Mother Tongue Themes

Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” showcases Tan’s English as it is spoken at home in contrast with its standardized, educational form at school. Inspired by her first talk on her novel The Joy Luck Club (a talk that her mother attended), Tan examines moments of tension between the “language of intimacy”—what some would describe as “broken,” “fractured,” or “limited” English—that she uses with her mother and the “standard English” she learned in school.

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Over the course of “Mother Tongue,” Tan elaborates on the limitations of language by exploring her complicated relationship between her mother’s spoken English and the “standard” form she is taught at school. First recognized as a difference in sound while delivering a talk on The Joy Luck Club, Tan addresses the rhythmic and tonal shifts in each of her “Englishes” by directly quoting conversations with her mother. Though employing…

Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” challenges the limits of language as she documents the struggles she and her mother have faced as Chinese-American English speakers. Combining direct quotations from her mother with her own expositional accounts of past events, Tan illustrates the multiple ways in which stories can be told, emphasizing a broader understanding of language by her mother than outsiders such as her stockbroker, doctor, and customer service workers give her credit for. This…