1. Two Kinds is narrated by Jing-mei Woo. Her mother is the one who founds the Joy Luck Club in 1949 before Jing-mei is born. She immigrated to the US to find opportunity, and she believes in the “American Dream” – that “you could be anything you wanted to be in America” (132). Jing-mei and her mother are close in the beginning of the chapter. They are also excited for Jing-mei’s journey to become a prodigy
2. After she loses her mother, father, home, children, and husband in China, she feels lost and has no hope there. To find a light in the darkness, she immigrates to the US to find opportunity. Since she believes in the American dream, she truly believes that her daughter has a hidden talent, and that she could “become rich” or “become instantly …show more content…
She is told to go to a concert and perform there. She plays a piece called “Pleading Child” by Schumann. There is important symbolism behind this strategically named piece. Jing-mei is the pleading child in the story. She is pleading to be released from her mother’s repeated attempts to turn her into a prodigy. She says to her mother, “Why don’t you like me the way I am? I’m not a genius! I can’t play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn’t go on TV if you paid me a million dollars!” (136). Many years later, her parents give her the piano back as a gift for her thirtieth birthday. Her mother tells her “You pick up fast. You have natural talent” (143) to convince her to take it. On the left side of the page was “Pleading Child” but she never noticed the piece “Perfectly Contented” on the right side of the page. Again, the piece is named to be a symbol. After more than fifteen years of not even touching the piano, she is perfectly content with her life and her ability. In addition to this, “after I played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song” (144). The author is saying that people will sometimes face two halves, or two kinds, of a scenario in life. The first half is a pleading scenario, where one will be pleading to get out of it. The second half is one where the situation is not fully resolved, but it is insignificant enough for the person to be perfectly
2. After she loses her mother, father, home, children, and husband in China, she feels lost and has no hope there. To find a light in the darkness, she immigrates to the US to find opportunity. Since she believes in the American dream, she truly believes that her daughter has a hidden talent, and that she could “become rich” or “become instantly …show more content…
She is told to go to a concert and perform there. She plays a piece called “Pleading Child” by Schumann. There is important symbolism behind this strategically named piece. Jing-mei is the pleading child in the story. She is pleading to be released from her mother’s repeated attempts to turn her into a prodigy. She says to her mother, “Why don’t you like me the way I am? I’m not a genius! I can’t play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn’t go on TV if you paid me a million dollars!” (136). Many years later, her parents give her the piano back as a gift for her thirtieth birthday. Her mother tells her “You pick up fast. You have natural talent” (143) to convince her to take it. On the left side of the page was “Pleading Child” but she never noticed the piece “Perfectly Contented” on the right side of the page. Again, the piece is named to be a symbol. After more than fifteen years of not even touching the piano, she is perfectly content with her life and her ability. In addition to this, “after I played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song” (144). The author is saying that people will sometimes face two halves, or two kinds, of a scenario in life. The first half is a pleading scenario, where one will be pleading to get out of it. The second half is one where the situation is not fully resolved, but it is insignificant enough for the person to be perfectly