The story “Two Kinds” is based on a mother/daughter relationship told by the daughter in first person narrative. As seen through the daughter’s eyes the relationship is strained due to different views caused by a generation gap, different beliefs and cultures. The mother was born and raised in China and Ni Kan was raised in China town after her mother migrated to America in 1949. When her mother left China, she had to leave behind her parents, husband and twin daughters and through it all remained certain that America would provide her with opportunity’s that she didn’t have before. “But she never looked back with regret. There were so many ways for things to get better.” (pg. 821) Ni Kan could remember when she was 9 years old her mother
Ni Kan became angry when she heard this and replied to her mother “I’m not going to play anymore, Why Should I? I’m not a genius.” (pg. 827) Her rebellious words quickly turned into a shouting match between the two of them with Ni Kan shouting that she wished she had never been born and that she wished she were dead! Like them! Meaning her twin sisters. After hearing these words, her mother had reached her breaking point, her face went white and her body went limp. She walked away lifelessly into the other room. Seeing her mother’s spirit die that day did not stop Ni Kan from continuing to fail her mother over and over in the years that followed. She didn’t get straight A’s, become class president and dropped out of college. The disastrous recital was never spoken of again and Ni Kan never had the courage to ask her mother why she had given up hope. Ni Kan never did play the piano again. Even after her mother gave it to her on her thirtieth birthday. Although she felt a sense of relief that her mother had forgiven her she couldn’t find it in herself to sit down and play. Not until after her mother died and she had the Piano tuned for sentimental reasons. When Ni Kan opened the lid and touched the keys she realized that it was a very nice piano. The same music books were in the bench and when she opened the Schuman book to the piece she had played at the recital, it looked more difficult than she remembered. It was called “Pleading Child.” She played a few bars and was surprised at how quickly the notes came back to her. Ni Kan then noticed the piece on the right-hand side of the book and it was called “Perfectly Contended.” She tried playing this song as well and it turned out to be easy for her to play as well. She played them both a few times and realized that they were two halve of the same
Thru-out the centuries, regardless of race or age, there has been dilemmas that identify a family’s thru union. In “Hangzhou” (1925), author Lang Samantha Chang illustrates the story of a Japanese family whose mother is trapped in her believes. While Alice Walker in her story of “Everyday Use” (1944) presents the readers with an African American family whose dilemma is mainly rotating around Dee’s ego, the narrator’s daughter. Although differing ethnicity, both families commonly share the attachment of a legacy, a tradition and the adaptation to a new generation. In desperation of surviving as a united family there are changes that they must submit to.
The American-born daughters do not fathom the amount of pain that their mothers had experienced so they do not realize that their problems could be much worse. The daughters relate to their mothers in that they are all facing their greatest problems. No matter how trivial or significant problems may seem, to one it may be the worst they have experienced and to another it could be less worse than what they have experienced. The immigrant mothers grew up with much more pain than their daughters, therefore they have a thicker skin and are less ignorant. Since the daughters have grown up “swallowing more Coca-Cola than sorrow,” (Tan, 17) they experience pain from seemingly insignificant problems in comparison to their mother’s hardships. The mother’s good intentions and struggles are unrecognized by their daughters. Tan writes about this misfortune through describing an old Chinese woman immigrating to America in the beginning of the novel: “But when she arrived in the new country, the immigration officials pulled her swan away from her, leaving the woman fluttering her arms and with only one swan feather for a memory. And then she had to fill out so many forms she forgot why she had come and what she had left behind” (Tan, 17). This immigrant’s story represents the four Chinese-American immigrants and how their hopes and dreams were hit with reality when they came to America. For example, Lindo describes how America has certain secret rules that you must discover. "This American rules...Every time people come out from foreign country, must know rules. You not know, judge say, Too bad, go back. They not telling you why so you can use their way go forward. They say, Don’t know why, you find out yourself. But they knowing all the time. Better you take it, find out why yourself" (Tan, 94). Lindo obviously believes in
One type of effect the Chinese mothers’ expectations has in their relationship with their “Americanized” daughter is negative since the mothers are unable to achieve anything. An-Mei Hsu expects her daughter to listen and obey as the young ones do in Chinese culture, but instead receives a rebellious and stubborn daughter, “‘You only have to listen to me.’ And I cried, ‘But Old Mr. Chou listens to you too.’ More than thirty years later, my mother was still trying to make me listen’” (186-187). Instead of the circumstances improving, the mother is never able to achieve anything; her forcing and pushing her daughter to the Chinese culture goes to a waste. They are both similar in this sense because both are stubborn; the daughter learns to be stubborn through American culture and wants to keep herself the way she is, whereas the mother wants to remove this teaching from American culture and does not give u...
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.
