Analysis on the Story Two Kinds - Essay Example

Her mother believed that they can start a new life in America. They went to America after her mother lost everything in China. This indicates that her mother believed that America was an escape from disillusion, frustration, misery and death. America was freedom, hope and dreams fulfilled. But this didn’t happen with Jing Mei. Her life in America was full of sadness, frustrations and tension. Two Kinds was a story that dealt mother and daughter relationship. But more than that, it shows us how our social environment affects our belief in things.

The mother and daughter relationship that was presented in the story was filled with tension. The mother and the daughter were very different from each other. Not because they were really different, but because the daughter wanted to be different from her mother. We become who we are not because other people want us to be that person, but because we choose to be or not to be that person. We choose our own identity, we choose the path we want to take in life. And this was exactly what Jing Mei did in the story.

She chose the path opposite of what her mother wants her to be. At first, she was excited about being good in something. As her mother tried to find out where she’s good at, she continuously felt the pressure to be good. And, unfortunately, she also continuously felt the disappointment of her mother everytime she cannot be good in whatever her mother pushed her to do. She tried ballet. She tried being Shirley Temple. She tried being a remarkable child that her mother saw in the magazines, like that child who knew “all the capitals of all the states and even the most of the European countries” or that child who can multiply numbers in her head, or the other one who can stand on his head without using his hands.

And because she failed to be those remarkable children, she became frustrated. She felt she will always be the ordinary girl that her mother does not want her to become. And so she became defiant. She became angry and she vowed to herself that her mother will not change who she is, that she won’t become someone she is not. And she stopped trying to become good at something her mother wants her to be. When her mother pushed her to learn the piano, she became defiant once more. Her defiance led to her laziness.

She purposely did not try to learn the piano which led to her humiliating experience at a talent show. This strained her relationship with her mother even more. And it never changed as she grew up. She always managed to fail. And this increased the gap between her and her mother. We have always wanted to become someone. Jing Mei was not different. But because of her mother’s desire to make her as someone who she can’t be, Jing Mei resented success. This resulted to her failure everytime she attempts to become better.

She believed that she is not a genius, she believed she can never be good at something. She believed she can never be the daughter that her mother wanted her to be. To which her mother kept repeating that she didn’t want to change her, that she just wants her to become the best at something she could do. But because of the constant struggle who is in control of Jing Mei’s life, she and her mother fought endlessly. This shows that there are instances that forcing a person to do something she doesn’t really love would make her more miserable.

It’s like setting her up for failure. Instead of helping her, Jing Mei’