A Pair Of Tickets By Amy Tan

Amy Tan’s short story “A Pair of Tickets,” has June May crossing an ocean to visit her family that she has never met, where she connects with her Chinese heritage in a way she was never able to before. On her trip, she discovers the depth and importance of her culture through her family members. The main character, June May, is a woman of Chinese heritage, from San Francisco, California. Growing up in the United States, in a very American environment, June May feels as though she never truly understood what it meant to be Chinese. As she soon learns, however, June May realizes that through her own family she can connect with the heritage that bonds them all together.

She was my mother,” (31).  Jing-Mei says this to her aunts after her mother had died, and she had to take your position in joy luck.  She felt like she never really knew her mother because of their miscommunication.  Suyuan Woo, Jing-Mei’s mother, had many hopes and good intentions for her daughter. While Jing-Mei wanted to be herself and still please her mother, Suyuan wanted her daughter to be a child prodigy. Always wanting the best for her daughter, Suyuan hoped Jing-Mei would one day become an extraordinary pianist.  Although Jing-Mei played the piano, she never put forth much effort into the music because her best was not good enough for her mother.  Nonetheless, she stopped playing the piano.  “I could only be me,” (154).  She could not be something that she was not; she could not live up to her mother’s expectations.  This symbolized one of Jing-Mei’s songs, “Pleading Child.”  Suyuan continues to put all the pressure on Jing-Mei so that she will not become like her mother for all the reasons she had come to America; hopes for a better life.

Setting is one of the many way we learn about character. In Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets,” June May, the protagonist, at the age of fifteen denied that she had any Chines whatsoever in her. Now at the age of thirty-six June May is on way to China carry her mother’s dream of going back home, with her seventy two year old father, Canning Woo. Their first stop will be Guangzhou, to visit Canning Woo aunt who he had not seen since he was ten years

In The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Jing-Mei and her mother have a very rocky relationship. Tan develops a relationship between Suyuan and Jing-Mei that is distant in the beginning due to culture differences and miscommunication, but gradually strengthens with time and understanding. Both of them have different backgrounds and have been influenced by two different cultures. Suyuan grew up in China and behaves according to the Chinese culture and her American-born daughter Jing-Mei is influenced by the American culture that surrounds her and wants to become part of it.  Their relationship is also shaped by the pressure Suyuan puts on Jing-Mei. She wants her to be a perfect

The mother in the story tries everything in her power to make Jing-mei famous in some way. Yet Jing-mei was content to being herself.

In Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets,” setting unfolds an important aspect of the story by positioning a ‘where’ and ‘when.’ Throughout the story, June May struggles with her internal conflict of resisting her Chinese culture. However, she begins to release this resistance as she ventures through China. The setting perpetuates the theme through the usage of transportation, the significance of the color gray amongst colors, and June May’s transition into a Chinese-American. As reflected by the setting and external places visited in “A Pair of Tickets,” June May’s interior state becomes more Chinese as she explores her native country.

Setting is the specific or general environment where a story or event takes place. This novel is set in the 1960s in a town divided by the East and West sides. The division in the city separates characters based on social class, creating unequal treatment between gangs as characters of the West Side believe in superiority over the East. The small rivalry between classes leads to much larger problems, forming events, such as the Socs jumping Ponyboy and Johnny, that lead to the main plot of the book.

The story “Two kinds” introduces the protagonist 's as young Jing-Mei, and antagonist as her mother. The story’s physical setting takes place in San Francisco, the city Jing-Mei’s parents resided after immigrating from china.

One setting from the novel that is important to the plot is the ranch, The ranch is where they were staying at until they have to go to China and Taiwan, it is also where they're parents are why they are in China and Taiwan. I chose this because it is important. It sets up for another book, and it is a good way to tell the reader about the story. I think it will help them understand the story.The ranch is where they were before they went to before going to China and Taiwan. This is where they're

The short story "A Pair of Tickets," authored by Amy Tan is a detailed analysis of issues that concern many people that are of a different descent but that have been residents or migrated to another country for a long time. The story was written in such a way that if one does not take cognizance of interpretation of stories; one may not really gesticulate what the author is trying to portray. The story was about a young American student on a journey for the first time to China with a plan of reuniting with her half-sisters for the first time after the demise of her mother. The writer made use of stereotypes and prevalence of internal conflicts in presenting the theme of the story to the readers for easy understanding. The Protagonist or

Jing-mei originally believed that in order to “be Chinese” one must live in China and abide by the stereotype of Chinese people; after her visit to China, she finds that “being Chinese” is accepting the Chinese DNA in her blood and understanding the culture. In the beginning of A Pair of Tickets, Jing-mei does not feel Chinese. She repeatedly denies being Chinese saying, “… and all of my Caucasian friends agreed: I was about as Chinese as they were” (Norton 179). She had never experienced the culture first-hand and never truly connected with her true heritage. She sees China in her visit. This is the first opportunity she has ever had to interact with other Chinese people. Coming from a social group of all Caucasian friends, first-hand interaction allows her to understand the Chinese people in a much more advanced manner. They seem less

Even the hotel she stays in looks like "a grander version of the Hyatt Regency" and the Chinese feast she had envisioned was replaced by "hamburgers, french fries, and apple a la mode." It is not until she finally meets her twin sisters, in modern Shanghai, that she realizes that she is Chinese because of "blood" and not face or place. Within this story, however, is her mother's story, set in another time and place. Fleeing from the Japanese invasion, during World War Two in 1944, Jing-Mei's mother is forced to abandon her twin daughters on the road between Kweilin and Chungking. Upon hearing her mother's story Jing-Mei Woo is able to understand a great deal more about her mother and their relationship, as well as her own past.

Jing-Mei feels differently though, “Unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to. I could only be me,” (359/80) and she was correct for she had no natural musical talent. Jing-Mei has a desire to please her mother, but an even stronger one to choose her own life. She pacifies her mother by going to piano lessons but puts in no effort. Jing-Mei is “…determined to put a stop to her blind foolishness,” (356/48) but her mother’s desire to create a prodigy to compete with Aunt Lindo’s daughter, keeps her focused on the impossible. That is, until Jing-Mei escalates this conflict to its breaking point in rebellion. Stunning her mother, she shouts “Then I wish I’d never been born! I wish I were dead! Like them,” (359/77) referring to the twin daughters her mother lost in China. Sadly, the mother’s desire to have Jing-Mei conform to her expectations creates a constant battle between mother and daughter, and, in rejecting those expectations, seeing disappointment in her mother’s face all too often causes Jing-Mei to feel, “something inside me began to die” (353/18).

In the “Two Kinds” story the author illustrates the struggle between her American cultural identity, and her mother’s Chinese culture, as like the characters in the story. The author shows what is the struggle and the conflict that cultural differences creates. The author also uses symbolism, to address the conflicts between the characters in the story.

The conflicts of character and setting in the story depicts she struggled about comprehend her parents’ culture and acceptance of her culture identity. Jing-Mei didn't understand when her mother said: “Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel and think Chinese.” (Tan, 133) She has never really identified with her family’s culture. Notwithstanding