Analysis Of Two Kinds By Amy Tan

Amy Tran’s story of the “Two Kinds” is a story about mother and her daughter who has complicated relationship and the relationship will deteriorate as the mother pushes her daughter to become a best for everything. At the beginning of the story ,Amy give us the impression that mother wants her daughter to become more productive and flourish in the society and to some degree to exceed everything for the best because she did not had the chance that her daughter have today. The mother was born and raised in china where she had lost her mother, her father, her first husband, her twin’s babies. It can be said the loss and tragedy has been vanished from her and she is only focused from now on her present life and the future headed of her daughter.

In present-day society, families go through several problems and arguments regarding numerous issues which would have been considered unacceptable in past times. Throughout a variety of different cultures, the level of respect and obedience for one’s parents has diminished while the negotiation of conformity and rebellion has risen. This statement is supported and evidential in two different stories, “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. Although these stories represent different cultures, they both exemplify the values and importance of family relations; as well as demonstrate in every culture families face social problems. In both these stories, two major topics stood out which allowed me to compare each one to one

Although the daughter’s shame in her mother is evident, she is also prideful of her as well. The strong love that the mother and daughter share is pervasive throughout the story. The story is being told by the daughter after she is all grown up. The fact that Jones uses such vivid detail on the mother’s preparation for her daughters first day of school shows that the daughter loved her mom and all that she did for her. The daughter recalls that her mother spent a lot of time preparing her when she says, “My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, plaiting and replaiting so that now my scalp tingles.” (Jones) She also remembers that her “pale green slip and underwear are new, the underwear having come three to a plastic package with a little girl on the front who appears to be dancing.” (Jones) The daughter having remembered details like these illustrate that she has an immense love and takes pride

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.

Most parents impose very high expectations on their children. While some expect their sons to become professionals in respected fields, others encourage their daughters to find good husbands. The parents impose these expectations without consulting their children. In most situations, the expectations of the parent deviate from the dreams of the child. This is what becomes evident when one reads Sandra Cisneros’ Only Daughter and Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue. In these short stories, the expectations that the parents of the narrators elicit mixed reactions. The expectations of the narrators’ parents hold them back from attaining personal goals while causing them to desperately desire approval and eventually accepting and embracing their parents..

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,

In many stories and novels, parents play a huge role in them. Sometimes the viewpoints of the parents cause a lot of tension between characters. In the stories “Two Kinds” and West Side Story the characters are influenced by parental involvement. West Side Story by Arthur Laurents, is basically a modern Romeo and Juliet, and “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan. Two Kinds is a story of a little girl who’s mom is so into her thought that her daughter could also be a prodigy at something if she tried hard enough, and urged her to try many different types of talents, especially piano.

The line between being an acceptable and unacceptable parent is often blurry and is seen on different perspectives when it comes to class, culture, and generation differences. Based on the two stories of Amy Tan’s, “Two Kinds” and Tillie Olsen’s, “I Stand here Ironing” we see these two perspectives that derive from different maternal upbringings of the children in the stories. What is found between them is the conflict of being too little or heavily involved in a child’s life has had more negative outcomes during their childhood than positive.

The title of this short story “Two Kinds” is describes the theme of this story. The mother had stated that there are only two types of daughters. “Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind.” (pg 412) Jing Mei did not understand the truth or meaning behind that declaration until after her mothers death. Jing Mei realized that her mother only meant that she could be an obedient child by listening to her mother while at the same time follow her own heart and want her own prodigy in life. The last paragraph in this story also indicates the theme of two halves being equal to one. The two songs “perfectly contented” and “pleading child” was actually two halves of one song. Despite Jing Mei and her mother’s differences

In the story Two Kinds by Amy Tan it tells the tale of conflict between a mother Suyuan and her daughter Jing-mei over piano lessons. Two Kinds deals with a clash between a mother’s belief of hard work and persistance and a daughter's belief that being a prodigy is unachievable. Amy Tan shows generational differences among immigrant families negotiating the mythology of the American Dream.

In the short story Two Kinds by Amy Tan, she writes about a child named Jing-mei and her experiences with her mother pushing her to become a prodigy, all while her mother deals with being a Chinese immigrant that just moved to the United States. The two countries obviously share very different cultures and this plays a part in the story as she pushes Jing-mei to live ‘The American Dream’. Her mother strongly believes that in America you can be whatever you want to be. This, to some, may not be true, however this idea is strongly pushed in the Chinese culture. This is shown when Jing-mei fails to do any prodigious task that her mother puts in front of her which leads to her mother being ultimately disappointed in Jing-mei. Her failures ends up causing a huge argument between Jing-mei and her mother. The argument could be called the climax of the story. This confrontation wouldn’t have happened if Jing-mei’s mother didn’t have the huge idea that The American Dream is a legitimate thing, and Jing-mei’s mother wouldn’t have that perception of America if the Chinese culture didn’t present the United States as such a place. Based on Chinese culture and perspectives, there are numerous fallacies concerning the American Dream, and these are displayed in Amy Tan’s short story “Two Kinds”.

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.

Our mothers have played very valuable roles in making us who a we are and what we have become of ourselves. They have been the shoulder we can lean on when there was no one else to turn to. They have been the ones we can count on when there was no one else. They have been the ones who love of us for who we are and forgive us when no one else wouldn’t. In Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds,” the character Jing-mei experiences being raised by a mother who has overwhelming expectations for her daughter, causes Jing-mei to struggle with who she wants to be. “Only two kind of daughters,” “Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind!”(476). When a mother pushes her daughter to hard the daughter rebels, but realizes in the end that their mothers

page three her mother slapped her and accused her of being ungrateful. In addition as her piano

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.