Unity Achieved Through Integration Of Diversity

As a Chinese American woman writer Amy Tan's works have made great success. Until now she has published five novels and two children's books. As a descendant of the first generation of the Chinese Americans, she has special life experience. She takes the personal experiences of her mother and herself as the subjects and the writing backgrounds of her novels. The thesis has made a detailed study over the consistency in Amy Tan's five novels, The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter's Daughter and Saving Fish From Drowning. By analyzing the background, the characters, the themes, the technique of expression and the narrative approach the thesis comes to a conclusion that her five novels has the consistency.The thesis consists of eight parts. The introduction defines the Chinese American literature and generalizes its developmental history. Afterwards it introduces the literature review and the significance and the value of the research. Chapter two introduces Amy Tan and her five novels, The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter's Daughter and Saving Fish From Drowning. Chapter three discusses the consistency of background, namely the images of China. Also in this chapter there is the analysis of superstition, such as fengshui, five elements and witchcraft. Chapter four discusses the consistency of characters in her five novels. It contains an analysis on the types of mother and daughter relationship, the mother and daughter conflicts and mother and daughter reconciliation. Chapter five discusses the consistency of themes. Tan's novels reflects her perspective of feminism and her appeal to women's right because men in her novel is not present or in aphasia. Her description of the Orient is uncultured and ignorant. Women in the old China suffered all kinds of humiliation while women in America are emancipated and have the right of liberty. Her comparison of China in the 1930s and the 1940s and America in the 1980s and 1990s undoubtedly implies the consciousness of Orientalism. The reconciliation of mother and daughter conflicts expresses the author's idea of cultural reconciliation and her expectations of multicultural coexistence. Chapter six discusses the consistency in the technique of expression. The five novels are all the combination of autobiography and fiction and symbolism is widely used which not only make the reader can read between the lines but also appreciate the beautiful language of the article. Chapter seven discusses the narrative approach. The narrative approach widely used in her novels is storytelling and flashback and narration interposed. Storytelling makes her novels authentic and readable. Looking at these works the chronological description is not used but a blend of flashback and narration interposed are at the author's fingertips.