An Analysis of Family Values in The Bonesetter’s Daughter

Abstract   Since the publication, the novel, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, has received widespread attention as well as acclaim, which deals explicitly with mother-daughter relationships as her previous masterpiece, The Joy Luck Club。 However, unlike The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan unfolds the story throughout emotional experiences of the three women generations belonging to one typical family。 Overall, the family conflict is performing as a plot device in the novel, which mainly resulted from family values indeed。 The complexity and persity of family values in Tan’s novel are exactly the value of this thesis。89169

Based on various family values embodied in the novel, the thesis take a traditional Chinese family and a western family as an example to analyze family relationships including parents-offspring relationship, mother-daughter relationship, marital relationship, so as to answer the question about how to bring persified family values into coexistence in a multicultural society。

First, the thesis analyzes the continuity and transformation of Chinese family values held by the three women。 The family values represented by the three women generations, the precious aunt, LuLing and Ruth, are mutual products shaped by family members and the time。 In parents-offspring relationships, there is no exception that they have dedicated all of their love to their children, harsh but selfless, with finial piety in mind, which shows the continuity of family values。 However, they have different views of marriage, demonstrating the transformation of family values。

Second, the thesis compares the family value in a western and a Chinese family respectively, which lies in their attitudes towards parents-offspring relationship, marriage and finial piety。 Ruth is the third generation in the novel who has been so profoundly affected by Chinese family value that a majority of her daily behavior and thoughts have been deeply formatted by Chinese family value。 For example, she gives priority to other family members, shouldering the responsibility of taking care of the old and chasing for a registered marriage。 In contrast, Art is a spokesman for the western family value, who believes that the right of each family member should be equality guaranteed and expects a love relation without bondage。 When LuLing is diagnosed with dementia, he doesn’t consider it as something that he should take care of。

Last, the thesis concludes that different cultural backgrounds are the major cause of distinctive family values, while the family education leads to the continuity of family values。 China has been deeply influenced by Confucianism。 In the west, different cultural backgrounds result in different family values, which accounts for Art’s pursuit of absolute fairness。 The globalization has created numerous opportunities for people from different culture backgrounds to communicate with each other。 Cases of transnational marriage and immigration have been more and more common and the family conflicts will only keep increasing, so the thesis offers a key to family reconciliation-- mutual understanding。 

Key words: The Bonesetter’s Daughter; family value; Amy Tan; family conflict

《接骨师之女》中的家庭观分析

摘  要《接骨师之女》自问世之时就受到了文学界和读者的关注和好评。和喜福会一样，该书的主题仍然是母女亲情。但是不同于喜福会，接骨师之女将全部笔墨集中于一个家庭中的母女三代，将三代人的情感误解与母女深情娓娓道来。纵观全文，冲突始终都作为一条主线牵引情节的发展，而家庭观则是冲突的深层原因。文章主人公所呈现出的家庭价值观的丰富性和复杂性，也正是本文的研究价值所在。

本文试图以该篇小说中蕴含的家庭观为切入点， 以一个传统中国家庭和一个西方家庭为例，探讨其中所存在的种种家庭伦理现象，包括亲子关系，母女关系，婚姻关系等等，以此探索当今日益多元化的社会不同的家庭观应如何共存的问题。 源Y于U优I尔O论P文W网wwW.yOueRw.com 原文+QQ75201-8766 《接骨师之女》中的家庭观分析:http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_178197.html