How Does Amy Tan Use Situational Irony In Two Kinds

Many times, immigrants seek the “American Dream” for opportunities and success through hard work and dedication. In her short story “Two Kinds,” Amy Tan portrays a mother searching for her daughter’s talent by pressuring her with different activities. With high expectations from the mother, Tan shows the conflicting views between the mother and daughter. In the story, Jing-mei, the daughter, shows disrespect by being lazy and rebellious to her mother. Amy Tan uses point of view, symbolism, and situational irony to illustrate Jing-mei and her mother’s views of high expectations and the “American Dream.”

In the story, the point of view is told in first person. Jing-mei narrates the story from her views and opinions. Due to this point of view, Tan elucidates the idea of high expectations that Jing-mei’s mother burdened her with. An example of this would be in the beginning of the story when her mother stated that Jing-mei had promise in becoming a prodigy. “‘Of course you can be prodigy, too,’ my mother told me when I was nine. ‘You can be best anything. What does Auntie Lindo know? Her daughter, she is only best

tricky’” (382). Jing-mei was just as excited as her mother about the idea that she one day would be a prodigy. “In fact, in the beginning, I was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so. I pictured this prodigy part of me as many different images, trying each one on for size” (383). Jing-mei’s perspective encourages the idea of the “American Dream”; her mother’s high expectations and harsh authority makes Jing-mei unmotivated to fulfill her mother’s desires of becoming a child prodigy. She claimed that her mother was being too harsh on her for comparing her to a Chinese girl on The Ed Sullivan Show, displaying her laziness. “‘Why don’t you like me the way I am? I’m not a genius! I can’t play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn’t go on TV if you paid me a million dollars!’ I cried” (385). Hence, the point of view shows Jing-mei’s view of her being a prodigy and her indirect view of the “American Dream” by being disrespectful and stubborn.
Tan’s added touch of symbolism, with Jing-mei’s first person perspective reinforces the type of daughter Jing-mei’s mother wants her to be. When Jing-mei reciprocated sorely to her mother’s statement, her mother slapped her. “‘Who ask you be genius?’ she shouted. ‘Only ask you be your best. For you sake. You think I want you be genius? Hnnh! What for! Who ask you! So ungrateful,’ I heard her mutter in Chinese, ‘If she had as much talent as she has temper, she would be famous now’” (385). Her mother’s broken English obviously symbolizes her immigration to America and wanting the best for her family. After watching The Ed Sullivan Show, the Chinese girl that played the piano on the show fascinated Jing-mei’s mother which supplied her with the idea of making Jing-mei into a piano prodigy. She signs Jing-mei up for piano classes with Mr. Chong, a deaf, retired piano teacher who lived on the first floor of their apartment building. Jing-mei takes advantage of his disabilities and becomes undisciplined in playing the piano. Her mother signs her up for a talent show that Jing-mei thought she was prepared for, but played awfully during her performance. Later in the story, Jing-mei, in her adolescent angst, stated that she wished she was dead like her mother’s babies in China. This statement silenced her mother and terminated her piano lessons. For her thirtieth birthday, her mother offered her the piano as a sign of forgiveness for her overwhelming childhood. “For after our struggle at the piano, she never mentioned my playing again. The lessons stopped, the lid to the piano was closed, shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams. So she surprised me. A few years ago, she offered to give me the piano, for my thirtieth birthday. I had not played in all those years. I saw the offer as a sign of forgiveness, a tremendous burden removed” (390). The piano symbolizes hard work, effort, and the “American Dream.” At the end of the story, Jing-mei finds out that the piano pieces that she played, “Pleading Child” and “Perfectly Contented” were two halves of the same song. These two songs symbolizes Jing-mei’s unhappy childhood to her adulthood , where she realizes to be perfectly contented. The concept of symbolism portrays Jing-mei’s changes in her life as she was growing up and her efforts to achieve the “American Dream.”
Lastly, Tan uses situational irony in addition with symbolism to even further portray her message of the “American Dream.” Tan utilizes situational irony to depict the conflicts and relationship between Jing-mei and her mother. In the story, Jing-mei was excited of the idea that she was going to be a child prodigy with fame and success. As the story progresses, Jing-mei was overwhelmed her mother kept pestering her with different activities to prove that she is a genius. “‘Just like you,” she said. ‘Not the best. Because you not trying.’ She gave a little huff as she let go of the sound dial and sat down on the sofa” (385). This quote is ironic because Jing-mei wanted to be a prodigy in the beginning, but her mother knows that she isn’t trying. Her laziness and stubbornness represses the idea of becoming a genius. In this manner, Tan uses situational irony to express the conflicts between Jing-mei and her mother and her mother’s high expectations.
In her short story “Two Kinds,” Amy Tan uses point of view, symbolism, and situational irony to very well represent the idea of high expectations and the “American Dream” through the example of Jing-mei becoming a prodigy.

She uses Jing-mei’s point of view to show her opinion on her being a prodigy which allows the reader to understand what she and her mother thinks about. Tan also uses the concept of symbolism to provide Jing-mei’s substantial change from the beginning through the end. Finally, Tan uses situational irony to highlight the opposing conflicts between her and her mother’s expectations. Through her message of the “American Dream,” Tan distinctly allows the readers to understand the meaning of respect and success by giving the idea of being one’s true self whether it has to do with generational differences or the belief of the “American

Dream.”