Analysis Of Two Kinds By Amy Tan

For millions of immigrants, America has been seen as the land of opportunity where anyone could become anything he or she wanted to be. A family that believes strongly in the American dream can be found in Amy Tan’s short story, “Two Kinds.” The story centers around the daughter of a Chinese immigrant who desperately wants her daughter to become successful. In the story, the author shows the difficult lives immigrants face when moving to a new culture. In this short story, the theme shows the protagonist’s conflict with her mother on the type of daughter her mother wants her to be. The author establishes the theme of how difficult mother-daughter relationships can be through characterization, setting, and symbolism.

The definition of an underachiever as stated by Webster is “one (such as a student) that fails to attain a predicted level of achievement or does not do as well as expected.” In the short story “Two Kinds” written by Amy Tan, Ni’Kan is the queen of underachievers. She determines at a young age to become defiant to her mom. After experiencing disappointment from letting her mom down, Ni’Kan determined that she would not become a child prodigy and intentionally failed throughout her life.

In the short story, "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, a Chinese mother and daughter are at odds with each other. The mother pushes her daughter to become a prodigy, while the daughter (like most children with immigrant parents) seeks to find herself in a world that demands her Americanization. This is the theme of the story, conflicting values. In a society that values individuality, the daughter sought to be an individual, while her mother demanded she do what was suggested. This is a conflict within itself. The daughter must deal with an internal and external conflict. Internally, she struggles to find herself. Externally, she struggles with the burden of failing to meet her mother’s expectations. Being a first-generation Asian American,

The short story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan is about the main character that has many conflicts with her mother because she struggles with her identity. Her family moved to America after losing everything in China, just as Tan’s mother. The struggle of identity and conflicts with her mother that Tan had when she was young influence this work. This work also talks about Americans as if they were extremely superior to everyone else and that American’s can do whatever they want in America, starting by the first sentences of the story. “My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get a good retirement. You could buy a house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous” (Tan). This story has a small portion of the Chinese American dream, where the mother shows her daughter Shirley Temple and wants her daughter to be like her and takes her to a

Many individuals from another culture strive to live the “American Dream.” In the excerpt from the novel, The Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez, he leaves Mexico to become a middle-class American man and further his education. Sherman Alexie writes “Superman and Me,” which shows how Alexie, a Spokane Indian, teaches himself American literature. Both of these stories intertwine to show how different cultures step out of their own and try to live the American Dream. This leads the audience wondering if culture affects how far individuals go in life? Whereas Alexie describes the ideology of an American Dream as an Indian young boy teaching himself how to read from comic books, Rodriguez describes the ideology of American Dream by escaping Mexico to seek higher education in America.

Have you ever wondered how powerful culture can be and how can it affect you?

Gish Gen and Barbara Ehrenreich’s works outline the struggles and challenges that the Americans undergo today in their pursuit of the American dream. Gen points to a Chinese family that is weaved between maintaining ties with their traditional Chinese way of life and culture, and adopting the American dream (Gen 107). Through this rather humorous and attention catching treatise, Gen confirms the struggles the American immigrant population face in order to streamline their thought, actions and philosophy with what the American dream represents. A majority of immigrants survives on low wages and struggles to put food on the

   The story of America is an exciting one, filled with swift evolution and an amazing energy unprecedented in world history. In America's short existence, it has progressed from a small collection of European rebels to the economically dominant nation that it is today. Mixed up in the provocative reputation of America is the celebrated ideal of the American Dream, the fantasy of complete independence and self-reliance mixed with the opportunity to attain wealth through one's labors. On the surface, this reverie seems almost enchanted, offering people the unprecedented prospect of achieving success regardless of one's race, religion, or family history. The American Dream is exactly what it appears to

Amy Tan portrays Suyuan as having a strong belief in the American Dream. Two Kinds starts out with “My mother believed you can be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get good retirement ” (Tan 543). The American Dream is the idea that every single person in the United States has an equal opportunity to become successful with hard work. Jing-Mei’s mother believes intensely in the American Dream because she left everything behind in China and came to America. Fo Suyuan the American Dream is opportunity and success. In America Suyuan is able to give Jing-Mei opportunities that Suyuan never had access to. Suyean believes her daughter can be a prodigy if she works hard especially in the United States where talent can help elevate a person’s status regardless of a person’s race. “”Who ask you be genius?” she shouted “I only ask you be your best.”(Tan 546). Even though Jing-Mei falls short of her expectations Suyuan still believes in her daughter’s abilities. If Jing-Mei is achieves the American Dream by becoming a prodigy

In Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds” Jin-Mei mother had dreams as she was coming to America. “My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open restaurant. You could work for the government and get good retirement. You could buy a house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous” (Tan 377). She is not alone. There are many people who come to America to make all these dreams come true. They all come with their children with the hope of finding a better life, to get away from the insecurities in their countries. However, parents who immigrate to America can put too much pressure on their children to fulfil the parents ‘dream, and by putting too much pressure on their children it leads the children to live a limited life with less choices.

For millions of immigrants, America has been seen as the land of opportunity where anyone could become anything he or she wanted to be. A family that believes strongly in the American dream can be found in Amy Tan’s short story, “Two Kinds.” The story centers around the daughter of a Chinese immigrant who desperately wants her daughter to become successful. In the story, the author shows the difficult lives immigrants face when moving to a new culture. In this short story, the theme shows the protagonist’s conflict with her mother on the type of daughter her mother wants her to be. The author establishes the theme of how difficult mother-daughter relationships can be through characterization, setting, and symbolism.

The United States of America is the most powerful and wealthy country in the world. The varieties of class, individuality, religion, and race are a few of the enrichments within the "melting pot" of our society. The blend of these numerous diversities is the crucial ingredient to our modern nation. Even though America has been formed upon these diversities, its inhabitants- the "average American"- have a single thing in common; a single idea; a single goal; the American Dream. The Dream consists of a seemingly simple concept; success. Americans dream of a successful marriage, family, successful job, and own a Victorian-style home with a white picket fence and an oak tree with a swing tire in the front yard. The

Like many immigrants think, America is the land of opportunity. People from all over the world,

The American Dream is an ideology that many strive for; immigrants coming into the United States, whether legally or not, arrive here hoping that they may be the lucky ones that find it. Those born in poverty see the American Dream as an opportunity to excel, to have wealth and to live a life different than the one they had growing up. The American Dream symbolizes success. For the three women in American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation’s Drive to End Welfare by Jason DeParle, success represented different ideologies. For these women, and many others like them, the success myth holds simple barriers, like the color of their skin and the opportunities granted to them.

Amy Tan’s short story “Two Kinds” describes a Chinese immigrant family who hope of finding success and an overall betterment of life in America. After losing everything in China, Jing-mei’s mother, Mrs. Woo, tries as a minority house maid in the 1960s to provide all the opportunities she can for her last daughter. This short story revolves around the interactions between the Jing-mei, who desires a ordinary life, and Mrs. Woo, who seeks only the best from her daughter. The values of these two characters are in constant conflict of which creates a lasting segregation between parent and child. Through Mrs. Woo’s death, Jing-mei questions her childhood upbringing and her mother’s true intentions that were masked by pure immigrant ambition.