The Importance of Family Relationships in "The Young Couple" and "Two Kinds"

Consequently, she did not know the range of opportunities that were present in America and took them for granted, unlike her mother, who recognized and pushed her daughter toward them. More than anything, Jing-mei wanted to be her own self, not what her mother wanted her to be despite having Jing-mei’s best interests at heart, both the result of their generational and cultural divide. Her careless perspective on life resulting from her American identity are strongly juxtaposed with her mother’s hard-working and optimistic views. Furthermore, Tan describes when the pair’s brewing tension due to their cultural differences culminate when Jing-mei refuses to practice after a failed performance and her mother yells, “Only two kinds of daughters… those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!”(67). This defining moment clearly lays out the obvious divide between the cultures of Jing-mei and her mother. Jing-mei has been greatly influenced by the individualistic, independent ways of the United States, whereas her mother has retained her more traditionally Chinese values of respect and obedience. The “two kinds” of daughters represent the two cultures that Jing-mei and her mother embody, and how these differences influence their separate views on their place in the world. Jing-mei’s mother believed that if a person worked hard enough,

As Sayu Bhojwani explain, “I was Born in india, the world's largest democracy, and when I was four, my family moved to Belize, the world’s smallest democracy perhaps, And at the age of 17, I move to the United States, the world's greatest democracy. I came because I wanted study English literature. But after I graduated from college I found myself moving from one less ideal job to another”. She thought that having an education in america would change her life. Instead, she learn the hard way that not being more americanize can cause her a good job. Not being able to be successful because of her origin can really make anyone feel less. She proves that her story isn’t to feel sorry for her, instead she tells it to inspired other immigrants to push themselves, and everyone has a voice it just takes courage.

Logsdon, Amanda ENG 2000 Tjarks, Mark Essay 1 Coming of Age The Coming of Age The coming of age is an ethos differing on a wide spectrum (cross-cultural, spiritual, moral, physical, inter alia), which in a nutshell refers to the transition of a child into adolescence or, as some countries refer, adulthood. It lacks the standard of generality adhered by humanity in common.

“Two kinds” is a story, a Chinese girl whose life is influenced by her mother. Her mother came to America after losing everything in China. Jing-Mei’s mother was immigrated early to America from China who has “American dream”. Her mother had high expectations on her daughter and did not care how it could affect her. It made Jing-Mei become a stubborn and rebellious person. “In the years that followed, I failed her so many times, each time asserting my own will, … for unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be, I could only be me. (104) She expressed her anger by going against her mother's expectations in ‘who I am’, it inferred that such tendency come from her childhood experiences. Jing-Mei was frustrated because she could not satisfy her mother.

In the novel excerpt “Two Kinds”, Amy Tan uses central conflict between Jing-mei and her mother to develop the theme that with perseverance, good decisions and having faith in oneself, you can be whatever you aspire in a land where nothing is impossible. The main conflict between the two is Jing-mei going against her mother's American dream. The mother believes that there are greater opportunities in America because of her previous, sorrowful life in China. This then leads to her high expectations for her American-born Chinese child and, moreover, causes pressure for Jing-mei to change. In the beginning of the story, Jing-mei goes along with her mother's dream of having a child prodigy. But as she constantly notices her mother's disappointed

Amy Tan, a child of Chinese immigrants, wrote the story “Two Kinds”, telling the tale of a Jing-Mei’s rebellion against her mother’s desire to change her into a prodigy. As Jing-Mei’s mother continually tells her she does not try hard enough to succeed, the conflict between Jing-Mei and her mother escalates. Jing-Mei grows more stubborn, making every effort to resist her mother, and the relationship devolves into a standoff where mother and daughter both refuse to budge from their position. “Two Kinds” shows the irony in Jing-Mei’s relationship with her mother; while her mother believes Jing-Mei does not try hard enough to succeed, Jing-Mei succeeds in her struggle for identity by refusing to become the person her mother wants.

