Amy Tan Two Kinds Analysis

The most heartbreaking way to destroy a precious relationship between mothers and daughters is when each party says something insensitive and callous, as described in Amy Tan’s story Two Kinds, “There are only two kinds of daughters. Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!’” to which the daughter, Jing Mei, responds, “Then I wish I’d never been born! I wish I were dead! Like them” (294-295). Although the mother’s words are unkind, Jing Mei ultimately crosses the line, thus creating a fracture in their relationship that she believes will never be mended. In Jing Mei’s child perception, she believes that because her mother stops pushing her to play piano

Is a perfect mother someone who is overworked and thus absent or someone overbearing and a perfectionist or easily persuaded and thus unfair? In the stories: Two Kinds by Amy Tan, I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen, and Everyday Use by Alice Walker, the notion of reconciliation between mothers and daughters is explored. Forgiveness made through both daughters and mothers being able to understand and accept the reasoning behind a mother’s actions, which, as young girls, the daughters unfortunately misunderstood.

In the story Two Kinds by Amy Tan, Jing Mei’s mother’s obsession with making Jing Mei a prodigy is the cause of destruction in their relationship but, once Jing Mei begins to understand her mother’s reasoning, the enabler for their reconciliation. For instance, Jing Mei struggles with trying to play the role of the perfect daughter while trying to be true to her self, so when her mother pushing her to playing the piano, Jing Mei asks, “Why don’t you like me the way I

For example, when Emily is young, she gets really ill and is sent to a clinic where she learns not to make friends; as she says, “They don’t like you to love anybody here,” and she is also kept separated from her mother, because the clinic believed kids would want to leave and this makes the goodbyes easier (284). Not being able to physically or verbally communicate with her daughter is a large reason why Emily’s mother struggles to reconcile with the daughter she barely recognizes anymore. Emily’s mother only feels distant and helpless to the circumstances, which is causing her to lose her daughter’s love. In addition, Emily’s mother encourages Emily to audition for the talent show and she is surprised when seeing her perform: “Was this Emily? The control, the command, the convulsing and deadly clowning, the spell,” she thinks, “[Emily] is so lovely. Why did you want me to come in at all? Why were you concerned? She will find her way” and even when she realizes her daughter is giving up on school, she believes, “Let her be. So all that is in her will not bloom––but in how many does it? There is still enough left to live by. Only help her know…that she is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless before the iron” (285-287). Her mother is stunned by the changes in Emily that she never noticed before; the changes she did not have a