Two Kinds Summary Final
Rex
xxxxxxxx University Class xxx March 19, 2022
Professor xxx
TWO KINDS SUMMARY FINAL 2
Two Kinds Summary Final
Two kinds by Amy Tan shows us the conflict between the mother, who is the first American immigrant with miserable past experience but an ambition for her child, and the daughter, who is native American and has a strong willingness to master her own life.
Summary
After losing everything in China, Jing-mei’s mother came and regarded America as a land of opportunity. “You can be best anything” (Tan, 1989, p.2) is what the mother told her daughter, reflecting her high hope on daughter.
At first, the mother wanted to create her daughter as an actress like Shirley Temple. A new hair style even lets Jing-mei feel no less imagination than her mother did. Consequently, the mother found sorts of questions to test her daughter’s intelligence. However, the results disappointed the mother. On the contrary, her mother’s disappointment triggered the daughter’s strong self-awareness – to be herself.
Months later, entranced by the piano music played by a nine year old Chinese girl, the mother forcibly arranged piano lessons for her daughter to let her being prodigy, and, at the same time, disputed her daughter’s pleading by “Only ask you be your best!” (Tan, 1989, p.27)
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Jing-mei picked up some basics in class from Mr. Chong who is a deaf and retired piano teacher. Nevertheless, the daughter still so resisted to learning piano that practiced piano on her discordant way over a year.
On the other side, Jing-mei’s mother bought a second-hand piano to her daughter by the saving money from house cleaning, organized a talent show, and then invited all the couples from social club, to witness her daughter’s debut. Unfortunately, because of the lack of practice, the daughter’s “awful” playing screwed up her first show, and embarrassed her parents badly as well.
Days later, the daughter did expect that the embarrassment would set her free from playing piano, but the mother’s insistence surprised her. Finally, a fierce quarrel happened between mother and daughter. Holding the resentment and dissatisfaction of “not being herself”, the daughter even cruelly shouted out “I wish I’d never been born (Tan, 1989, p.65)!” “I wish I were dead! Like them (Tan, 1989, p.65).” Hurt by the words, the mother never mentioned the piano again in many years.
Years later, on a Jing-mei’s birthday, the mother gave her the piano as a gift and a symbol of forgiveness. Eventually, the mother and daughter put their conflict aside.
However, the daughter did not take it back until her mother dead months later. For the first time playing piano after many years, Jing-mei suddenly seemed to realize something from the “Pleading Child” and “Perfectly Contented”, which were just
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two halves of the same song.
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References
Tan, A. (1989). Two kinds.
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