Symbolism in Two Kinds by Amy Tan and Everyday Use by Alice Walker

522 Words2 Pages

In the story, Two Kinds by Amy Tan, the most predominant object would be the piano. The mother has it set in her head that her daughter, Jing-Mei can and will become a child prodigy. The mother hires a teacher that lives in their apartment building. Jing-Mei constantly feels like she is a disappointment to her mother. Her mother had very distinct goals for Jing-Mei and this is way she always felt that she was disappointing her. Jing-Mei was forced to take piano lessons; this only further upset her as she felt that she was a constant disappointment. Her mother was mad at her on a regular basis because Jing-Mei stood up for herself and explained to her that she didn’t want to be a child prodigy. After Jing-Mei’s mother passes away she started looking at the piano with admiration. She sat down at it and started playing after all those years. At first, she thought that she would have forgotten how to play, but she seemed to have picked up right where she left off. The piano is the symbolism; Jing-Mei sits down to play the piano at the end of the story. By doing this it shows th...

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