The short story “Two Kinds” written by Amy Tan is about conflict between a mother and daughter. A mother tries to live her life through her daughter and her daughter rebels. The prominent theme of this short story would seem to be "unfulfilled dreams”. After losing everything in China, the mother of Jing Mei comes to America with the dream that Jing Mei will have it all: fame, fortune, and most of all success unlike herself. Little does she know, her dream will be short-lived. All Parents have dreams for their children. A lot of parents want their children to succeed in life and push them to do so. Some parents want their children to be just like them, but most of the time parents push their children to do things that they were never capable of doing. There are some children who listen and do as their parents say but there are some who choose to be their own person and follow their own paths, not those of their parents, like Jing Mei. Young children want to follow dreams of their parents, it is not until they get older when some realize it is not for them and begin to make t...
In Stevie Cameron’s essay “Our Daughters, Ourselves,” she proclaims “ We tell our bright, shining girls that they can be anything: firefighters, doctors, policewoman, lawyers, scientists, soldiers, athletes, artists. What we don't tell them, yet, is how hard it will be. Maybe, we say to ourselves, by the time they’re older it will be easier for them than it was for us.” My parents raised my sisters and I very congruous with this view. They would always tell us that we could do or be anything we wanted when we got older. However, contrary to Cameron’s apprehension on the matter, my parents always told us how difficult it would be straight from the beginning. They told us how financially strenuous becoming a doctor would be. They told us how
It has become evident, more so in our day and age, that children often feel burdened by the expectations that one’s parents have. Blinded by their own pretences, parents pressure their children to follow a path which they themselves think is best. As seen in “The Boat” by Alistair MacLeod, the narrator endures a tremendous amount of pressure from his parents. In comparison to my own life, my parents also put a lot of pressure on me because they want me to be successful. However, I find that the pressure exerted by my parents onto me is not helpful at all. To start, pressure often leads to stress, which then leads to long term complications such as anxiety and depression. Ever since I was young, my parents have wanted me to pursue a career in medicine. I was not very happy as it was not a field that I found
Our mothers have played very valuable roles in making us who we are and what we have become of ourselves. They have been the shoulder we can lean on when there is no one else to turn to. They have been the ones we can count on when there is no one else. They have been the ones who love us for who we are and forgive us when no one else wouldn’t. In Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds,” the character Jing-mei experiences being raised by a mother who has overwhelming expectations for her daughter, which causes Jing-mei to struggle with who she wants to be.
... to try it. Even if the parents think they know what is best for the child, it is for the child to decide what will make them happy, and successful in life. You must enjoy what you are doing to be successful in it.
to choose their future. Starting from success, family and their individuality has been taken. Furthermore,
"My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America" (491). This ideology inspired Jing-mei’s mother to work hard to create a better life for herself and her family in a new country. The search of the American dream exerts a powerful influence on new arrivals in the United States. However, realizing that they may not achieve the dream of material success and social acceptance, parents tend to transfer that burden to their children. It is a burden where dreams usually fall short of expectations.
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.
“Two Kinds” takes place in San Francisco during the 1950’s when a large immigration movement was taking place. Tan begins the story by taking the role of the innocent child that all readers can relate with. You can see a mental picture of Tan’s mother poking and repeating the Chinese words “Ni-Kan, You Watch!” We immediately feel attached and sorry for Tan, being the daughter of an unruly mother. Tan wrote what many of us felt growing up with overbearing parents who expected the world out of us, when we just wanted to go outside and play with the other kids. In a sense we were mentally attached with Tan as she is compared to child actors who she cannot possible compete with. Tan feels as though her mother doesn’t take her own opinions and worries to heart, rather she feels her mother is only concerned about Tan becoming famous so that her mother will be better off. These strong emotions that we feel from Tan also spark something inside most readers to immediately jump on the side of Tan rather than see past these disguised attempts of motivation. Later on in “Two Kinds” Tan’s mother comments on her rugged hair, saying that she “look like Negro-Chinese.” Tan’s emotions come out as she says to herself “as if I did this on purpose.” This small line in the story makes a large impact as we can see in our minds a mother dragging her child into the bathroom washing her hair out and yelling at her for something that the child could not control. In a sense, Tan is almost pulling out our se...
