In the short story, "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, a Chinese mother and daughter are at odds with each other. The mother pushes her daughter to become a prodigy, while the daughter (like most children with immigrant parents) seeks to find herself in a world that demands her Americanization. This is the theme of the story, conflicting values. In a society that values individuality, the daughter sought to be an individual, while her mother demanded she do what was suggested. This is a conflict within itself. The daughter must deal with an internal and external conflict. Internally, she struggles to find herself. Externally, she struggles with the burden of failing to meet her mother’s expectations. Being a first-generation Asian American, I have faced the same issues that the daughter has been through in the story. "My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America" (491). This ideology inspired Jing-mei’s mother to work hard to create a better life for herself and her family in a new country. The search of the American dream exerts a powerful influence on new arrivals in the United States. However, realizing that they may not achieve the dream of material success and social acceptance, parents tend to transfer that burden to their children. It is a burden where dreams usually fall short of expectations. In the story, the mother’s belief in this sentiment gave her hope for her daughter to become a prodigy. Therefore, the weight of the dream is left on the first-generation. The belief of endless possibilities is set upon first-generation Americans and Americans alike. From the beginning of the story, the daughter states that “America was where all my mother’s hopes lay” (491). The mother has the be... ... middle of paper ... ...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.
America was not everything the mothers had expected for their daughters. The mothers always wanted to give their daughters the feather to tell of their hardships, but they never could. They wanted to wait until the day that they could speak perfect American English. However, they never learned to speak their language, which prevented them from communicating with their daughters. All the mothers in The Joy Luck Club had so much hope for their daughters in America, but instead their lives ended up mirroring their mother’s life in China. All the relationships had many hardships because of miscommunication from their different cultures. As they grew older the children realized that their ...
Woo cleans the house herself and no longer has a housekeeper. With the money she saved, she hired Mr. Chong, an ancient piano teacher, who can barely hear and whose eyes are too dulled to tell when Jing-mei messes up. He is so genuine that Jing-mei feels guilty and picks up the basic skills, but she is so bent on not pleasing her mother that she continues to purposefully lack in her efforts. She hates the piano. She hates the fact that her mother is shaping her identity. She hates that her mother forces it upon her. She hates that it's everything she isn’t: disciplined, elegant, and most of all controlled. Jing-mei wants to be who she wants to be, and with the piano around, she only continues to be who her mother wants her to be, but she can not tell her mother this. She is supposed to play a piece called “Pleading Child” which is a “simple, moody piece that sounded more difficult than it was”. Even though she had not practiced and didn't know the piece, she played anyway. Halfway through, she began to realize how awful she was. The silence that followed her performance and her parent’s disappointed looks unfolded the undeniable truth, Jing-mei was not a piano
... her own person and wanting only to be accepted for who she is and not who she could be. Even though the argument was never discussed it still haunted Jing-mei. That is why Jing-mei was surprised when her mother offered her the piano for her thirtieth birthday, she took it as a sign of forgiveness.
Amy Tan’s ,“Mother Tongue” and Maxine Kingston’s essay, “No Name Woman” represent a balance in cultures when obtaining an identity in American culture. As first generation Chinese-Americans both Tan and Kingston faced many obstacles. Obstacles in language and appearance while balancing two cultures. Overcoming these obstacles that were faced and preserving heritage both women gained an identity as a successful American.
The American Dream can mean a number of different things to number of different people. Over the years this ideal has evolved and its definition will continue to change for many more years to come. What has not changed is the desire to achieve this dream. For decades now, people from all over the world have immigrated to the United States with hopes of obtaining this dream. However it seems that, to many immigrants the American dream has a very different and more modest definition. To many foreigners it means having the basic necessities in life and giving their children opportunities and life they ever had. Immigration can be a good and a bad thing. On one hand the overall standard of living is better but on the other hand it is almost inevitable that the family, especially the children, will lose some of their culture as they Americanize and assimilate. This is partially the reason why the mothers of The Joy Luck Club continue to have the Joy Luck Club meetings. Even though they are now in America, they want to make sure their daughters are exposed to and maintain the Chinese culture. Mother/ daughter relationships are a large component in Amy Tan’s award winning novel, The Joy Luck Club.
English is an invisible gate. Immigrants are the outsiders. And native speakers are the gatekeepers. Whether the gate is wide open to welcome the broken English speakers depends on their perceptions. Sadly, most of the times, the gate is shut tight, like the case of Tan’s mother as she discusses in her essay, "the mother tongue." People treat her mother with attitudes because of her improper English before they get to know her. Tan sympathizes for her mother as well as other immigrants. Tan, once embarrassed by her mother, now begins her writing journal through a brand-new kaleidoscope. She sees the beauty behind the "broken" English, even though it is different. Tan combines repetition, cause and effect, and exemplification to emphasize her belief that there are more than one proper way (proper English) to communicate with each other. Tan hopes her audience to understand that the power of language- “the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth”- purposes to connect societies, cultures, and individuals, rather than to rank our intelligence.