In the excerpt “Two Kinds,” written by Amy Tan, the author expresses her personal perception on cultural tradition along with the conflict of her mother’s opposing views. Upon travelling to America, the mother of Jing-mei continued to carry-out and force her culture onto her daughter in order to preserve their culture. Despite her seemingly increasing progress, rebellion and disobedience

Again, the daughter, Amy Tan, and her mother’s relationship is very tense, but the love and care is replaced with cold anger and hate. Tan has been pushed to her limits and beyond during her piano lesson when she sobs,”You want me to be something I’m not!...I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!” (141-142). Her mother, unlike the one before who was a bit more understanding of how much pressure she put on her daughter, shows no sense of love or care when she was ‘smiling crazily as if she were please that I was crying’(Tan 141-142). The relationship in “Jing Wei:Two Kinds” is extremely warlike between Amy Tan and her mother. The hostility in their relationship due to her mother’s extreme measures for her to be successful creates quite an angry and hateful tone in the

Jing-Mei Woo and her mother are the major characters in Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds.” The two have a complicated mother-daughter relationship at the beginning of the story, but later, as an adult, Jing-Mei realizes the intentions of her mother. “Two Kinds” is told from Jing-Mei’s point of view as a mature adult who is reflecting on her childhood. Jing-Mei’s thoughts and feelings are revealed, but she and her mother, the antagonist, have conflictingly opposite desires. Jing-Mei’s mother desires for her daughter to live the American dream and become an obedient “prodigy” child by forcing many prestigious tasks upon her, although Jing-Mei desires to please her mother, she wants live a normal life and chooses to rebel against her mother’s wishes.

Amy Tan's short story "Two Kinds" tells of the conflict between a Chinese-American girl named Jing-mei and her immigrant mother due to cultural differences. Throughout a portion of Jing-mei's childhood, her mother recognized her potential and was stricken with the belief that she should've used whatever natural talent or ability that she might've had to become a child prodigy. Jing-mei's mother tried a handful of things in hopes of discovering her talent, including acting, intellectual tests, and the piano, where most of her time was dedicated into attempting to turn Jing-mei into a piano virtuoso. Initially, Jing-mei struggles to decide whether she should fulfill her mother's wishes or stay true to her own identity, but after a disastrous

In the story two kinds the author Amy Tan creates theme by using the conflict in the story. The central conflict in the story is between the mother and Jing-mei. The conflict comes from both of the characters depending on the perspective. The conflict starts when the mother wants jing to be great or be a prodigy because she believed that in america you could do anything or be anything you wanted.The only problem was jing didn’t want to be a prodigy she didn't want to be what her mother seen in her. So this creates the conflict of her mother forcing her to do things she didn't want to do to fulfill her dreams for jing.

Cody Churchill Professor Ed Kavanagh English 1080 9-13 Oct 2014 Word Count: 900 Amy Tan: Two Kinds The crisis between Jing-mei and her mother in Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds” is a love/hate relationship between mother and daughter which hinges on ideas of identity and abandonment. In this story, the tug of war over Jing-mei’s identity is tragic; for either character to give in will mean a loss for both. Should Jing-mei give in to the fierce determination of her mother and become a prodigy, abandoning any sense of her own unique identity. Likewise, for Jing-mei’s mother to give up on her daughter’s potential, she believes this will be misinterpreted as abandonment, as she feels it her duty to mold Jing-mei into a beacon of perfection.

In the short story “Two Kinds” written by Amy Tan speaks about the difficult life events Jing-mei Woo and her mother had experienced. The two most mentioned characters in the story are Jing-mei Woo and her mother. Jing-mei’s mother sees America as the land of great opportunity. Her mother has high hopes for her daughter to become a successful prodigy; Jing-mei’s mother already has set high goals for her daughter. Jing-mei and her mother never really understood each other.

Jennifer Boretzky English 239 Response Paper #4 12/4/15 The Joy Luck Club The Joy Luck Club is a novel by Amy Tan, that is made up of stories that describes the struggles of Chinese immigrant mothers with their American-raised daughters. Throughout the novel, different types of conflicts arise such as marital, internal, cultural and many more between the mothers and their daughters. The four families that are presented in the novel are the Woo family, the Jong family, Hsu family, and the St. Clair family.

The American family has come a long way and has changed a lot overtime. Liberals and conservatives have their own views on the American family today. It is very tough to raise a family nowadays. However, there are some easier ways to raise a family today as well. Some of the things that I will talk about are divorce and its effects, welfare, abusiveness on children and wives, and a couple of articles in the book, "Families in the U.S."