two kinds introduction essay

A Summary and Analysis of Amy Tan’s ‘Two Kinds’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Two Kinds’ is a short story by the American author Amy Tan (born 1952), published as part of her book The Joy Luck Club in 1989. The story is about a young American girl born to Chinese parents; her mother pushes her to become a child prodigy, but the daughter resists.

A powerful tale about pushy parents and their children, ‘Two Kinds’ deserves some closer analysis to tease out its meaning and significance. First, though, here’s a quick recap of the story’s plot.

‘Two Kinds’: plot summary

The story is narrated in the first person by a Chinese-American woman, named Jing-mei, who is looking back on her upbringing in the United States. Her parents had emigrated to the US from China in 1949, and the narrator’s mother was convinced that, in America, anyone could become successful, rich, and famous.

She tells her daughter that she can become a child prodigy like the child firm star Shirley Temple, but when her mother takes her to have her hair curled like Temple’s, the result is a disaster and Jing-mei has to have her hair cut short like a boy’s. She longs to become a prodigy because she thinks that will make her perfect; if she fails to become one, she will be nothing.

Her mother next tries to turn Jing-mei into a fiercely intelligent girl who can match the feats of knowledge and memory achieved by other children, but the tests the mother sets her become more and more difficult. She feels bad for disappointing her mother, but when she catches sight of her own reflection in the mirror, she realises how strong she is, and decides to defy her mother, who eventually gives up trying to school her daughter into becoming a genius.

A few months later, her mother sees a Chinese girl playing the piano on the television, and makes her daughter start taking piano lessons. When Jing-mei confronts her mother about this, the mother denies trying to turn her daughter into a genius, claiming she just wants her to be the best she possibly can be. She is taught to play the piano by a retired neighbour, Mr Chong, who is deaf. Because he cannot hear the notes she is playing, the girl doesn’t bother to correct herself when she hits the wrong notes.

She is determined not to commit to it because her mother has pushed it so hard. When her mother enters Jing-mei into a talent competition, Jing-mei decides to sabotage it by not practising and performing badly. However, as she starts playing and hits the wrong notes, she longs for the performance to go well. Afterwards, her mother is ashamed by how badly she has done, and Jing-mei regrets throwing the performance away.

Two days later, however, the mother tries to force Jing-mei into resuming piano lessons. Her mother tells her that there are only ‘two kinds’ of daughters: those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind, and she insists on her daughter being the obedient kind. In response, Jing-mei says she wishes she wasn’t her mother’s daughter, or that she had died at birth like the children her mother had lost back in China. This stuns her mother, who stops trying to force her daughter to learn the piano.

Jing-mei tells us that, in the years that followed, she continually disappointed her mother, because she doesn’t share her view that she could be anything she wanted to be, but instead could ‘only be me’. When the narrator turns thirty, she is surprised when her mother offers to give her the piano as a birthday present. Even after all these years, her mother is convinced her daughter has a natural aptitude for music. Although Jing-mei doesn’t immediately take the piano off her parents, every time she sees it in their living room she feels proud.

At the end of the story, Jing-mei tells us that her mother recently died and she went round to the house to tune the piano. Opening it up, she finds the sheet music for the piece of music, ‘Pleading Child’, she had failed to play at the talent show. She notices that the piece opposite it in the book is called ‘Perfectly Contented’, and realises these are two halves of the same song.

‘Two Kinds’: analysis

‘Two Kinds’ is a story about the relationship between parents and their children, and what motivates a ‘pushy parent’ to encourage (or coerce?) their child into working hard to achieve something. Does the mother in the story have her daughter’s best interests at heart when she tries to make her learn the piano? Where does a parent’s well-meaning desire to see their child succeed spill over into interfering with the child’s desire not to do a particular thing?

These questions are given an extra twist by the fact that the narrator is Chinese-American, born in the US but to parents who have struggled to escape from Communist China (China became a Communist state in 1949, the same year Jing-mei’s parents fled the country, when Chairman Mao seized power) and who clearly believe in the American dream .

Jing-mei, however, does not share the immigrant’s view that America is a land where all dreams can come true, and her aspirations are lower but arguably more realistic: simply to do the best that she can and to be happy.

It is clear that Jing-mei’s mother is motivating her daughter to succeed partly because she wants her to have all the opportunities she never had as a child. She arguably feels it is her duty as a parent to push her daughter to become a prodigy for her own good. But she is also motivated by a desire to feel pride as a parent.