In the United States there is an idea many pursue called the American dream, which differs from person to person. The American dream according to americanradioworks.publicradio.org is “a revolutionary notion: each person has the right to pursue happiness, and the freedom to strive for a better life through hard work and fair ambition”. Yet it has been said there is no real definition of American dream, instead it merely proves that it has an unconscious influence in American mentality (Ştiuliuc 1). The American dream is different for each person because everyone yearns for things that will they hope will in return make them happy. Whatever that may be, each person goes through different struggles to obtain what they want. According to Frederic Carpenter, the American dream “has never been defined exactly, and probably never can be. It is both too various and too vague” (3). The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse depicts the different interpretations on what the American dream actually is through the opinions and actions of Hector Esperanza, Efren Mendoza and Mrs. Calhoun.
For many of us growing up, our mothers have been a part of who we are. They have been there when our world was falling apart, when we fell ill to the flu, and most importantly, the one to love us when we needed it the most. In “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, it begins with a brief introduction to one mother’s interpretation of the American Dream. Losing her family in China, she now hopes to recapture part of her loss through her daughter. However, the young girl, Ni Kan, mimics her mother’s dreams and ultimately rebels against them.
In “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan and “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara both protagonists have to make choices on how to live their lives in society. In “Two Kinds”, the subject matter are mothers who were born in China want their daughters born in America to follow their Chinese heritage and use American predictions to become successful. The story line is Jing Mei’s mother wants her to become a piano prodigy. Jing-Mei wants to live her own life and not let her mother have control over it. The historical background is when Chinese immigration began toward the end of the 19th century. The majority of Chinese immigrants came to San Francisco. In “The Lesson” the subject matter is wealth is not equally distributed in society. The story line is when Sylvia realizes the inequality that is happening in the world. Sylvia accepts it and isn’t sure where she stands in society. The historical background is during the 1950’ s-1960 the Civil Rights Movement was created to stop discrimination in the United States. In “Two Kinds” the mother and daughter relationship is unbalanced. The mother, Suyuan, believes Jing Mei can accomplish the American dream and become successful. In “The Lesson”, the story focuses on poverty and wealth in the world. Miss Moore wants Sylvia to fight against the inequalities and improve her status in life. An observation of the way Jing-Mei, the protagonist in “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, and Sylvia, the protagonist of “The Lesson” are both struggling to fit in society and wanting acceptance.
“‘Pleading Child’ was shorter was shorter and slower, ‘Perfectly Contented’ was longer but faster. And after I had played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song” (Tan 6). Throughout Jing-Mei’s childhood she was forced into many different activities so that she could become a prodigy. Jing-Mei finally gave up and refused to be a prodigy any longer. As an adult her mother gifts her the piano that she once suffered over. Jing-Mei begins to play songs that are reminiscent of her childhood. “Pleading Child” was shorter and slower, ‘Perfectly Contented” was longer but faster. And after I had played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song” (Tan
In conclusion, from the short story I believe that assumption, attitudes and the connection between Amy and her mother run through most of immigrant family in America. living your dreams is much better than living in someone’s dream, therefore, I believe that Amy was right in a certain way for fighting for her own dreams and hopes. However, Amy mother was trying to help her daughter to live the American dreams that she dreamt about. But at the same time she wanted to impact the Chinese culture to her
When people think of the American Dream, they usually picture a wealthy family who lives in a big house with a white picket fence. They see the husband being the breadwinner for the wife and kids, by supporting and providing the best way that he can. They also picture the wife catering to her husband 's every need. The protagonist Janie Crawford lives this American Dream but soon comes to a realization that this life isn’t her destiny. Crawford learns that love does not involve money but rather being joyful. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie breaks the American Dream myth by living a non-traditional life through belief, happiness, and freedom.
“America is the land of opportunity. If I work hard enough, I can be whatever I want to be. If I truly want something, I can get it. I will work hard and grow up to be whatever it is that makes me happy. The sky is the limit. These statements portray the American dream. Though the American dream seems a little more difficult to attain when the American dreaming is a member of a minority group living in poverty”. This quotation by author, Philip M. Deutsch thoroughly sums up the entirety of my paper. Deutsch starts out by listing several somewhat cliché statements summarizing the classic American’s view of the American dream; the hope of starting with nothing and ending up on top. However, he continues by revealing that the American dream is not as easily made a reality for those from other countries. This paper explores why it is easier for those born in America to attain prosperity in the United States. This paper will discuss the reasons immigrants have a harder time achieving the
Chinese Americans often had high hopes for what American could provide for them. In an article about the Asian American dream they said “The Asian American dream mirrored the traditional American dream: the overwhelming desire both to escape economic, social, and political hardship and to achieve a level of prosperity and success impossible in their homeland. Asian immigrants, like other immigrants, saw America as the land of opportunity and fortune. However, for them the American dream was divided into two distinct promises for the future. Some saw America as a place where they could earn money to support a family and future back in their home country, while others saw America as a place to secure a new, prosperous identity, both personal and national. Both of these promises were difficult to realize”(The Asian American Dream). This quote was enlightening because it showed the mindset of any Asia immigrant coming to America.
There are very many ways that Chinese and American cultures, cultural values, etc, contribute to the conflicts in "Two Kinds". The two cultures contribute to this by making the narrator do something because her mom wants her to do it. The mom values having straight A's and being a prodigy overall. She won't let her daughter be anything less than the best. Also, Her mother wants her to be better than what she was and to be able to do better in life than how she is doing currently. Their cultural values make it difficult for the narrator to do what she wants and have fun because her mother is always trying to get her to do things that she doesn't want to do. The more things that the mother forces upon her the more grief that the narrator has.