The story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan is about a mother and daughter who have strong conflicting ideas about what it means to have a sense of self. This may be partly due to the mother growing up in China, which is a very different culture than the American culture where endless opportunities are available to anyone who wants to pursue them. Jing-mei's mother wants her daughter to be the best, a prodigy of sorts, and to have the kind of life, full of hopes and dreams that she did not have. In the beginning of the story Jing-mei liked the idea of becoming a prodigy however, the prodigy in her became impatient. "If you don't hurry up and get me out of here, I'm disappearing for good." It warned. "And then you'll always be nothing" (500). After disappointing her mother several times Jing-mei started to detest the idea of becoming a prodigy. The idea Jing-mei's mother had for her to become a prodigy was too much pressure for a small child and was something that Jing-mei was clearly not ready to be. As a result the pressure that her mother laid upon her only made Jing-mei rebel against her mother and she resisted in giving her best. Jing-mei did this because she only wanted her mother's love and acceptance for who she was not only what she could become. Furthermore, Jing-mei's point of view of being the kind of person that one can be proud of was very different from her mother's point of view.
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.
In her short story "Two Kinds," Amy Tan utilizes the daughter's point of view to share a mother's attempts to control her daughter's hopes and dreams, providing a further understanding of how their relationship sours. The daughter has grown into a young woman and is telling the story of her coming of age in a family that had emigrated from China. In particular, she tells that her mother's attempted parental guidance was dominated by foolish hopes and dreams. This double perspective allows both the naivety of a young girl trying to identify herself and the hindsight and judgment of a mature woman.
I feel the story; “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan has the most effective themes of the American dream, and the strain between mother and daughter. Jing-mei’s mother had a hard and difficult life in China and believes that with hard work and dedication you can be anything you want to be even a “prodigy.” Her mother forces to her attempt many different things, which Jing-mei resist because she feels like her mother is trying to change her. In the story Jing-mei states, “I won’t let her change me, I promised myself. I won’t be what I’m not.” Once Jing-mei goes back to the house to have the piano tuned a few months after her mother’s death, she realized that her mother was trying to give her something she never had (The American Dream.) When she re-played
My parents are my motivation to do better and to take every opportunity that I am given. Having a son in the family was very important to the Chinese culture and some traditional people would look down upon me for just being a girl, but my parents would never discourage me because they believe that everyone has potential. I always strive for a good future that my parents have always dreamed for me to have. They always place my future first and I could never thank them enough but to do my best and to make them proud. I understand the perception that a person should strive only for themselves but everyone has different approaches to their success. My parents are a big part of my motivation and, needless to say, they are a big part of my life. I could never imagine how life would be without my parents there to support me. Going to college and becoming successful pushes against the odds that were placed upon the daughter of two brave, ambitious
Most children seem to have ideas of what they would like to be when they grow up. The average person walking into any kindergarten class today would find future teachers, lawyers, doctors, nurses, astronauts, firefighters, and ballerinas; the list is endless. I never had the chance to even dream about what I wanted to be when I grew up and was given little chance to develop my own tastes and ideas towards this goal. I spent my childhood trying to be the good example to my younger brother and sister that my father demanded in his letters. All the while I was hoping and praying that my mother and father would get back together. The only thing I knew was being a mom and that is what I thought I wanted to be.
Sometimes we are put in a position where dreams seem impossible, whether it’s growing up in a broken home, or struggling with endless temptations. Opportunities vary depending on the situation. Wealthier children can often find more reinforcement in their daily lives, as well having the comfort of a stable home; often they know limitless doors that can open without effort. Teens that grow up poor don’t have the emotional support, making the situation harder for them to learn what life can lead to. So how can you stay on the path of your dreams when you have been misled countless times?