Is this pride, however, not merely the happiness derived from seeing one’s child flourishing, but something more personal and even egotistical? She feels she can vicariously enjoy her daughter’s success through her, as though she had somehow won the talent show herself.

This becomes obvious when Jing-mei overhears her mother boasting to a friend, Lindo Jong, about her daughter’s natural talent for music, and she realises that her mother is only making her learn the piano so she can brag to other mothers about how talented her daughter is. It is significant that, after the talent show, Jing-mei is disappointed that her mother doesn’t shout angrily at her when they get home.

She wants an opportunity to confront her mother and air her frustration at having to live out her mother’s own fantasies by becoming a child prodigy.

The story’s title, ‘Two Kinds’, is ostensibly explained by the mother’s comment to her daughter that there are two kinds of daughter: obedient and free-thinking. Ironically, her mother has fled a totalitarian state only to set up a petty tyrannical regime in her own home (you can take the girl out of Communism, but …).

Yet Tan’s title ‘Two Kinds’ does itself have two kinds of meaning: it can also refer to the final section of the story, in which Jing-mei discovers the other piece of music from the talent show, and realises – in a moment laden (perhaps too conveniently) with symbolism – that ‘Pleading Child’ is complemented by ‘Perfectly Contented’.

These are the ‘Two Kinds’ of person she has been: she had to struggle slowly through the years as a pleading child longing for independence and the right to choose what she pursued, but now she has reached adulthood, she is indeed perfectly contented, in a way that her mother never could be.

Jing-mei realises that doing your best and making yourself proud is the key to a happy life: trying to win talent shows or outdo other people (or, worse, other people’s children through your own child) is only going to leave you trapped in a perpetual cycle of goal-chasing and ambition-pursuing.

And yet, Amy Tan has Jing-mei point out that the latter was dependent on the former: in order to be fully content as an adult, she had to plead and fight for her own independence while growing up. Her journey mirrors her mother’s, oddly, in that they have both had to struggle out of situations where they were not allowed to be free, but the difference is that Jing-mei embraces her freedom whereas her mother didn’t know what to do with hers.

Instead, she had to live out her own thwarted ambitions through someone who is, now, free to pursue them. Except, of course, Jing-mei doesn’t want them, because they’re not her ambitions. One message of Tan’s ‘Two Kinds’ is that you cannot force someone to be free: they have to embrace it and define it in their own way, otherwise it is not worthy of being called freedom.

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Introduction & Overview of Two Kinds

Two Kinds Summary & Study Guide Description

"Two Kinds" is the last story in the second of four sections of Amy Tan's immensely successful first book, The Joy Luck Club. Tan intended the book to be read as a loose collection of interrelated stories, but it is often referred to as a novel. Several of the stories appeared in periodicals separately, many of them in , which purchased the serial rights to the book prior to its publication. "Two Kinds" was initially published in the Atlantic in February 1989, one month before the book was released.

Like all the stories in the book, "Two Kinds" is concerned with the complex relationships between mothers and daughters. In particular, Tan's subject is the distance between mothers who were born in China before the communist revolution and thus have been cut off from their native culture for decades, and their American born daughters who must negotiate the twin burdens of their Chinese ancestry and American expectations for success.

In this story, the narrator, Jing-mei, resists her overbearing mother's desire to make her into a musical prodigy in order to compete with one of her friend's daughters. The narrator recalls these events after a period of more than twenty years and still struggles to understand her mother's motivations.

"Two Kinds" contains all the elements that won Tan the well-deserved praise she received for her first book. It shows off her keen ear for the fractured English of the older generation (Tan was trained as a linguist, after all), and her sharp eye for detail in recreating the domestic scenery of mothers and daughters, especially in her descriptions of food and clothing.

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"Two Kinds": Literary Analysis of Amy Tan's Novel

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Updated: 23 November, 2023

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The Story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan

1. introduction.

