A Mother's Dream for her Daughter in Amy Tan's Two Kinds
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 parents can relate to expresses the frustrations that parents and children feel when obsession takes the place of nurturing.
In the beginning the young girl, Ni Kan is "just as excited" as her mother about the idea of becoming a prodigy (528). She imagines herself in different roles and believes that once she has achieved her status as a prodigy, her mother and father will adore her and she will "become perfect" (528). Ni Kan may feel that she will not be loved completely by her parents if she does not achieve the status her mother has set for her. It is natural for any young child to want to please a parent that has taken special interest in them. Ni Kan feels that her "prodigy side" is saying to her, "If you don't hurry up and get me out of here, I'm disappearing for good" (528). This may indicate that Ni Kan is becoming impatient about becoming a prodigy and she fears that if it does not happen soon she will "always be nothing" in her mother's eyes (528). Tan reinforces this feeling in the story...
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...aughter. In the story, Ni Kan stated that, "It was enough that she had offered it to me" and that it had made her "feel proud, as if it were a trophy I had won back" (535). The author also seems to use a piece of music to reflect how Ni Kan has felt about the conflict with her mother. After the death of her mother, Ni Kan looks through the music at the piano. She finds two pieces of music opposite each other in the book. The first piece is "Pleading Child" and the second is "Perfectly contented". These two titles suggest the emotions of Ni Kan as a child and her emotions now as an adult. These emotions are symbolically brought together when Ni Kan realizes "they were two halves of the same song" (535).
Works Cited:
Tan, Amy. "Two Kinds". Literature, Reading Reacting,Writing. 5th ed. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Heinle, 2004. 527-535.
"Unit 2: Reading & Writing About Short Fiction." ENGL200: Composition and Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 49-219. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
...Literature. Vol.1. Ed. Rossi, Patricia. Addison Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. New York: Copyright 1999. 2655-57.
Standing in the front of the mirror every day, people see themselves gradually become an adult from a little boy or a little girl. In “Childhood Dreams”, Jennifer Yee describes a story that her father and she used to spend a lot of happy time in the amusement park together, riding carousels and so on, but now she felt lost and uncertain about her life. The reason why the author felt she was smothered by the real world was probably because she found out that as growing older, life became more complex, and she did not have as much time as she used to have to enjoy life in the childhood, and therefore felt quite depressed about the way she was.
The daughter alludes to an idea that her mother was also judged harshly and made to feel ashamed. By the daughters ability to see through her mothers flaws and recognize that she was as wounded as the child was, there is sense of freedom for both when the daughter find her true self. Line such as “your nightmare of weakness,” and I learned from you to define myself through your denials,” present the idea that the mother was never able to defeat those that held her captive or she denied her chance to break free. The daughter moments of personal epiphany is a victory with the mother because it breaks a chain of self-loathing or hatred. There is pride and love for the women they truly were and is to be celebrated for mother and daughter.
Weston, Debbie. Infection Prevention and Control: Theory and Clinical Practice for Healthcare Professionals. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Print.
Jonnes, Jill. “South Bronx rising: the rise, fall, and resurrection of an American city.” New York: Fordham University Press. (1986).
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Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.
this was sometimes due to disappointment that Amy ended up after her mother expecting “And after seeing my mother’s disappointed face once again, something inside of me began to die. I hated the tests, they raised hopes and failed expectations.” This quote illustrates the struggles of never being good enough for her mother. Her self-esteem is what died inside. This example shows the mother’s intense fantasy for perfection. Later on, the mother convinces Jing-mei to take piano lessons with a neighbor who is a retired piano teacher, Mr. Chong. Mr. Chong referred to himself as “Beethoven” which shows how Jing-mei is surrounded by the pressure of becoming a prodigy … Those hopes and expectations were the leading causes of the conflict between Amy and mother.
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Roberts, Edgar V., and Robert Zweig, Editors. Literature: An Introduction to Read and Writing. 5th Compact ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 226. Print.
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.
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