The Revised Purpose Statement

Purpose
This research paper is to fulfill the writing research credits required by Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages. In Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club" and "The Bonesetter's Daughter", superstition plays a central role in the mentality and belief of Chinese people. The Chinese believe that the supernatural power will bring them either bad luck or blessing, however, psychological impacts of superstition are also important reasons for the characters to conduct their lives to a different outcome. As a Chinese myself, I find it fascinating that Amy Tan interweaved superstition with the fiction she created so naturally. I am indeed familiar with the Chinese traditional belief in Tan’s novels, because it is the culture I am from. But for non-Chinese readers, these elements might be considered as purely irrational belief. However, I think that even if these behaviors are regarded as superstition, there must be a psychological reason for it. . I am curious about the psychology behind the traditional Chinese belief, therefore, I will try to explain the belief in a psychological perspective.