MovieChat Forums > The Joy Luck Club (1993) Discussion > Why did Waverly's divorce her first husb...

Why did Waverly's divorce her first husband?

posted 13 years ago by cdz6969
6 replies | jump to latest

She said she married a Chinese man just to please her mother, he was gorgeous. But when they got a divorce, her mother acted like it was her fault?

Nothing else was elaborated in the movie why did they divorce? So by that line she said, it meant Waverly didn't think it was her fault. Did the guy cheat on her? If so, why would he be so dissatisfied with her? Was it because she only married him for her mother's approval and probably never loved the guy? Were there any clues in the book?

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[–] charlotte_goldenblatt 11 years ago

It wasn't mentioned bc it wasn't relevant to the story.

[–] Redart27 11 years ago

It was relevant to mention because it shows one more situation where Waverley was torn between her mother's wishes/opinions and her own. She married the perfect Chinese man because he was everything her mother expected.

[–] asc85 9 years ago

I don't remember Waverly's husband being mentioned in the book either. For me, that was the reason why they didn't dwell on it in the movie.

[–] Davejohnson316 9 years ago

Waverly's chapter Four Directions she goes into more detail on her marriage to Marvin Chen. She first thought he was handsome, sexy and charming, but then felt her mother had poisoned the image of him and began to view him as a blowhard.

[–] Wilsonandrewc (546) 5 years ago

Since it wasn't mentioned, I assumed he ditched Waverly and her daughter, Shoshana and ran off to god knows where.

[–] 9 years ago

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