“Two Kinds”, authored by Amy Tan, is an inspirational short story that revolves around the idea of becoming independent and successful. The story follows Jing-mei who is the daughter of chinese immigrant, Suyuan Woo. Woo has looked to America as a fresh start for her daughter and herself after losing such great loss back home; her first husband, parents, two daughters, and twin baby girls. Coming from a tragic past, she has hope for Mei and tries to prevent her daughter from having the miserable past that she experienced. Therefore, she constantly pushes Mei but the consistent demands start to take a toll on their relationship. The story can be better understood using the biographical and historical criticism since Tan’s life was also impacted
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In fact, one of the main characters in “Two Kinds”, Woo, was an immigrant mother that had sacrificed everything in China for a better life for her and her daughter in America. Specifically, Tan was also the daughter of Chinese immigrants and had high expectations from her mother similar to how Woo had expectations for Mei to become a child prodigy. Knowing the fact that Tan was pushed to success in a similar way to Mei allows the reader to see how damaging the consistent demands can be on anyone. They can inference and understand that Tan would have reacted to such frustration in a similar manner after reading about the way Mei reacted; She stopped giving effort during tests, resulting in her mother no longer bringing up the idea of a child prodigy for two to three months. A reaction to resentment like this occurred to Tan when her mother, Daisy Tan, ignored her for six months after learning that her daughter had dropped out of a Baptist college that was personally selected. Knowing this information about Tan, the author, allows the reader to see what may have influenced and inspired her writing of “Two Kinds”. The reader can realize that Jing Mei’s relationship with her mother is simply a reflection of Tan’s own past that was filled with the same disappointment, frustration, and high …show more content…
At the time, immigration was fueled by the Magnuson Act which repealed the current Chinese Exclusion Act. The Magnuson Act was passed two years after China became the allied nation to the U.S in World War II. The purpose was to remove the original exclusion act which prohibited Chinese immigration for labor reasons as well as increase the quota for Chinese immigrants into America. Because the Magnuson Act repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943, it makes sense that Woo had the opportunity to immigrate to the U.S only years later in 1949. The fact that the exclusion act was repealed prior to her immigration and because World War II ended in 1946, the reader can conclude that Woo immigrated to the U.S since she now had the opportunity to do so and to escape the war environment back home. It is crucial to recognize these facts since U.S immigration was becoming more significant at this time and things were looking up for Chinese immigrants, especially
In fact, one of the main characters in “Two Kinds”, Woo, was an immigrant mother that had sacrificed everything in China for a better life for her and her daughter in America. Specifically, Tan was also the daughter of Chinese immigrants and had high expectations from her mother similar to how Woo had expectations for Mei to become a child prodigy. Knowing the fact that Tan was pushed to success in a similar way to Mei allows the reader to see how damaging the consistent demands can be on anyone. They can inference and understand that Tan would have reacted to such frustration in a similar manner after reading about the way Mei reacted; She stopped giving effort during tests, resulting in her mother no longer bringing up the idea of a child prodigy for two to three months. A reaction to resentment like this occurred to Tan when her mother, Daisy Tan, ignored her for six months after learning that her daughter had dropped out of a Baptist college that was personally selected. Knowing this information about Tan, the author, allows the reader to see what may have influenced and inspired her writing of “Two Kinds”. The reader can realize that Jing Mei’s relationship with her mother is simply a reflection of Tan’s own past that was filled with the same disappointment, frustration, and high …show more content…
At the time, immigration was fueled by the Magnuson Act which repealed the current Chinese Exclusion Act. The Magnuson Act was passed two years after China became the allied nation to the U.S in World War II. The purpose was to remove the original exclusion act which prohibited Chinese immigration for labor reasons as well as increase the quota for Chinese immigrants into America. Because the Magnuson Act repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943, it makes sense that Woo had the opportunity to immigrate to the U.S only years later in 1949. The fact that the exclusion act was repealed prior to her immigration and because World War II ended in 1946, the reader can conclude that Woo immigrated to the U.S since she now had the opportunity to do so and to escape the war environment back home. It is crucial to recognize these facts since U.S immigration was becoming more significant at this time and things were looking up for Chinese immigrants, especially