This paper explains that, in Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club", the mothers use the oral tradition of story-telling to cement,
ameliorate or transform the trauma of their past lives in China to their daughters as a method for rewriting these stories of oppression and victimization into parables of
self-affirmation and individual empowerment. The author points out that the motif of the mirror is a form of vision used often by Tan to allow the mothers and daughter to communicate. The paper concludes that this novel clearly demonstrates the usage of storytelling and mirrors as effective tools in creating bonds between mothers and daughter of each generation, which is
self-perpetuating, even if unintentional.