Amy Tan's Two Kinds
Amy Tan’s Two Kinds is a short story whose main theme draws from the title. The story was published in the book Luck Club. The main character in the short story is Jing-mei Woo or just June, the daughter of Suyuan Woo. The story explores how the two struggled to change Jing-mei to become a child prodigy. She gets convinced that one can achieve whatever one sets out to achieve provided they work hard at it and therefore believes her daughter can become a famous child prodigy just like the ones she watches on television. Jing-mei achieves freedom from both her dissatisfaction and confusion.<\/p>
Jing-mei's Struggle
First, Jing-mei is trapped and at the same time confused since while her mother wants her to become a piano prodigy, she neither has the drive nor the talent to become one. Since she is not able to become what her mother wants her to become, she ends up as a mere copywriter at a small firm that deals with advertisements. The fact that she is not able to achieve what her mother wants her to become she gets easily demeaned by people with greater self-confidence. She is not satisfied with what her mother wants her to become and the humiliation that she gets from other self-confident people makes her feel even more dissatisfied. She understands too well that her mother is expecting too much from her yet she is not in a position to be what her mother dreams since to her, she is simply “not a genius.”<\/p>
Impact of Her Mother's Dreams
Jing-mei’s mother firmly believes that any dream is possible, and it drives her into pushing her daughter by imposing her dreams on her. Her mother makes her believe that she can actually become a “Chines Shirley Temple.” She believes so much in what her mother has made her believe that she can become. She even tries to get the physical look of those that her mother made her believe that she could become. At one point Jing-mei gets a haircut so that she may look like Peter Pan. However, the haircut does not look so good making her appear like Peter Pan with a bad haircut. Most of the time, her mind is occupied with fantasies of Christ child, at times a ballerina or a Cinderella. In her mind she is convinced that one day she is going to become the best and states “in all of my imaginings I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect.”<\/p>
Jing-mei's Confusion
Jing-mei is fundamentally confused and trapped in two worlds, the American environment where she lives and her Chinese ancestry. She feels needs to please her mother but at the same time, she resents against her mother’s wishes. The impact of the confusion and being trapped in the two worlds is her inability to find happiness in the two worlds. The trap she finds herself trapped inside is manifested in the exchange she gets into with her mother just before she plays the piano. She questions her mother, “why don’t you let me the way I am?” She even goes ahead to tell her mother to her face that “I am not a genius! I cannot play the piano.” Her mother does not understand any of that but instead slaps her at one point and shouts at her asking her “who ask you to be a genius.” It is clear to her that she will not find happiness by rebelling against her mother or resenting to her wishes and hence chooses to live as an “Asian-American” trapped in both but unhappy in both.<\/p>
Jing-mei's Rebellion
Jing-mei is confused about her identity, and when her mother questions her, then she realizes the same and begins rebelling. Jing-mei for long had been trapped in the belief of her mother’s dream of her and when her mother quizzes her, then she realizes that she actually may never become whatever she wants to become and that marks the turning point as she changes to a new person. She stops being obedient and becomes willful, and when she looks in the mirror she is filled with the thoughts that “I will not let her change me, I promised myself. I will not be what I am not.” Finally, she decides to become herself thus pitting herself against her mother as she struggles to find her own identity.<\/p>
Talent Show and Unhappiness
Jing-mei’s unhappiness is also revealed at the talent show following the failure of the piano classes that she had been taking. Even though she was embarrassed at the show, her mother still maintains that her daughter must be obedient. She expresses her unhappiness and disappointment by screaming at her mother and wishing that she was not even born in the first place. For many years, Jing-mei has been failing to live up to her mother’s expectations and dreams which makes her unhappy every time, but the mother does not give up on her but instead continues to push her into believing that everything is possible. She gets tired of the unhappy life, and it is what makes her change from the obedient daughter that she was before. She realizes that she can only find happiness by being herself and that means forgetting about the talent and becoming a prodigy that her mother had made her believe that she would become one day.<\/p>
Jing-mei's Freedom
Jing-mei achieves freedom from her dissatisfaction. Even though she finally becomes free after her mother’s death, before her death, she exhibited self-awareness. She knew her limitations since she knew she would never be perfect like her other wanted. She knew she is “not a genius” and she often demonstrates that she knew her limits in the piano. If she did not express dissatisfaction with what her mother wanted her to become, then she would have continued with the dreams of her mother, which is to become a prodigy like the one she often watched on the television.<\/p>
In brief, Jing-mei attains freedom from her dissatisfaction. Her mother wants her to become a talented prodigy like the ones they see on television. However, for her, she knows that she can never become what her mother’s dream. She is dissatisfied with the humiliation she gets from other people who are self-confident. She chooses to play along with her mother's tune, that is, doing the things her mother wants her to do but when she gets enraged, then she screams at her mother to express her resentment towards her mother’s wishes. Her dissatisfaction leads her to a turning point where she chooses to question and disobey her mother’s wishes. Her dissatisfaction with the two worlds, the Asian and the American world leads her to establish her own identity which she pursues and achieves when finally her mother passes on. She was on the path to her own identity, and even if her mother never died, she would have attained her freedom.<\/p>