Essentially, Amy Tan’s short story "Two Kinds" reveals the impact of strict upbringing on a person who is destined to be anything but what their parents wished of them. The protagonist, Jing Mei, fights a sense of identity within herself throughout, thus leading her to reveal a judgmental side to the reader. A complex mother-daughter relationship is an idea that has been thoroughly examined through centuries involving Aristotle and more recent studies. Many times the idea of "mother knows best" is passed on to their children. In this case, Jing Mei’s mother believes that her daughter can be someone great and highly successful. Although the date of Jing Mei’s success never comes, it is all dependent on the culture and society she is involved in compared to what she was never able to understand. The author’s own experiences result in conflicts that can be traced in the development of the characters in "Two Kinds". Amy Tan’s mother hoped for her to become a prodigy much like Jing Mei’s mother and sent her to both a Chinese school and an American school. Jing Mei’s failing attempts in becoming a prodigy are similar to Amy Tan’s failure to become a doctor or a concert pianist. In her early teens, Amy Tan began playing piano. This experience accounts for the vivid detail in the short story and consistent referral to famous pieces of music and the large amount of pressure from her piano teachers up to doing a tour in Europe. A misconception between two women eventually caused the offer of the piano. This led to Tan’s belief that Jing Mei’s mother offered her the piano for her upcoming thirteenth birthday. The idea was for Amy Tan to become a concert pianist, although an astute sense of rebellion led her to believe that she could master the skill without putting much effort into it. This reflected Jing Mei’s effort and desire in becoming proficient at the many skills her mother was hoping she could become a prodigy in. A sense of identity is seen here as Jing Mei believes and as does Amy once believed that they could become something that they were intrinsically not born to be.

1.1 Background of the Story

"Two Kinds" is a short story that explores the life of a Chinese-American girl and the trials of her mother's aspiration to have her daughter become a prodigy. The story is set in the late 50s-early 60s, a time when Chinese culture was being immigrated to America. The main point raised by this story is that people have different identities in any place and at any time. Jing-Mei's mother thought that it would be a good idea to emigrate from China to America because China was torn apart by a recent war, and America had an abundance of opportunity. "Two Kinds," however, is not solely a piece about being an immigrant. This is clear because of the time frame it was set in, a time when there were definitely not many Chinese people in America. Instead, it focuses on a girl who is growing up in an immigrant family, thus having an identity different from the people around her. Jing-Mei is not only growing up in an immigrant family, but she is also growing up in America. This is a time when many children have identity crises, wanting to be more like the friends they see at school. This means that Jing-Mei will be torn between being Chinese, with all of its customs, or becoming more modernized and becoming one with American culture.

1.2 Purpose of the Analysis

To address this essay can be a bit confusing to understand, the purpose of the analysis is a writer's attempt to explain the overt and hidden meanings in a story, to clear up any possible misunderstandings. In providing the analysis, a process of identification of the main issues will be made to enable the discovery of the theme. This will involve explanation from the writer's point of view of the concept of identity and its individual components. The analysis will also include a description of the relationships between key characters in the story to show the direct and indirect influences toward the main theme and to show how changes occurred in the character's identity and personality. The differentiation between American and Chinese culture will also be evaluated, and how it has a direct correlation with Jing-Mei's identity. Finally, the analysis will come full circle and confirm a discovery of the theme and provide a conclusion of all the findings. The disadvantages that occurred in Jing-Mei's identity development are indirect influences of her mother's dream. High hopes by parents on their children are something common and usual. In psychologist term, this situation is called project-identification, meaning children representing parents' unfulfilled dream. According to Erikson, in the age of 6-11 years old, children enter the third psychosocial development stage which is initiative versus guilt. Children in this stage are developing their self-confidence. But it is different with Jing-Mei's situation, the high hopes from her mother make Jing-Mei force herself to develop an identity that actually doesn't fit with her aptitude or talent. Jing-Mei is a mediocre piano student. High hopes and excessive attention from her mother make her label herself as a prodigy. This part was shown when her mother told her and her father's friends about a little Chinese girl who knows the capital of Latvia (Two Kinds, page 197). This situation leads to the emergence of feeling guilty and incompetence in Jing-Mei. She feels that she is a disappointment and disgrace to her mother, but she was unable to change and reveal her true identity. This feeling is evident when she saw a little Chinese girl play piano on TV in the program named The Ed Sullivan Show and heard her mother's comment, "music can open many closed doors" (Two Kinds, page 198).

2. Exploration of Mother-Daughter Relationship

The mother-daughter bond is a central theme of the story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan. The story explores the differences between the American-cultured Jing-mei and her mother, who is a Chinese immigrant. "Two Kinds" has a strong controlling idea, which is that one cannot deny their identity based on their own personal beliefs. Evidence from the text clearly displays this theme through two conflicting types of cultural views: American and Chinese. Throughout the story, Jing-mei's mother is constantly pushing her to become someone she is not. As Jing-mei and her mother are living in America, most of the time Jing-mei does not understand her mother and the Chinese culture. This results in conflict between the two. Jing-mei's mother's preferences are based on Chinese culture and society. When she says that Jing-mei can become a prodigy, it is clear that she has very high expectations for her. But when Jing-mei is told to do certain things to try and discover a talent, she does them a little differently than her mother expected. It is evident that Jing-mei's mother still has high expectations of her daughter becoming a prodigy. This is clearly shown when Jing-mei plays the song "Pleading Child". Her mother is deeply touched by this song. Although it is not the exact song she wanted her to play, she knows that it is close enough and that Jing-mei still has the potential to become a concert pianist. During the song, Jing-mei's mother visualizes her daughter performing this on stage in front of a large audience. But her dreams are shattered when Jing-mei arrogantly states, "Oh, it's one of those kinds of Chinese songs that they always play at New Year's parties." Her mother is disgusted and sees straight through Jing-mei. She realizes that she has no apparent talent and is not trying her best. This leads to a heated argument between the two, and Jing-mei then quits her piano lessons.

