Comparing Everyday Use And Amy Tan's Short Story

941 Words2 Pages

Many young people prefer to follow their dreams, yet than to follow their parents’ footsteps In Alice Walker‘s short story, "Everyday Use,” the older daughter, Dee, never desired to follow the country lifestyle of her mother, instead chose to rebel against it. Meanwhile, in Amy Tan’s short story, “Two Kinds,” Jing-mei Woo chose to break away from her mother’s persistence to become a prodigy, and be true to herself. Both females refused to follow the road that both their families had always pushed them toward. Rather, they preferred to become their own persons and fight for their own identities. Dee and Jing-mei Woo both share similarities by refusing to follow their parents; rather they have chosen to follow their own destinies. Dee was never …show more content…

For example, Dee had refused to be timid and was determine to finish her education and have a better lifestyle, while Jing-mei had refused to follow her mother’s expectations. Dee’s mother had always remember that her daughter, Dee, “she was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts . . .her eyelids would not flicker for minutes at a time”( Walker, Online). Her mother and sister, Maggie, were more timid and often follow the will of others. However, Dee was strong-will about making her own decisions; for example, she chooses to go to college and live in the city and never accepts no as an answer. Jing-mei refused to learn to play the piano and told her mother, “Why don’t you like me the way I am? I am not a genius”’ (Tan, pg 243). She was upset that her mother had never accepted her for who she is. For this reason, Jing-mei came to a breaking point because she was tired of her mother’s persistence of her to become a prodigy, after being told she must learn to play the piano. Jing-mei is similar to Dee by refusing to follow her mother’s expectations of her, like Dee who had refused to accept her old living situation. Therefore, they choose to make their own decision on how they want to live their

Show More
Related

  • Identity And Identity In Two Kinds By Amy Tan

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    As you walk down the street, you see posters and billboards surrounding that one person you think you may want to be. In a society that is filled to the brim with persuasion and propaganda, it is common that people forget who they are and become someone else. The desire of popularity causes misconceptions and a sense of self that is not sure of itself, leading to the question “Who am I?” Being yourself can come easier than you think just by recognizing that it is you. Not by being someone you see on the billboard, your friends, or who you see on television. Yourself is who you really are. In the story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, conflict between a mother and daughter causes identity and individualistic problems. A mother tries to relive her life through her daughter by pushing her to do things she may not be capable of doing. The mother believes that her daughter will have it all in America: success, fame, and wealth. The daughter loses herself and identity by focusing on becoming the person her

    Read More

  • Hangzhou Short Story

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thru-out the centuries, regardless of race or age, there has been dilemmas that identify a family’s thru union. In “Hangzhou” (1925), author Lang Samantha Chang illustrates the story of a Japanese family whose mother is trapped in her believes. While Alice Walker in her story of “Everyday Use” (1944) presents the readers with an African American family whose dilemma is mainly rotating around Dee’s ego, the narrator’s daughter. Although differing ethnicity, both families commonly share the attachment of a legacy, a tradition and the adaptation to a new generation. In desperation of surviving as a united family there are changes that they must submit to.

    Read More

  • The Relationship of Mothers and their Expectations of Daughters in Amy Tan’s "Two Kinds"

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Only two kinds 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 only wanted the best for them and had their best interest at heart. In the beginning, Jing-mei, is “just as excited as my mother,”(469). Jing-mei eagerly hoped to make her mother proud. However, her mother’s obsession with becoming a prodigy discouraged Jing-mei.

    Read More

  • Success vs. Wishes in the Joy Luck Club

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    One type of effect the Chinese mothers’ expectations has in their relationship with their “Americanized” daughter is negative since the mothers are unable to achieve anything. An-Mei Hsu expects her daughter to listen and obey as the young ones do in Chinese culture, but instead receives a rebellious and stubborn daughter, “‘You only have to listen to me.’ And I cried, ‘But Old Mr. Chou listens to you too.’ More than thirty years later, my mother was still trying to make me listen’” (186-187). Instead of the circumstances improving, the mother is never able to achieve anything; her forcing and pushing her daughter to the Chinese culture goes to a waste. They are both similar in this sense because both are stubborn; the daughter learns to be stubborn through American culture and wants to keep herself the way she is, whereas the mother wants to remove this teaching from American culture and does not give u...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Chinese Mothers In America

    699 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the four women entered America, which is far from their motherland China, they experience a change of culture, the American culture, which was dominant than the Chinese. The Chinese mothers are faced with a difficult task of how to raise their American-born daughters with an understanding of their heritage. The daughters clearly show a gap in culture between the Chinese culture and American culture. The mothers wanted their daughter to follow the Chinese traditions, but the daughters followed the American traditions and even some of them got married to American men. The mothers tried to tell their daughters the story about the Chinese ancestors but the daughter could not follow them and the daughters thought their mothers were backwards and did not know what they are saying. As much as the mothers tried to show love to their daughters, the daughters usually responded negatively. They often saw their mothers’ attempts to guidance as a failure to understand the American culture. Being Chinese and living in America, both the mothers and the daughters struggle with many issues like identity, language, translation, and others. The mothers try to reconcile their Chinese pasts with their American presents; the daughters try to find a balance between independence and loyalty to their heritage

    Read More

  • The story Everyday Use Review

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story “Everyday Use” tells the story of a mother and her two daughter's differing views about their identities and heritage. In “Everyday Use” Alice Walker uses descriptive imagery and metaphors to communicate to readers the importance of heritage. She also shows how it is a part of life that is meant to be shared with each generation. The main characters in this story, "Mama" and Maggie on one side, Dee on the other, each have conflicting views on various items of historical and cultural significance. In the story Maggie and Mama are anticipating the return of Dee who has been away at school. They have never particularly got along due to their differences, though they seem to be at least amicable towards each other. While Maggie values their history in the traditional sense, with everyday acknowledgement of how important these things are, Dee portrays their heritage as something that’s meant to be shown off. Although Maggie and Dee appear to both value their heritage, in reality they see the concept in totally different ways.

