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In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” and Amy Tan’s short story “Two Kinds”, two mothers use different approaches to raising children try to help the daughters succeed. One uses a more strict style to keep their child on track. Where the other mother uses a much more laid back way of raising her children. In “Two Kinds”, the mother focuses on her child succeeding because she has risked everything to give her child the best chance to succeed. All her experiences have affected how she raises her child. After the traumatic deaths of her twin daughters and husband, she created a fresh start, and this experience shaped her into the mother she is now: overly strict and overbearing. As good as the mothers intentions are, her daughter Jing-mei
Not too long ago, grandparents will tell family stories to their grandchildren. Parents will also tell their children family stories. Those family stories will contain family history, struggle and heroism of family members. Also, those stories will pass down the family values and traditions to the next generations. Now a days, most parents read stories from books to their children. Family story telling is an almost lost tradition because it is not practiced anymore. In her short story “Everyday Use”, Alice walker illustrates the importance of keeping a tradition alive other than preserving it.
Jing-mei finds her cultural identity when she becomes and adult. One half of her wants to be that perfect, obedient child that her mother wants. The other half wants to have attention from her mother. She is that “Pleading Child” and “Perfectly Contented” daughter. Although Jing-mei and her mother’s culture clashed, she was able to find who she really
An interesting thing about Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is the fact that it seems to be told from the Mama’s eyes, rather than from one of the, arguably, main characters. This only allows the reader to see Mama’s bias in the entire situation. Because of this bias between her children, the reader can see the stark contrast of the two sisters. Alice tries to portray the importance of embracing heritage and the vulgarity of disregarding the purpose of things for one’s own pleasure.
Alice Walker's novel, The Color Purple, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982. This novel, in addition to her short story collections and other novels, continue to touch the emotions of a vast audience. This ability, according to critics, has "solidified her reputation as one of the major figures in contemporary literature" (Gwynn 462). Born to sharecroppers in Eatonton, Georgia, in 1944, Alice Walker's life was not always easy. Her parents strived to provide a home at a time when political and social unrest were at their highest. According to critic Barbara Christian, "[T]hat oppression fosters a sustaining spirit that appears in Walker's writing"
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.
"Two Kinds" is about Jing-mei and her rebellion against her mother. Jing-mei grew up in a small Chinatown. While the story mainly focuses on her and her mother, her father is also a part of her family. The story starts off with Jing-mei and her mother watching Shirley Temple, a star in the 1930's. While watching, her mother gained an aspiration of making Jing-mei be the best she can possibly be. At first, Jing-mei was excited about being a prodigy and worked to her hearts content.
Like in many families, there always seems to be that one child who is more talented and just better at everything. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, we see the story of a mother and her two very different daughters. The story focus on the different views both daughters have on the use of everyday things. In this short story, Walker seems to perfectly fit the description in relation to the two daughters, Dee and Maggie. Dee seems to be the gifted child whereas Maggie was not so lucky. Walker does an incredible job describing both characters. The purpose of this is to see the different traits, both daughters have through the mother’s thoughts and descriptions.
Parenting is one of the greatest honors, commitments, and trials a person will go through. It will test resolve, health, and even sanity but it can also provide the greatest sense of love and accomplishment in a person’s life. Whether a parent’s style is strict, laissez-faire, or somewhere in between, the choices made by parents for their children will leave their marks on the character and development of their children long into their lives. Amy Chua knew this. She also knew how dangerous it would be to her children’s future to raise them in a style that would leave them open to falling short of the opportunities they would start with due to her own, and her parents’, successes and she resolved not to allow this to happen on her watch (22). Although she has repeatedly, and sometimes correctly, been criticized for her parenting style, Amy Chua demonstrates throughout her book a definitively visible result and a love, though sometimes misconstrued, that is fully evident in all the dedication she has given to her daughters' development into outstanding people. Through exhibiting confidence in what her girls can achieve, maintaining great expectations of what they will accomplish, and most importantly devoting as much time as possible to directly raising the girls to be their best, Amy has shown that great love, coupled with great tenacity, given in a “Chinese mother” style, proved to make an enduring mark on her children’s development.
In the story "Everyday Use" the narrator is telling a story about her life and two daughters, who are named Dee and Maggie. The narrator is very strong willed, honest, compassionate and very concerned with the lives of her two daughters. Her daughter Dee is not content with her lifestyle and makes it hard on Maggie and the narrator. The narrator is trying to provide for her family the best way she can. The narrator is alone in raising the two daughters and later sends her daughter Dee to college. The longer the story goes on the more the narrator shows how intelligent and how much she loves her two daughters.
Everyday Use is a short story by Alice Walker that tells the story of a family torn apart by different views on heritage. Walker describes two sisters who are very different because of their views on heritage. Maggie is portrayed as a sweet, shy girl who loves her mother and cares very much about others; conversely, her sister Dee is described as a beautiful, but greedy girl who, through her selfish acts, creates distance between her and her family. Because of the way these characters appear, the reader can quickly infer that they are not at all close to one another due to one sister’s selfishness. By using these characters and the events they are involved in the author presents an important theme in the passage.
In Amy Tan’s, “Two Kinds”, Amy demonstrates that the American dream may be far from reality. In the story Jing- mei endures many tests and trials forced upon her by her mother, Mrs. Woo. In the story, Mrs. Woo sets unreasonable expectations for her daughter; hoping that one day they too can live the American dream. Amy Tan suggests that it is best for a person to find their own identity and not have one unwillingly forced upon them, no matter the circumstance.
“Two Kinds” by Amy Tan is about an immigrant family from China. The two main characters consist of a chinese mother named, Suyuan, and her American-born daughter, Jing Mei. For Suyuan, moving to America meant opportunities. She pushes her daughter, Jing Mei, into trying new activities in hopes of turning her into a child prodigy. Jing Mei becomes stubborn and resentful. Her attitude towards her mother becomes a protective wall against her struggle to change her. Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds”, depicts the cultural conflict that can arise between first-generation American children and their Chinese immigrant parents today.
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.
It is often the variant of a child’s up-bringing that determines their placement and views within society, the setting of time and place are a key factor in this as well. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Dee, a teenage, Afroamerican girl who was born and raised in a rural country town in the southern U.S. during the 1960’s was the product of a single mother, and through the help of the church Dee was able to go to school. Demographically and geographically, Ann Copeland’s character, Honey, from “The Bear’s Paw” opposes Dee in that she was a caucasian girl raised in Connecticut amidst the 1980’s. Both raised on the forefront of the, by present day standards, pre-modern era have been dealt a primary consumer society where traditional and modern
Being a parent is a full time job that by no means is easy. It takes a lot to raise a child. Usually there are many sacrifices the parent makes so their child has a better life and parents try to raise them in the best manner possible. In two different novels The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo Cela and The House of Bernarda Alba by Frederico Lorca, readers are introduced to two mothers who are anything but great parents. However, Bernarda is a better mother than Pascual’s mother because she was only doing what she thought was best for her daughter’s whereas Pascual’s mother didn’t always act in the best interest of her children. Raising children to become the adults the parents believe they are meant to be typically involves protecting