The Joy Luck Club
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Social roles
I think that Lindo's story emphasizes the gender role ideology of how a wife is supposed to act. Specifically when Lindo's marriage was prearranged; the expectation was that when she was of age to marry (very young 13? 14? 15?) and her mother explained that she should accept her fate as if it was the only life for her to live. Once Lindo was married she was seen as a "breeder" not a human it was a physical and emotional trap. There was no positive emotional relationship with her husband (Tyan-yu) and what was negative got worse for Lindo. After some years in the marriage, the mother-in-law (Huang Taitai) became furious with Lindo because she did not conceive a child. The mother-in-law slaps Lindo, and exerts physical force upon Lindo to "lie down until she bears a child". At best Lindo was a the equivalent of a servant trying to appease the mother-in-law and there was not mercy by the mother-in-law...