    Read More

  • Two Kinds by Amy Tan

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    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, I have faced the same issues that the daughter has been through in the story.

    Read More

  • Mother Daughter Relationship in Two Kinds by Amy Tan

    430 Words  | 1 Pages

    For many of us growing up, our mothers have been a part of who we are. They have been there when our world was falling apart, when we fell ill to the flu, and most importantly, the one to love us when we needed it the most. In “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, it begins with a brief introduction to one mother’s interpretation of the American Dream. Losing her family in China, she now hopes to recapture part of her loss through her daughter. However, the young girl, Ni Kan, mimics her mother’s dreams and ultimately rebels against them.

    Read More

  • Human Oppressiveness in Two Kinds and A&P

    2353 Words  | 5 Pages

    In analyzing these two stories, it is first notable to mention how differing their experiences truly are. Sammy is a late adolescent store clerk who, in his first job, is discontent with the normal workings of society and the bureaucratic nature of the store at which he works. He feels oppressed by the very fabric and nature of aging, out-of date rules, and, at the end of this story, climaxes with exposing his true feelings and quits his jobs in a display of nonconformity and rebellion. Jing-Mei, on the other hand, is a younger Asian American whose life and every waking moment is guided by the pressures of her mother, whose idealistic word-view aids in trying to mold her into something decent by both the double standards Asian society and their newly acquired American culture. In contrasting these two perspectives, we see that while ...

    Read More

  • Obstacles In A Chinese Cinderella

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mother Teresa once stated, “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted are the greatest poverty.” The book, A Chinese Cinderella, an autobiography by Adeline Yen Mah, is a story about an unwanted daughter who tries to overcome these feelings of being unwanted, neglected, abused, and lonely throughout her young lifetime. Adeline wrote this book to share her story of how she transformed her negative circumstances into something she learned from. She realized that her self-worth was determined by her and not by anyone else. Her story is inspiring because she overcame several difficult obstacles in her life, she gave her family reasons to be proud of her, and she spent her whole childhood trying to figure out who she is.

    Read More

  • Conflicting Points of View in Two Kinds by Amy Tan

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    The theme that comes to mind for me when I read this story is conflicting values. While growing up it was an important value to Jing-mei to be accepted for the daughter that she was. Unlike the value of her mother which was to not only become the best you can be but a prodigy, someone famous. In the way that Jing-mei's mother pushes so hard for her to become something bigger than she was it seems that Jing-mei tried her hardest not to.

    Read More

  • Essay on the Setting of Everyday Use

    609 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the short story, "Everyday Use", author Alice Walker uses everyday objects, which are described in the story with some detail, and the reactions of the main characters to these objects, to contrast the simple and practical with the stylish and faddish. The main characters in this story, "Mama" and Maggie on one side, Dee on the other, each have opposing views on the value and worth of the various items in their lives, and the author uses this conflict to make the point that the substance of an object, and of people, is more important than style.

    Read More

  • The Themes Of Feminism In Amy Tan's Two Kinds

    1161 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Amy Tan 's Two Kinds, Jing-mei and her mother show how through generations a relationship of understanding can be lost when traditions, dreams, and pride do not take into account individuality. By applying the concepts of Virginia Woolf, Elaine Showalter, and the three stages of feminism, one can analyze the discourse Tan uses in the story and its connection to basic feminist principles.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Everyday Use by Alice Walker

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story 'Everyday Use', written by Alice Walker, is a story of heritage, pride, and learning what kind of person you really are. In the exposition, the story opens with background information about Dee and Maggie's life, which is being told by Mama. The reader learns that Dee was the type of child that had received everything that she wanted, while Maggie was the complete opposite. The crisis, which occurs later in the story, happens when Dee all of a sudden comes home a different person than she was when she left. During the Climax, Mama realizes that she has often neglected her other child, Maggie, by always giving Dee what she wants. Therefore, in the resolution, Mama defends Maggie by telling Dee that she cannot have the household items that she wants just to show others, instead of putting them to use like Maggie.

    Read More

  • The Relationship Between a Mother and Daughter in Two Kinds by Amy Tan

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ith Jing Mei and her mother, it is compounded by the fact that there are dual nationalities involved as well. Not only did the mother’s good intentions bring about failure and disappointment from Jing Mei, but rooted in her mother’s culture was the belief that children are to be obedient and give respect to their elders. "Only two kinds of daughters.....those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind!" (Tan1) is the comment made by her mother when Jing Mei refuses to continue with piano lessons. In the end, this story shows that not only is the mother-daughter relationship intricately complex but is made even more so with cultural and generational differences added to the mix.

    Read More

More about Comparing Everyday Use And Amy Tan's Short Story

Open Document