2.1 The Conflicting Expectations of Jing-mei's Mother

The first real conflict between Jing-mei and her mother arises when Jing-mei is expected to start her piano lessons. Here, the problems with her mother's hopes for her become more salient as they are enacted in real life. Jing-mei's mother wants her to become a child prodigy, so that she'd have an easier life than she did. So, she starts Jing-mei off with piano lessons, hoping that she'd find a hidden genius. Jing-mei, however, has her own hopes; she wants to be normal, "a Chinese Shirley Temple" and have a couple of maids and be rich and famous. At first, the lessons aren't hindering her own goals. Yet when Jing-mei's mother sees a little Chinese girl play a piece called "Pleading Child" (by a Chinese composer who the narrator says was "a Chinese Bach or Beethoven"), she buys the music and forces her daughter to play it for her teacher. Predictably, her daughter fails and is made to continue practicing it for the next two years. During this time Jing-mei abhors the piano, her mother, and anything to do with the recital, which her mother promises will be grand, and which will mark her debut as a child prodigy.

2.2 Jing-mei's Struggle to Define Her Own Identity

Jing-mei's struggle to define her own identity is a reflection of her mother's high expectations. Throughout the story, Jing-mei embodies her mother's dreams of becoming a child prodigy. Her mother continuously compares Jing-mei to her friend's daughter, constantly raising the bar for Jing-mei. This is evident in the text "Only two kinds of daughters... Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind. Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!" Jing-mei's mother imposes her dreams of becoming a child prodigy onto Jing-mei. Jing-mei is thrown into a whirlwind of relentless practicing and high expectations which only wears down her self-confidence as she repeatedly fails to meet her mother's expectations. It is clear that Jing-mei is made to feel imperfect due to her inability to perform and act as her mother wishes. When Jing-mei's mother first saw the prodigy on the Ed Sullivan show, she was "a small Chinese girl sitting obediently at the piano, with a bowl haircut and thick glasses" which is the total opposite of Jing-mei. Her mother identifies the child on the piano with genius and then further identifies that the child is a Chinese version of Shirley Temple. This is very symbolic in the sense that Jing-mei's mother wants Jing-mei to become a prodigy that becomes famous with her talents. The piano is how it all begins, Jing-mei's mother sees a way for her daughter to become the genius that she so badly wants to see.

2.3 The Impact of Cultural and Generational Differences

The impact of cultural and generational differences between Jing-mei's and her mother are the major underlying issues throughout the story. Jing-mei and her mother are two different cultural generations with very different ideas of what they see as being "successful." Suyuan, Jing-mei's mother, grew up in China and experienced many hardships in her younger years. This is relevant because with Jing-mei being raised in the US, the opportunities and the freedoms are different and therefore her perception of what is seen as being successful is different from her mother's. From the start of the story, you can see that Jing-mei feels that no matter what she does, she'll never be able to meet her mother's expectations, and this belief is what causes her to give up on finding her own identity, thinking that she'll then be able to relate to her Chinese heritage. The generation difference is prominent: "only two kinds of daughters, those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind." It follows that the daughters who do not obey their mother and do not do what is expected of them are those that do not understand the mother's complex Chinese "ways" and do not comprehend the daughters to be of a different cultural generation, growing up in America in a more open society.

3. The Quest for Self-Discovery

Without her mother's constant reinforcement to seek her prodigy and be a big shot, Jing-mei likely would have lived a contented life. She might never have tried to search for her talent on her own. The constant pressure from a parent can typically be overwhelming and negatively affect a child. It's just because the child is attempting to fulfill the dreams and expectations of their parents that they eventually discover what makes them happy. In discovering that she really had no talent for piano and that her mother will never be proud of her, Jing-mei ultimately finds what makes her happy. When "pleading with me inconceivable combination of hope and woe appeared in her eyes," Jing-mei realized that what her mother wanted for her was not what she wanted for herself. Up to this point, Jing-mei had been doing everything to make her mother happy and not to disappoint her. The realization that she couldn't fulfill her mother's dreams and could never be adequate for her was a gift and a curse. Though Jing-mei felt bad that her mother would not be happy, she finally got a sense of freedom. She will never have to play piano again. She was finally absolved from her mother's high expectations.

