61 pages 2 hours read

Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1989

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Part 4, Chapters 13-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4: “Queen Mother of the Western Skies”

A grandmother plays with her baby granddaughter. The grandmother laments that she was once carefree like the baby but learned to protect herself. She taught her daughter to do the same. The grandmother jokingly tells the baby that she must be the reincarnation of the Queen Mother of the Western Skies, wise enough to teach her how to stay safe while still able to laugh.

Part 4, Chapter 13 Summary: “An-Mei Hsu: Magpies”

An-Mei worries because Rose does nothing to stand up for herself, despite the lessons An-Mei tried to teach her.

An-Mei recalls when she was a child and her mother returned and took her to live in the house where she was a concubine. Her mother tells her a story about a turtle who swallowed her tears, which turned into eggs that hatched magpies.

An-Mei is impressed by the huge, fancy house her mother lives in but finds that the life of a Fourth Wife is hard. Wu Tsing, the husband, returns with a new Fifth Wife. An-Mei’s mother’s already low status falls further.

The household is controlled by Second Wife, a manipulative woman whose power comes from having a son. Second Wife gives An-Mei a strand of pearls, which make An-Mei feel special. An-Mei’s mother later crushes one of the pearls, showing it to be nothing but cheap glass.

Related Titles

By Amy Tan

SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Amy Tan
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Amy Tan
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
Amy Tan
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
Amy Tan
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Amy Tan
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Amy Tan
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Amy Tan
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Amy Tan
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Amy Tan
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
Amy Tan
Guide cover image