Two Kinds 'And Rules Of The Game' By Amy Tan

Though the tone of Amy Tan’s story is more intense than Amy Chua’s story, both mothers’ goals are the same as the other. In Amy Tan’s novel, the mother figure is tough on her daughter

“Two Kinds” is about a girl named Jing-mei and her family had moved from China to San Francisco in hopes of fame for Jing-mei; her mother wanted her to become a prodigy. With her mother hoping for her to become a prodigy, she is forced to do things that she doesn’t want to do and so she rebells back because she felt as though her mother wasn’t happy that she wasn’t perfect and so she was changing her. At the end of this story, Jing-mei finally learned that if she were to have tried at something she could have been amazing at it, but she wasted her time rebelling against her mother. “Two Kinds” shows Amy Tan’s use of conflict shows readers with the different types of conflict that can affect a story and gives a lesson. in a story.

Tan shows that she is embarrassed in her family for their lacking of proper American manners. Although at the time she felt ashamed, the words spoken by her mother, “Inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame” became better understood later in life. In Amy Tan's work, the strong use of description of both the event that are occurring and Amy’s feelings about them, draws the reader in and makes them feel as if they are part of the action. Tan's Chinese-American culture and life stories are imprinted in her writing which gives the reader an opportunity to gain knowledge about the way of life in her family, friends, and even the Chinese culture. Tan's main purpose of writing is to inform and educate people about growing up as a minority in the American society.

Within the text “Rules of the Game” written by Amy Tan, the clash of Chinese beliefs and values with those of American beliefs and values can be seen. This clash of values and beliefs between two culture causes many mother-daughter conflicts throughout the story. Waverly grew up in San Francisco in a Chinese American neighborhood while her mother was a first generation immigrant. This difference in their surroundings has caused their beliefs and values to differ from each other.

Amy Tan's "Two Kinds" and "Best Quality" depict a struggling and often stressful relationship between a defiant daughter and an overbearing mother. June Mei and her mother Suyuan engage in a destructive battle between what is possible and what is realistic. June, although headstrong, seeks her mother's approval and adoration. Suyuan, although patronizing, yearns for her daughter's obedience and best qualities. The relationship between mother and daughter falls victim to tension inherent in any mother/daughter struggle, especially between first-generation American daughters and their immigrant mothers (Yglesias 1). Their inability to understand one another largely stems from cultural differences; Suyuan is a Chinese woman who flees to

One of the crucial components of Amy Tan's "Two Kinds" is her choice of narrator. This narrative voice develops the story by adding to the characters. By using this narrator, Amy Tan allows the story to come alive through the eyes of a child. Jing-Mei, who is the daughter of a Chinese immigrant, paints the picture of her relationship between herself and her overbearing mother. Being the protagonist of the story, Jing-Mei is able to portray what she is going through as the storyteller. This choice of first person narrative allows the audience to look through the eyes of a young Chinese-American girl and take part in her coming of age. If the author chose another character as narrator, the childlike

In her story, Tan portrays the danger of overly excessive parental control that may cause to damage the child and reason him or her to rebel against the morals child was taught. The mother lives her dreams through her daughter. She moved to America from China because she believed that it’s the Land of Opportunity. She wanted to give her daughter everything she did not have as a child, which is a chance to be successful. The mother expected her daughter to be a prodigy. She would set up unrealistic goals for a normal child like her daughter. She expected her to be talented, smart and one of a kind; she wanted her to be perfect. She would push her to be successful no matter of what the daughter was capable of. She forced her to play the piano,

Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds” is an autobiographical look into her childhood that shows the conflict between Tan and her mother, the difference between old and new cultures, the past and the present, and parents’ expectations vs. reality. Couples of opposing elements comprise the basis of the entire story; to another extent even the title itself, “Two Kinds,” shows the friction that Tan creates. The strongest argument that Tan suggest is that this may not only be a look into her own life, rather it may be the struggles that every child and parent goes through as they come into age. As the story advances, Tan’s journey of struggle through the relationship with her overbearing mother is unraveled. A sense of emotional growth and mutual respect can

