Generational Differences In Two Kinds By Amy Tan

About a year later, Mr. Chong and Jing-mei's mother wanted her to play in a talent show that was going to be held at the church. Jing-mei was going to play a piece called "Pleading Child." Her parents invited just about everyone they knew to come and watch their daughter in her moment of glory. When Jing-mei's time came to play her piece, she was so proud of the way she looked that she wasn't even worried about how she was going to sound. She walked up to the bench, sat down, and just started playing away. Then it hit her. She didn't know the piece, and just about every note she hit was wrong.

Jing-Mei was a young Chinese girl who was being forced by her mother to learn the piano. Her

At the beginning of the story, Jing Mei is a little girl buying into her mothers views of the american dream. Jing Mei expressed her excitement by stating “ In fact, in the beginning I was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so.” She goes through a series of ambitions in a short period of time. First her mother told her that she could become an actress and be like an asian Shirley Temple. A butchered perm and a horrifying haircut later, and her mom proclaimed that she could become the next Peter Pan. Jing Mei expresses that she loved the idea of becoming a star. Though these view were merely being projected upon her by her mother. She was tested on multiple tasks. Some of these tests included multiplication, predicting temperatures, and memorizing pages out of the Bible and reciting them back to her mother.

In addition to setting, the author uses symbols to strengthen the theme of the story. In the story, the mother buys Jing-mei a piano on which to practice. The mother and Jing-mei have different perspectives on what this symbol means. To Jing-mei, the piano symbolizes her mother trying to change her into something other than herself; however, the piano symbolizes the American dream to her mother. Eventually as Jing-mei ages, she could see her mother’s idea on what the piano means and learns to appreciate the piano. When Jing-mei is a woman, “[she] realized that [“Pleading Child” and “Perfectly Contended”] were two halves of the same song” (Tan 9). As Critic Cynthia Becerra states, “the self-realization completes this rich vignette, it is not without pain and loss.(Becerra)” This realization shows how she learns that her mother only has high aspirations for her. The symbolical piano helps the theme by showing the contrasting views between the mother and the daughter in their relationship.

As Jing-Mei grows older, her mother decides to give her daughter a gift, the piano.  Suyuan says, “You pick up fast.  You have natural talent.  You could be a genius if you want to,” (154).  This represents forgiveness, both forgetting what happened in the past.  Suyuan goes on to tell her daughter that she was not trying when she was younger.  Part of the Chinese culture was to always keep trying,

Further, Tan depicts Jing-me as defiant in the face of her mother’s expectations for her. This defiant attitude can be seen when Jing-me finds out that she will be taking piano lessons from Mr. Chong. She throws a fit and asks her mother “Why don’t you like me the way I am?” (597). While at the piano lessons she further shows her defiance of her mother’s expectations when she learns that she can “be lazy and get away with mistakes, lots of mistakes” (598). Jing-me is upset with her mother for forcing her to take lessons, so she gets back at her by making a minimal effort to learn. Also, Jing-me displays her bold attitude a few days after she completely embarrassed her parents with a miserable performance at a talent-show. For example, she thought that after her poor performance at the talent-show, she “never had to play the piano again” (601). She further shows her defiant attitude when her mother reminds her that it is time to practice. Jing-me replies “I’m not going to play anymore” (601). All of these actions clearly shows Jing-me’s defiant nature, which results in a strained relationship between mother and daughter.

However years later, she was grown up enough to understand and realize her mother's love for her. In the last sentence of story, she wrote ,“[a]nd after I played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song” (105) Jing-Mei understood and rediscovered why her mother gave pressure on her.

Also, their relationship is shaped by the pressure Suyuan puts on her daughter. When Jing-Mei was growing up, her mother had the need for her daughter to be smart, talented, and a respectful Chinese daughter. This pressure put on Jing-Mei resulted in misunderstanding between mother and daughter. Jing-Mei constantly believed, “that she was disappointing her mother,” because she felt as if she failed at everything her mother wanted her to do. She believed she could never be as perfect as her mother was. Therefore she doesn’t think she is worthy enough to take her mother’s place at the Joy Luck Club “They must wonder now how someone like me can take my mother’s place” (Tan, 27). Jing-Mei does not understand that her mother wanted the best for her; Suyuan wanted Jing-Mei to challenge herself because that is how one builds up character. Suyuan thinks her daughter could do anything she proposed to do but never put enough effort into anything “Lazy to rise to expectations” (Tan 31). Furthermore, Suyuan forced Jing-Mei to learn how to play the piano and then perform at a recital. Jing-Mei rebelled against her mother and refused to learn how to play the piano well. So, at the recital she ends up forgetting the music notes. Jing-Mei blames her embarrassment on her mother and states,

Early in childhood Jing Mei dreamed of finding her prodigy and being a famous Chinese American, mostly because of the views and actions her mother placed on her. Her mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. (pg 405) Her mother was always pushing new tests and talents on Jing Mei. She even went as far as having her daughter Jing Mei models her physical appearance and actions after a child-star Shirley Temple. Her other was always testing her with many different things trying to discover Jing Mei’s talent. Later Jing Mei started to feel like her mother was just trying to make her into someone she was not and started to just fail and not try to do anything right hoping her mother would give up. When her mother died she had realized what her mother had been trying to do. Her mother had only wanted her to do her best. She had then to realize what her mother had

In the short story “Two Kinds”, Amy Tan uses symbolism to show Mei growing up as an independent woman. One way she portrayed it, was by using the piano. When my mother told me this,

The feud between Jing-mei and her mother destroyed their relationship for years, causing them to become distant from each other. Jing-mei’s mother pushed her so far that she no longer wanted to become a prodigy. Overwhelmed by anger, Jing-mei sees her reflection and no longer cares about impressing her mother. She emphasizes, “I won’t let her change me, I promised myself. I won’t be what I’m not” (Tan 223). Having the mindset like most teenagers, Jing-mei no longer wants to impress her mother; she wants to be her own self person. During Jing-mei’s adult years her mother gives back the piano for her 30th birthday. As she starts playing, she perceives that she has natural talent when she “Played a few bars, surprised at how easily the notes came back to me” (Tan 233). It was not until Jing-mei began playing the piano after all those years, that she realizes her mother was right about the talent she had all

The piano in the story has different meanings for each character. For the mother, the piano symbolizes her hopes and dreams for her daughter. For Jing Mei, the piano symbolizes the unwanted pressure to become something she believes she is not. The mother does everything in her power to make sure

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).

As an adult, Jing-mei’s mother offers her the piano once more, and Jing-mei accepts the gift. Appreciating the encouragement and faith her mother bestows upon her Jing-mei decides to care for the piano. The piano piece

Pulling a child off the path of their dream can cause them to rebel. Rebellious children can be almost impossible to deal with. Jing Mei’s mother decides Jing Mei will take piano lessons and makes arrangements with a retired piano teacher named Mr. Chong exchanging housecleaning services for weekly lessons. Jing Mei shows a lot of anger when her mother tells her of the lessons. “Why don’t you like me the way I am? I’m Not a genius! I can’t play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn’t go on TV is you paid me a million dollars!” (32) Jing Mei takes the lessons and after a year of daydreaming during practice