3.1 Jing-mei's Journey to Discover Her Talents

Following her mother's wishes, Jing-mei is placed into a series of talent acts, which she subsequently fails. Her inability at a young age to realize the implications of what she is doing represents her lack of identity, and the talents are really those of her mother's. Her mother only wants the best for Jing-mei and thinks she would be an excellent prodigy, yet she never directly asks her daughter how she feels about the situation. Jing-mei's resilience and her unresolved feelings of spite and regret toward her mother set the stage for a lifetime of talent acts and a lack of identity. In one last desperate act for her daughter to find her identity, Jing-mei's mother buys a piano and has it moved into their home. The piano acts as a constant reminder of failure and does nothing to help Jing-mei find her place in the world. Jing-mei even states herself that she never really did find out what her talents were. This statement is somewhat inaccurate as the piano, in fact, is what leads her to her talent years later. It might not be a direct route to success, yet the piano changes who Jing-mei is and what she is to become.

3.2 The Role of Failure and Resilience in Self-Discovery

Failure and resilience play a significant role in Jing-mei's self-discovery. By failing to display a natural prodigy of talent similar to the first Chinese Shirley Temple, she failed her mother's dreams of becoming a child prodigy. Though she initially displayed some talent in her piano lessons, much to her mother's delight, she eventually reached a point where she could no longer play the music by rote as she had always done. The moment when she hit "The Prodigy" was a definite failure in her mind, in her teacher's eyes, and in her mother's eyes. She was faced with an almost impossible task to perform a song which she thought was intended for two hands, a song which would be a huge leap of talents compared to her previous songs. When she still could not play it after repeating the same line over and over again, she was given an angry look from her teacher which made her burst into tears. She felt she had disappointed her mother through her failure; the little conventional success and lack of talent had failed to meet her mother's expectations. At the same time, her mother's high hopes were a huge burden of pressure for Jing-mei to surpass. This was worsened by her mother's disappointment as she compared Jing-mei to the successful daughter of her friend.

3.3 The Final Revelation and Acceptance of Identity

Rush Winkel realizes at the symphony recital, the defining moment where she discovers her identity. This moment comes after her self-induced failure of the piano, despite the wishes of her mother and her own initial agreement. Jing-mei had given up hope of becoming a prodigy after seeing the test scores that her mother was comparing her to those of the other Asian prodigy girls. At the recital, Jing-mei's mother's long-lost teacher, Mr. Chong, soon reveals that Jing-mei is her mother's daughter and that she had the talent to become a prodigy. This infuriates Jing-mei, which she follows up by telling her mother that she only took the test because she wanted to see what makes all the other girls special. After the rejection of the piano and the uncovering of her motives, her mother sees Jing-mei's point and she replies, "Only two kinds of daughters, those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind" (Tan, 156).

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Two Kinds Analysis by Amy Tan

Amy Tan’s short story “Two Kinds” is a powerful tale about the relationship between a Chinese immigrant mother and her American-born daughter. The story explores themes of cultural identity, family expectations, and the pursuit of the American Dream.

In this post, we’ll break down the key elements of the story, analyze its characters, and discuss its broader implications.

What You'll Learn

Background: Amy Tan and Her Work

Amy Tan is a Chinese-American author known for her novels and short stories that often deal with the experiences of Chinese immigrants and their American-born children. Born in 1952 in Oakland, California, Tan drew from her own life experiences to create rich, complex narratives that resonate with readers around the world.

“Two Kinds” is part of Tan’s collection of interconnected short stories called “The Joy Luck Club,” published in 1989. This book became a bestseller and was later adapted into a successful film, bringing Tan’s exploration of Chinese-American family dynamics to a wider audience.

Plot Summary

The mother’s dream.

The story begins with the narrator, Jing-mei (June) Woo, recalling her mother’s belief in the American Dream. Having immigrated to the United States after losing everything in China, Jing-mei’s mother is determined that her daughter will become a prodigy and achieve success in America.

Piano Lessons and Conflict

Jing-mei’s mother decides that her daughter should become a piano prodigy, inspired by a young Chinese girl she sees on The Ed Sullivan Show. Despite Jing-mei’s lack of interest and talent, her mother arranges for piano lessons with Mr. Chong, a retired piano teacher in their neighborhood.