To begin, daughters will overcome hopeless aspects of life if they understand her mother’s sacrifice. Bitterness can overtake one’s life; however sacrifices can be inspirational examples to combat it. When An-Mei’s mother suicides out of bitterness, An-Mei learns to become one who is hopeful about life:

Asians more readily attribute a person’s achievement to familial and communal nurturing, whereas Americans more readily give this credit to an individual’s own efforts and talents. Implicit in this mother-daughter struggle is a conflict contrasting Asian values, which emphasize familial and communal honor, against American values, which reward individual achievement. Meimei’s decision to pursue chess as a passion creates a cultural divide between her and her mother. Meimei veers toward American behavior as she pursues chess. Tan has her approach the game in a classically American fashion, the result of which is a classic American success story.

“I had always assumed we had an unspoken understanding about these things that she didn't really mean i was a failure”. In the novel the mothers and daughters finally come to an understanding of everything that has happened. Why the mothers did what they did and why the daughters wouldn't let the mothers change them but despite their often-opposing points of view, love is the overriding bond that draws the mothers and daughters together and transmits the mothers' gifts of wisdom. At the end of the novel Amy tan effectively achieves her purpose by showing the readers what lesson the mothers learned and what lesson the daughters learned. Not everything can be the mother's way and they come to understand that and the daughters come to understand why the mothers did all those things for

Amy Tan's short story, "Two Kinds" begins with a brief introduction to one mother's interpretation of the American dream. The Chinese mother who lost her family in her native homeland now hopes to recapture part of her loss through her daughter. Those of us who are parents want what is best for our children. We strive to make our children's futures better. In some cases, when our own dreams have either been destroyed or not realized, we project our dreams and wishes on our children. In "Two Kinds", Amy Tan tells of such a story through the eyes of a young girl who initially mimics her mother's dreams but ultimately rebels against them. Tan's use of a common theme that most

The story “Two Kinds,” written by Amy Tan, has a plot that many people can relate to while growing up as a child. The theme of the story is that there are two kinds of people: the one the mother wants her to be and the one Jing-mei (the protagonist and narrator of the story) strives to be. Both mother and daughter in the story have a very complicated relationship. The mother believes that you could become anything you wanted in America. The author emphasizes that Jing-mei’s mother tries to dominate and control her life in every possible way you can imagine. For example her mother’s persistent ways in trying to make her into something she’s not a “prodigy”, as well as making her take piano lessons so she can win against one of her mother’s

Nowadays, the child’s education becomes more and more important. Study can change a person’s life. A strict mother and a amiable mother from “Tiger Moms” is written by Annie Murphy Paul, and “Two Kinds” is written by Amy Chua. In the story “Tiger Moms”, the mom was described “like a monster” by reporters, but everyone has a different side. The article “Two Kinds” is talking about a kind mother tried to let her daughter study piano, but the girl play the piano horribly and her teacher is deaf and blind after, when her mother is gone, she put her mother’s clothes on her face and she touched, maybe she becomes a wonderful pianist.

Often times mothers can be pushy, annoying, and a bit overbearing but in the long run they always just want what is best for their child. Everyone wants their child to be the best, most popular and overall number one. In Amy Tan’s short story “Two Kinds” we see this type of fame hungry mother. The short story is about a Chinese family who lost everything. The mother had lost her entire family full of children except for the one in the story. With the belief “you could be anything you want in America” (Tan 305) in mind the mother set off to find what her child can do. This ultimately will resort in disappointment for both the mother and child, as they do not share the same goals throughout the short story. My initial personal interpretation of this piece is that the mother wants to live vicariously through her daughter. This was proven throughout the story time and time again. Through further thought, different literary techniques, and class discussion I became aware of an alternate interpretation of the story. This is that their are two kinds of daughters and the way the mother daughter relationship could be. Both interpretations have many examples to support them and the story can truly be analyzed in more then one way.