Mother Tongue By Amy Tan Essay

In Amy Tan’s pieces “Two kinds” and “Mother Tongue” she tells of two different stories. These stories of which can be seen as different and in many ways are. However, they also share similarities. There are many things to take away from each that will change the idea of how they only share similarities or how they only share differences. Coming from my perspective, the two tell different stories but also give off the sense that there are similarities to be picked out. This is what I will analyze and categorize accordingly.

To begin, coming from Tan’s fictional story “Two Kinds” she talks about a young girl, Jing Mei, going through a discouraging time. This time of which Jing Mei’s mother was looking to transform her into a child prodegy. This

idea surfaced after her mother moved to America, where she believed anything could happen. Through various efforts and countless fails to succeed in her mother eyes, Jing could no longer comply. The weight that accompanied her mothers expectations was too much for Jing to tackle. Thus, eventually leading to the rebellion that she had been expecting. This long awaited rebellious phase had no choice but to surface as Jing’s mothers expectations would not come to a hault. On the other hand we have Tan’s story “Mother Tongue”. In this reading, Tan discusses her use of language. Tan had gone through much time before coming to the conclusion behind the language she uses with her mother. Tan begins to realize the difference between her formal, educational language and the opposing language that is used with her mother. Both speak of the english language, but without knowing
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what to properly categorize the language that her and her mother use, Tan labels it as “Broken english”.
In addition, the two stories may seem hard to sort out but the difficulty degrades with close attention.

The writing style in “Two Kinds” is different from that of “Mother Tongue”. Tan can be seen as realist in “Mother Tongue”, accepting the truth with no intent on trying to cover up what the reality is. And by this I mean she can accept things as they are. In the opening lines to “Mother Tongue” Tan mentions “I am not a scholar of English or literature. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country or others.” (P. 76). She begins by being blunt with the audience, informing them on the knowledge to her capabilities. In a different manner, coming from “Two Kinds” Tan shares “I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!” (P. 57). Here there is a sense of forced acceptance being portrayed. As Jing attempts at becoming someone her mother envisioned her to be, she became her own ventriloquist. She went on, attempting to be someone that she in fact was not, stringing herself along through the endless expectations. This lead Jing Mei’s mother to face the reality of things. Her mother was indenial of Jing’s capabilities and attempted to force skill upon her. This gives off an opposing feel from “Mother Tongue” where abilities were established from the start. This is one major difference distinguished between the two

stories.
Furthermore, Tans stories also share similarites. Each of her texts hold a common rebellious theme. In “Two Kinds” Jing Mei begins to rebel against her mother after having undergone many mental obstacles. As mentioned in the story “It was not the only dissapointment my mother felt in me. In the years that followed, I failed her many times, each time asserting my
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will, my right to fall short of expectations” (P. 57). This quote delivers her upcoming rebellion. Jing Mei refused to continue following what her mother wanted and began her own path of dissapointment. In “Mother Tongue” Tan mentions “Fortunately, I happen to be rebellious in nature and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions made about me. I became an English major my first year in college, after being enrolled as premed. I started writing nonfiction as a freelancer the week after I was told by my former boss that writing was my worst skill and that should hone my talents toward account management.” (P. 58). This quote, almost explaining itself, tells how Tan rebelled against the traditional fallacy thrown upon her. She refused to be seen as “normal” in the sense of following through with the stereotype and in turn followed a different path. This is one key similarity that brings the stories close together.
In conclusion, Amy Tan’s pieces “Two Kinds” and “Mother Tongue” tell two different stories. The stories are different in the style of writing. As Tan moves through “Two Kinds” she mentions how Jing Mei has to hold her true self back and make way to the expectations of her mother. This does not go on with easy will. Her mother ultimately has to accept Jing’s capabilities. And in her story “Mother Tongue” Tan gives off her developed acceptance as opposed to “Two Kinds”. She understands her limitations in the art of language and does not seek to hide herself, she can accept her skills. In spite of the factors that keep the two stories apart from being similar, the similarites cannot be overseen. The stories share a common theme of rebellion. This rebellion can be seen through Jing Mei going against her mother and Amy Tan fighting the standard belief of having to choose a career in math or engineering. Though the topic of similarities and differences within these texts can be debated, one cannot oversee what is
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already set out in place. Through careful analysis, comparing and contrasting can be determined with ease.