was not lesser and would persevere through her terrible situation. She finally gained enough courage and “blew out [her] husband’s end of the candle” (Tan 56) that symbolized their marriage bond. She was not going to let someone else control her fate, and the four winds enabled her to rise above it.

     Lastly, the four winds play a monumental role in the life stories of the Joy Luck women. It healed their pain and sorrows of the past, and granted them strength and courage. The power of the winds helped shape who they are as wives, mothers, daughters and Chinese American citizens. When Suyuan Woo formed this alliance, it bonded four families and saved these women’s lives with the power of kinship, allowing them to move forward. In other words, it is always important to turn toward empowering forces, to become stronger than wind.