Comparing Everyday Use And Amy Tan's Short Story

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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. Dee was never …show more content…

For example, Dee had refused to be timid and was determine to finish her education and have a better lifestyle, while Jing-mei had refused to follow her mother’s expectations. Dee’s mother had always remember that her daughter, Dee, “she was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts . . .her eyelids would not flicker for minutes at a time”( Walker, Online). Her mother and sister, Maggie, were more timid and often follow the will of others. However, Dee was strong-will about making her own decisions; for example, she chooses to go to college and live in the city and never accepts no as an answer. Jing-mei refused to learn to play the piano and told her mother, “Why don’t you like me the way I am? I am not a genius”’ (Tan, pg 243). She was upset that her mother had never accepted her for who she is. For this reason, Jing-mei came to a breaking point because she was tired of her mother’s persistence of her to become a prodigy, after being told she must learn to play the piano. Jing-mei is similar to Dee by refusing to follow her mother’s expectations of her, like Dee who had refused to accept her old living situation. Therefore, they choose to make their own decision on how they want to live their

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