The lessons become a source of tension between mother and daughter. Jing-mei resists practicing and doesn’t take the lessons seriously, while her mother becomes increasingly frustrated with her daughter’s lack of progress and apparent lack of effort.

The Talent Show Disaster

The conflict reaches its peak when Jing-mei performs at a talent show. Unprepared and overconfident, she plays poorly, embarrassing herself and disappointing her mother. This moment marks a turning point in their relationship and in Jing-mei’s understanding of her mother’s expectations.

The Aftermath and Reflection

Following the talent show, Jing-mei rebels against her mother’s attempts to make her practice. In a heated argument, she tells her mother that she wishes she were dead like the babies her mother lost in China. This cruel statement deeply hurts her mother and creates a rift between them.

Years later, as an adult, Jing-mei reflects on this period of her life and her relationship with her mother. She comes to understand the complexity of her mother’s motivations and the cultural gap that contributed to their misunderstandings.

Character Analysis

Jing-mei (june) woo.

Jing-mei is the protagonist and narrator of the story. As a young girl, she struggles with the pressure of her mother’s expectations and her own desire for independence. She resists her mother’s attempts to shape her into a prodigy, feeling that she can never live up to these expectations.

Example: Jing-mei’s frustration is evident when she thinks, “I won’t let her change me, I promised myself. I won’t be what I’m not.”

As an adult, Jing-mei gains a more nuanced understanding of her mother’s motivations and the cultural factors that influenced their relationship.

Jing-mei’s Mother

Jing-mei’s mother is a complex character driven by her experiences as a Chinese immigrant and her hopes for her daughter’s future in America. She believes strongly in the American Dream and is determined that her daughter will achieve success and recognition.

Her push for Jing-mei to become a prodigy stems from a desire to give her daughter opportunities she never had, as well as a need to prove that Chinese people can excel in American society.

Example: The mother’s determination is clear when she tells Jing-mei, “You can be best anything. What does Auntie Lindo know? Her daughter, she is only best tricky.”

Mr. Chong is the elderly piano teacher who gives Jing-mei lessons. Despite being partially deaf and having poor eyesight, he tries his best to teach Jing-mei. His character represents the challenges and limitations faced by many immigrant professionals in America.

Themes and Symbolism

The american dream.

One of the central themes in “Two Kinds” is the pursuit of the American Dream. Jing-mei’s mother believes wholeheartedly in the idea that anyone can achieve success in America through hard work and determination. This belief drives her actions throughout the story.

Example: The mother’s faith in the American Dream is evident when she tells Jing-mei, “You can be prodigy, too. Of course, you can be prodigy. You just not trying.”

Cultural Identity and Generational Conflict

The story explores the tension between Chinese cultural values and American individualism. Jing-mei, born and raised in America, struggles to understand and meet her mother’s expectations, which are rooted in Chinese cultural norms.

This generational and cultural conflict is a common theme in immigrant families, where children often feel torn between their parents’ traditional values and the norms of their adopted country.

Expectations and Self-Discovery

The pressure to become a prodigy reflects the broader theme of parental expectations and a child’s journey of self-discovery. Jing-mei’s resistance to her mother’s plans represents her desire to find her own identity and path in life.

Example: Jing-mei’s frustration with her mother’s expectations is clear when she thinks, “I didn’t have to do what my mother said anymore. I wasn’t her slave. This wasn’t China.”

The Piano as a Symbol

The piano in the story serves as a powerful symbol. For Jing-mei’s mother, it represents the potential for success and acceptance in American society. For Jing-mei, it becomes a symbol of her mother’s unrealistic expectations and her own feelings of inadequacy.

Later in life, the piano takes on new meaning as a symbol of the complex relationship between mother and daughter, and of Jing-mei’s growing understanding of her mother’s motivations.

Literary Techniques

First-person narration.

Tan uses first-person narration to give readers direct access to Jing-mei’s thoughts and feelings. This narrative choice allows us to experience the events of the story through Jing-mei’s perspective, both as a young girl and as an adult looking back on her childhood.

Example: The intimacy of the first-person narration is clear in lines like, “I felt as though I had been sent to hell. I was a young Lucifer, fallen from grace.”

The story is structured around flashbacks, with the adult Jing-mei reflecting on events from her childhood. This technique allows Tan to show how Jing-mei’s understanding of her mother and their relationship has evolved over time.

