This project examines the connection between the representations of Chinese American women and the Orientalist discourse, as depicted in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Using a deconstructive and intersectional approach, the project focuses on four interconnected constituents that regulate the novel’s main structural and thematic elements: Narrative Structure; Mother-Daughter Relationships; Language, Writing and Identity; and Feminist Affirmations. The project’s aim is to understand the logic of the novel’s representation by juxtaposing and analyzing the contrasting arguments within each of the sections. Though somewhat inconclusive, this project addresses the ambiguity of Tan’s work in hopes of expanding the critical understanding of the novel.