Traditions, heritage and culture are three of the most important aspects of Chinese culture. Passed down from mother to daughter, these traditions are expected to continue for years to come. In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, daughters Waverly, Lena, Rose, and June's thoughts about their culture are congested with Americanization as they search for self-realization. Each daughter struggles to balance her Chinese heritage and American values ​​through marriage and professional careers. June's story dealt with the concepts of superstition and cultural differences. At the beginning of the chapter, June describes a necklace given to her by her mother. The pendant was “too big, too green, too garishly ornate” (p. 197, June). Her mother Suyuan called it "the importance of life" to her daughter, but because June did not appreciate this, the reader can identify the cultural differences between the two, as well as the importance of material objects. After Suyuan's death, June begins to realize that "the importance of life" is actually a testimony of her mother's love. “For a long time I wanted to give you this necklace. See, I wore it on my skin, so when you put it on your skin, you know what I mean. This is the importance of your life.” (pg. 208) By finally placing the importance of life on June, Suyuan is finally expressing that she is no longer comparing June to Waverly. He's finally letting her know that he accepts her for who she is and how great of a person she is. In "Woodless," Rose Jordan was unable to find a balance between herself and her need to please everyone around her, especially her husband, Ted. Her mother believed that Rose lacked the Wood element, which results in Rose......middle of paper......nts, Ying-Ying predicts that Lena will not be able to control the her future life if she does not “finish her rice”. Driven by a need for control over her environment, Lena fails to accomplish what she has fought so hard for and marries a man named Harold, who controls their marriage by demanding equality between everything they do and own. Unable to see the imbalance in her marriage, Ying-Ying is forced to show Lena by comparing it to a table Harold created. “Fallen,” he says simply. She doesn't apologize. “It doesn't matter,” I say, and begin picking up the broken shards of glass. “I knew this would happen.” "Then why don't you stop him?" my mother asks. And it was such a simple question” (p.165) After the table breaks that day, Lena finally comes to the realization about her marriage and what her mother had been talking about the whole time.