1. Regret
1.1. Jing-mei's mother had died a month before the book started, but she never understood her mother
1.2. Miscommunication
1.2.1. Many problems could have been solved simply if one party listened to one another
2. [ Main ] Understanding
2.1. All of the daughters had mothers who expected too much out out them
2.1.1. As such, they wanted to do everything they could to get away from their expectations
2.2. It's like a repeat of history as their mothers also were expecting things of them
2.2.1. Many of the mothers of their daughters did not understand what it is that their mothers did not like, and yet grown up, they don't know what their daughters want
2.3. Every generation understood each other less and less
2.4. Communication
2.4.1. There was a massive lack of communication from all sides, and when communication was established, understanding was lacked
2.4.1.1. Many times the point was old forced across when the daughters had to yell at their mothers about "Not being good enough"
2.5. Culture
2.5.1. Significant others of the daughters did not always full grasps the Chinese culture
3. Characters
3.1. Mothers
3.1.1. Suyuan Woo
3.1.2. An-mei Hsu
3.1.3. Lindo Jong
3.1.4. Ying-ying St. Clair
3.2. Daughters
3.2.1. Jing-mei "June" Woo
3.2.2. Rose Hsu Jordan
3.2.3. Waverly Jong
3.2.4. Lena St. Clair
4. The daughters sometimes had to part with their significant other
5. Sadness
5.1. Expectations
5.1.1. The daughters often felt like they were always below the expectations of the mothers
5.2. Losing a loved one
5.2.1. The mothers lost their own mothers, or were not respected by them, which could be a reason why they can't communicate well when they had children
5.2.2. Blowing up on things and people
5.3. Superstitions
5.3.1. Made many characters do stupid things that they'd regret or learn from later
5.3.1.1. Influenced by things that aren't real/beliefs
6. Happiness
6.1. Jing-mei finally understood things about her mothers thanks to her mothers friends
6.2. Reuniting/Uniting
6.2.1. She went to China with the money given to her and met up with her older twins siters
6.3. At the end of the book all the characters have a better understanding of each other
6.3.1. Get along well
6.3.2. Are not regretting their choices in life; it has gotten them where they are today