Tan uses dialogue effectively to reveal character and cultural differences. The way Jing-mei’s mother speaks, with her broken English and Chinese idioms, contrasts sharply with Jing-mei’s more Americanized speech patterns.

Example: The mother’s distinctive speech is evident in lines like, “Just like you, I show you how to listen.”

Vivid imagery helps bring the story to life, particularly in descriptions of Jing-mei’s piano playing and the talent show performance.

Example: Tan’s use of imagery is powerful in descriptions like, “The silence was broken only by the plink, plink, plunking of the piano keys.”

Cultural Context

Chinese immigration to america.

To fully appreciate “Two Kinds,” it’s important to understand the historical context of Chinese immigration to the United States. Many Chinese immigrants, like Jing-mei’s mother, came to America fleeing hardship or seeking better opportunities. They often faced discrimination and struggled to assimilate while maintaining their cultural identity.

The Model Minority Myth

The story touches on the “model minority” stereotype often applied to Asian Americans. Jing-mei’s mother’s insistence that her daughter become a prodigy reflects the pressure many Asian American children feel to excel academically and professionally.

Confucian Values

Some of the mother’s expectations for Jing-mei are rooted in Confucian values, which emphasize filial piety (respect for one’s parents and ancestors) and the importance of education and hard work.

Interpretation and Analysis

The complexity of mother-daughter relationships.

At its core, “Two Kinds” is a story about the complex dynamics between mothers and daughters, particularly in immigrant families. The conflict between Jing-mei and her mother stems from love and a desire for the best, but is complicated by cultural differences and misunderstandings.

The Cost of the American Dream

While the story highlights the opportunities America offers, it also shows the potential costs of pursuing the American Dream. Jing-mei’s mother’s relentless push for her daughter to succeed creates tension and resentment, illustrating how the pursuit of success can strain family relationships.

Identity Formation in Immigrant Families

Jing-mei’s struggle to define herself in the face of her mother’s expectations reflects the challenges many children of immigrants face in forming their identity. The story explores how these individuals navigate between their family’s cultural heritage and their own experiences growing up in America.

The Power of Understanding and Reconciliation

As an adult, Jing-mei gains a new perspective on her childhood experiences and her mother’s motivations. This shift in understanding suggests the possibility of reconciliation and the importance of empathy in bridging generational and cultural divides.

Impact and Reception

“Two Kinds” has resonated with readers around the world since its publication. Many people, particularly those from immigrant families or with complex parental relationships, have found the story deeply relatable.

The story’s exploration of cultural identity, family expectations, and the immigrant experience has made it a popular choice for study in schools and universities. It has sparked discussions about assimilation, the American Dream, and the challenges faced by immigrant families.

Relevance Today

Despite being published over three decades ago, “Two Kinds” remains relevant today. Issues of cultural identity, generational conflict, and the pressure to succeed continue to be significant concerns for many families, particularly in immigrant communities.

The story also speaks to broader themes of self-discovery and the challenge of living up to others’ expectations, which are universal experiences that transcend cultural boundaries.

Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds” is a rich, multilayered story that offers insights into the immigrant experience, mother-daughter relationships, and the pursuit of the American Dream. Through the conflict between Jing-mei and her mother, Tan explores complex themes of cultural identity, expectations, and self-discovery.

The story’s enduring popularity is a testament to its emotional resonance and the universality of its themes. By delving into the specific experiences of a Chinese-American family, Tan illuminates broader truths about family, identity, and the human experience.

As readers, we are invited to reflect on our own relationships, the expectations placed upon us, and the journey of understanding and reconciliation that often comes with adulthood. In this way, “Two Kinds” continues to speak to new generations of readers, offering insights and sparking important conversations about family, culture, and identity.