The second and third sections are about the daughters' lives, and the vignettes in each section trace their personality growth and development. Through the eyes of the daughters, we can also see the continuation of the mothers' stories, how they learned to cope in America. In these sections, Amy Tan explores the difficulties in growing up as a Chinese-American and the problems assimilating into modern society. The Chinese-American daughters try their best to become "Americanized," at the same time casting off their heritage while their mothers watch on, dismayed. Social pressures to become like everyone else, and not to be different are what motivate the daughters to resent their nationality. This was a greater problem for Chinese-American daughters that grew up in the 50's, when it was not well accepted to be of an "ethnic" background.
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.
...by the wrong person. Only after the death of her mother can she let her guilt override her pride. Only after the death of her mother, when she can act on her own accord and not please her mother, does she truly play the piano. Their conflict has gone unsolved, and the mother has died believing that she was a failure as a parent. Throughout the daughter's childhood, both are trapped in their own selfish illusions. Their personalities clash, and neither is willing to compromise. It is unfortunate that neither can realize the extent to which they have damaged themselves individually and jointly. They are fundamentally the same, but, blinded by tenacity, neither realizes that "they are two halves of the same song."
...ies, she goes back to the piano and finds two songs. She begins to play “Pleading Child,” the song that caused the breaking point of her relationship with her mother. This song, with its fast and aggressive melody, best represents the mother’s aggressive attitude towards her daughter. Then Jing-mei plays the song next to “Pleading Child,” called “Perfectly Contented.” It turned out to be lighter and slower. It is a much happier song. Jing-mei’s determination to be herself, “Perfectly Contented,” corresponds with this song. “And after I played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song.” (499). Like the ying-yang and the songs, Jing-mei’s relationship with her mother may seem disastrous and apart, but together they share a strong bond that makes them whole. Even though the two disagree, like the songs, they form one beautiful song.
In the story “Two Kinds”, the author, Amy Tan, intends to make reader think of the meaning behind the story. She doesn’t speak out as an analyzer to illustrate what is the real problem between her and her mother. Instead, she uses her own point of view as a narrator to state what she has experienced and what she feels in her mind all along the story. She has not judged what is right or wrong based on her opinion. Instead of giving instruction of how to solve a family issue, the author chooses to write a narrative diary containing her true feeling toward events during her childhood, which offers reader not only a clear account, but insight on how the narrator feels frustrated due to failing her mother’s expectations which leads to a large conflict between the narrator and her mother.
Throughout the centuries, regardless of race or age, there have been dilemmas that identify a family’s thru union. In “Hangzhou” (1925), author Lang Samantha Chang illustrates the story of a Japanese family whose mother is trapped in her beliefs. While Alice Walker in her story “Everyday Use” (1944) presents the readers with an African American family whose dilemma is mainly revolving around Dee’s ego, the narrator’s daughter. Although exibiting different ethnicity, the reader should meditate that both families commonly share the attachment of a legacy, a tradition and the adaptation to a new generation.
..., and Boy Willie finally realizes the true power and significance of the piano, the conflict is resolved.
As the story unfolds, Tan suggests that the piano symbolizes different things. For Ni Kan, it is the unwanted pressure her mother inflicts upon. She argues, “Why don’t you like me the way I am? I’m not a genius! I can’t play the piano” (751). However, her mother sees it as a way for her daughter to become the best. Ultimately, the young girl decides to rebel against her mother’s wishes. During her piano lessons with Mr. Chong, her piano teacher, she learns easy ways to get out of practicing. Ni Kan discovers “that Old Chong’s eyes were too slow to keep up with the wrong notes [she] was playing” (751). As a result, Ni Kan performs miserably in a talent show where her parents and friends from the Joy Luck Club attend. Feeling the disapproval and shame from her mother, she decides to stop practicing the piano.
The most prominent concept that can be noticed in both stories is that both of the stories revolve around relationships that have been affected by ethnicity. In the story by Gish Jen, the most obvious relationship that suffers is between the mother and daughter. The Chinese immigrant grandmother, who is depicted as Natalie’s mother in the story and the narrator, has a very strong character due to strong instilled morals. For instance, she states that “creative” is not a word they talk about in China. Creativeness is linked with the connotations of being very accepting and flexible. By her stating that there is not Chinese word for “creative”, the author implicitly states that the culture is very rigid and strict. This rigidity in Grandmother’s character is also noted when she describes how she believes Sophie, the grandchild, should be raised. She promotes the idea of hitting Sophie. Although this may seem improper, it is a very common practice among nonindigenous people. The misbehaved child takes her clothes off, and the grandmother believes the only way to fix this problem is to hit her. The mother is against this punishment; this is the main source of tension within the relationship. Grandmother represents the old world. The new world or new generation mother d...
"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.
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.