The Joy Luck Club is a compilation of many different life stories narrated by a variety of eight main characters. Each of these main characters experience at least one personal misfortune throughout their life, some being more devastating than others. A prime example of a personal misfortune one encounted is in the story, "Half and Half". The narrator, Rose Hsu, is recalling a time when she was visiting the beach with her family. Rose's mother, assuming she is the most responsible, asks her to watch over her little brother, Bing, but as time passes Rose looses Bing in the ocean. This event affected everyone in the family, especially Rose and her mother, because they spent days at the site where he was lost looking for him and praying that he would return. Because Bing was never found, Rose continues to blame herself into the present time, feeling as if that event changed her life. "When something that violent hits you, you can't help but lose your balance and fall. And after you pick yourself up, you realize you can't trust anybody to save you - not your husband, not your mother, not God. So what can you do to stop yourself from falling over again?"(Tan 128) This quotation is important because it clearly describes how severely that incident affected Rose's life, and therefore it would have to be an event that she would need to overcome to move on with her life. Rose is now overcome with fear, from violent experiences through her life, which will cause for her to be fearful towards trying to discover her true identity. A second example of a personal misfortune a main character has to experience is within the story, "The Joy Luck Club". This story signifies the entrance of one daughter, Jing-Mei, into the Joy Luck Club, due to the death of her mother. One personal misfortune Jing-Mei experienced was never fully understanding her mother. Jing-Mei felt as if they were completely opposite and got upset whenever her mother stated that Jing-Mei was part of her.