Related Articles

Themes-Two kinds

• Q: What is the main conflict in “Two Kinds”? A: The main conflict is between Jing-mei and her mother over the mother’s expectations for Jing-mei to become a prodigy, specifically a piano prodigy.
• Q: Why does Jing-mei’s mother want her to be a prodigy? A: Jing-mei’s mother believes in the American Dream and wants her daughter to achieve success and recognition in America. She also wants to prove that Chinese people can excel in American society.
• Q: What does the piano symbolize in the story? A: The piano symbolizes different things for different characters. For Jing-mei’s mother, it represents potential success and acceptance in American society. For Jing-mei, it initially symbolizes her mother’s unrealistic expectations, but later becomes a symbol of their complex relationship.
• Q: How does Jing-mei’s perspective change as she grows older? A: As an adult, Jing-mei gains a more nuanced understanding of her mother’s motivations and the cultural factors that influenced their relationship. She develops empathy for her mother’s experiences and desires.
• Q: What role does cultural identity play in the story? A: Cultural identity is a central theme in “Two Kinds.” The story explores the tension between Chinese cultural values and American individualism, particularly as experienced by children of immigrants.
• Q: Why is the story called “Two Kinds”? A: The title refers to a moment in the story when Jing-mei’s mother says there are only two kinds of daughters: those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind. It represents the central conflict between conformity and individuality in the story.
• Q: How does the story reflect Amy Tan’s own experiences? A: While “Two Kinds” is fiction, it draws on Tan’s experiences growing up as the child of Chinese immigrants in America. Like Jing-mei, Tan had to navigate between her parents’ expectations and her own desires.
• Q: What is the significance of the talent show scene? A: The talent show scene is a turning point in the story. Jing-mei’s poor performance leads to a confrontation with her mother and marks a shift in their relationship.
• Q: How does the story explore the concept of the American Dream? A: The story examines both the allure and the potential pitfalls of the American Dream. While Jing-mei’s mother believes strongly in the possibility of success in America, the story also shows how the pursuit of this dream can create tension and conflict within families.
• Q: What lessons can readers take from “Two Kinds”? A: The story offers several lessons, including the importance of understanding and empathy in family relationships, the challenges of navigating cultural differences, and the value of finding one’s own path while respecting family heritage.

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The Story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan Essay

The intention of Amy Tan in the story Two Kinds was to present her problem through her personal experience and leave the judgment to the reader. Though the narrator’s mother experiences tragedies in her life, she has the energy to forge on and impart her dreams into her daughter. Although the narrator is unable to fulfill her mother’s expectations, the aspect of maintaining two diverse cultures especially as an immigrant is almost unachievable to many but she succeeds.

The title Two Kinds refers to different types people in the society. In real life, there are people who are always determined to achieve a certain goal in life, and there are those who do not have such ambitions.

For instance, with her mother’s inspiration, the narrator’s dynamicity enables her to change her goals from being a Chinese Shirley Temple to a pianist. As the story opens, the narrator says, “My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America” (Tan, 1989, p. 405), while in the last paragraph she realizes how it is easy to play the piano yet she had failed earlier.

Therefore, through the reconnection of the paragraphs, the author enables the reader to conclude that the narrator could be famous if she had followed her mother’s advice. Furthermore, the author’s description of the Chinese mother’s suffering excludes her personal feelings.

Due to the strained relationship with her mother, the author’s feelings to her mother’s suffering might be real and thus an effective technique in using first person narration. On the other hand, if another person retells the story he/she will explicitly describe the mother’s suffering while sympathizing with her.

Amy’s piano is the major symbol in the story. Although she had earlier turned it down, she eventually appreciates and plays it after the death of her mother. In this context, the piano symbolizes the care or love, which never existed between the mother and her daughter, the kid.

Nevertheless, after playing the piano in her adulthood, Amy realizes the love she had for her mother especially through her childhood songs. Through her mother’s death, the narrator starts to appreciate the Chinese culture because she treasures all the Chinese clothes/jewels her mother had; she actually keeps them away safely.

Moreover, the author realizes she belongs to the two cultures and easily plays the piano, which had been a problem during childhood. She learns the power of appreciation and hard work immediately after her mother’s death. Finally, the narrator’s ability to play piano in adulthood shows that her childhood failure was due to her poor attitude towards her mother.

Personally, the aspect of a person maintaining his/her culture away from home is not easy. American lifestyle, food, religion, and language differ greatly from the Chinese culture. When my cousin migrated to America in the early 1990s, he had to learn English and accept the American lifestyle, which differs greatly from the Arabic culture he was accustomed.

Though he had a hard time, flexibility, and dynamicity are some of the qualities that made him adapt to the new environment. Finally, the author’s experience encourages all the immigrants especially in America to maintain their culture. Though not easy through literature, she encourages the immigrants to embrace their culture, which seems to be a problem for all minor races living in the United States.

In summary, because of disobedience, the narrator is unable to live to her mother’s expectation but when she becomes an adult, she learns to appreciate/love her mother and the Chinese culture. Through her literary ideas, the author calls for dynamicity in all immigrants in the world.

Tan, A. (1989). Two Kinds. In J. E. Gardner, B. Lawn, J. Ridl, & P. Schakel, Literature: A Portable Anthology , (pp. 405-414). Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

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IvyPanda . 2018. "The Story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan." September 20, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/two-kinds/.

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