Two Kinds Amy Tan Analysis

Parents in this generation strive to convey to their children that they can pursue any career of choice. American children have this upbringing more so than other ethnicities due to the ideology of the American Dream. For instance, Chinese parents have strict guidelines for their children to abide by, and in most cases, they expect their children to pursue the lives that they tell them to. In a healthy parent-child relationship, there is a balance between parental guidance and individuality. Problems between the child and parent can surface when the balance is geared more towards one side than the other. Amy Tan talks about a parenting style that values parental guidance over individuality. In "Two Kinds," Tan successfully illustrates major events in the story to portray how a parent pushing their own dreams on a child can cause resentment and rebellion towards the parent. Through Jing-Mei's excitement for learning, her confusion of her self-image, and through her actions, Tan traces Jing-Mei's transformation from obedient to rebellious and resentful. …show more content…
"In fact, in the beginning, I was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so" (223). Her mother believes in the American Dream and passes this hope to her daughter stating "you can be prodigy, too… you can be best anything" (222). Jing-Mei tries her best to live up to her mother's dreams for her to become a prodigy. When her haircut ends up looking less like Shirley Temple and more like Peter Pan, she is optimistic about the end results anyhow stating "I liked the haircut and it made me actually look forward to my future fame" (223). Being that they are from an Asian background, it is not uncommon for Jing to want to please and abide by her mother's dreams for her. Tan expresses how Jing longs for her parents to "adore her" as she tries on different outfits imagining herself as the perfect