Two Kinds By Nido Qubein: Literary Analysis

“Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” This famous quote by Nido Qubein means where you are right now in life does not determine what your future holds. From the characters experiences in the 3 stories this quote can be proven true.
Out of all the 3 stories that we read, June from “Two Kinds” definitely had the easiest life. “You could become rich. You could become famous.”. June’s mom would always be on June about being the best at something. June felt like she had to be the best only to impress her mom so she became average and lazy and did not make much of herself. “I am not a genius, I cannot play the piano.”. Unfortunately June gave up on herself completely and took everything for granted. Even though the other characters did not have as much tools and support to become successful, June ended up succeeding the least. From seeing where June ended up compared to the other stories, it is easy to tell that someone's circumstances right now do not determine where they can go.

In the story “Kaffir Boy” there was a boy named mark that saw horrible things as a child.

“You're mother and father have been at it again.”. Mark was one who had to frequently witness brutal things done to his mom by his own dad. Throughout this little boy's childhood he never had any big supporters. His only motivation was his mother and she was getting beaten for saying he should get an education. “I vowed to never go to school because school was a waste of time.”. With the distractions from the gangs and his dad going against school mark did not know what to believe. Following his mother's word mark left the gangs and joined school. Comparing the lives of Mark and June there was a lot more that Mark had to go through. On Mark's side he had to make up his mind and let himself leave the gangs to go to school while June’s mom made the decision for her to find success but she decided not

too.
Nicholas Gage from the story “The teacher who changed my life.” faced the worst obstacles out of all the characters. “I secretly resented him for not getting the whole family out of greece early enough to save my mother.”. The loss that Nicholas faced was something none of the other characters had to face. When Nicholas was forced to leave Greece they could not save his mother and she died. He then came to America with no one else but his dad. “I wouldn’t have became an investigative reporter and foreign correspondent.”. In school Nicholas had a teacher that supported him and flipped his life around. This led him to set a goal and fulfill his dream. Nicholas in the end found success from the support from his teacher and choosing the right path.
From the evidence in the stories you can tell that the quote is true. In “Two Kinds” June had the easiest life. She did not have much to worry about other than going through with what her mom wanted her to be. She had the motivation to become a “prodigy” but she chose to be average. On the other side the other 2 boys had to persevere through more things. They had more distractions and dealt with more problems. These boys found the right path and took a big advantage at the opportunities they had and did not take it for granted. Where you are right now in life does not determine where you will end up. Most of the time when someone is lower it will force them to want more in their life.