In 1989 The Joy Luck Club, a novel composed of many short stories following Chinese immigrant families in California was published by Amy Tan. One of the final stories in the novel is titled “Two Kinds”, which follows a young girl named Jing-Mei and her mother. The two had just recently moved the San Francisco, CA in the 1950’s. Throughout the story Jing-Mei struggles with living up to her mother’s high expectations while keeping herself content as well. Mei’s mother repeatedly damages their relationship while she tries to push her daughter to fame. Amy Tan had lived a very similar life to the one she had written for Jing-Mei, both of them had been held to high standards by their parents, both had parents that wanted to live out the “American Dream”, and both had parents that immigrated to the United States of America, along with many other similarities. By reading “Two Kinds” through a biographical lense along with small amount of historical criticism one can better understand the context of the story.
In Tan’s real life, she was born in California to John and Daisy Tan. As a growing child her parents dreamed of her becoming doctor or a pianist, both being careers that require great knowledge and skill. Similar enough in the story, Mei’s mother dreamed of her daughter becoming the next “Shirley Temple” or child genius, but eventually settled on her learning the Piano. While trying to bring talent to her daughter, Mei’s mother never listened or paid attention to anything her daughter wanted. In one instance Mei is pleading …show more content…
To make those ideas much more clear one can use a biographical lens to understand why the author Amy Tan has such power and emotion behind the main character, along with why certain events happen to the family. One can use a historical lens (along with biographical) to understand the motives and attitudes portrayed by Jing-Mei and her
In Tan’s real life, she was born in California to John and Daisy Tan. As a growing child her parents dreamed of her becoming doctor or a pianist, both being careers that require great knowledge and skill. Similar enough in the story, Mei’s mother dreamed of her daughter becoming the next “Shirley Temple” or child genius, but eventually settled on her learning the Piano. While trying to bring talent to her daughter, Mei’s mother never listened or paid attention to anything her daughter wanted. In one instance Mei is pleading …show more content…
To make those ideas much more clear one can use a biographical lens to understand why the author Amy Tan has such power and emotion behind the main character, along with why certain events happen to the family. One can use a historical lens (along with biographical) to understand the motives and attitudes portrayed by Jing-Mei and her