Distinguished Chinese American Writer: Amy Tan - Case Study Example

 Amy Tan, a well-known and distinguished Chinese American writer, who has written numerous best-selling books and novels for decades such as “Joy Luck Club,” “The Kitchen God’s Wife”, “The Bonesetter’s Daughter,” and “Saving Fish from Drowning,” exemplifies the belief and the traditional Chinese idea about America being the land of opportunity in the book, “Two Kinds.” The narrator of the story named Jing-Mei is a young girl who lives in San Francisco with her mother after she has recently emigrated from China after losing everything that she had and owned there during the Japanese invasion, including her home, her husband and her two daughters. The story is centered on one major conflict, which is the battle between the two contrary beliefs and ideas of Jing and her mother. Jing had a very different way of thinking compared to her daughter, causing arguments and problems throughout the plot of the whole story. The story begins with Jing Mei presenting the two opposite cultures that she has to live with. The first is the Chinese culture, the one that is in her blood. This culture’s point of view about America is similar to that of the rest of the world. They believe that America is the land that promises and assures immediate success and a hope to a better future and standard of living. It was a land filled with opportunities. Because of this point of view, Jing’s mother fervently and with determination pushes her daughter to do everything possible in order to gain success and fame to the point where she wanted Jing to follow the footsteps of then child superstar, Shirley Temple. Jing narrates, “At first my mother thought I could be a Chinese Shirley Temple. We’d watch her old movies and I would see Shirley tapping her feet or pursing her lips while saying “Oh, my goodness.” My mother even took me to a beauty salon, but instead of getting curls, I emerged with a mess.” She kept pushing her, letting her do all sorts of tests to determine her one special talent that she can gain fame and fortune from, since she believed that if you are in America, then there is no limit to who you can be and to what you can do. Jing explains, “My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous.” The second way of life that Jing Mei is surrounded with all the time is the adapted culture, the one surrounding her every day, the American culture. This culture did not always match to that of the Chinese, and because of that, it caused conflict, which would later be evident in the story. The Chinese viewpoint and perspective of life and of America was clearly seen and represented by the words and the actions of Jing’s mother. This culture has definitely been the heart of why almost all of the Chinese people in the late 1940s dreamed and longed to leave their homeland which was at that time, suffering from the grave devastation of the war against Japan. Living in China before the war was already hard. It was a very poor country, and the Japanese war that sprung made it harder. During the Chinese Japanese war, the people really felt overwhelmed by the tough situation and the circumstances that they faced and lived through. About four million of innocent Chinese civilians were murdered. The Japanese military also conducted various experimentations on the civilians, from women, men, children to infants as well such as performing vivisection without anesthesia. The people died in the streets from starvation and from the cold. The parents had no choice but to sell their children because there was no more food to eat. Numerous Chinese women were raped and sexually harassed by the Japanese military every day, including sixty-year-old women. Forced labor was imposed on innocent people who did nothing wrong. Thousands upon thousands of blameless citizens, even including little children and infants suffered and died. The effects of the war after it was finished were very difficult and tough for the Chinese people and they were devastated by the results of the long time battle between the Chinese and the Japanese. Although China emerged as the victor from the war, they suffered economically. Many towns and cities were burned down and were destroyed. After losing their loved ones, their possessions, and the hope of a better life, they sought to renew their hope through leaving their destroyed mother country and going in to the land, which they have always believed to be the perfect place to look for success in life, fortune and fame, being whoever you want to be, America. The Chinese parents hoped that their children would not have to suffer the same pain and torment that they have experienced back in China. They did everything that they could do in order for their children to be able to live in America. They borrowed money even with the highest of interest rates just for their children to go to America, expecting that when they finally reach the ‘Promised Land,’ they will immediately find high paying jobs and instantaneously have the money and can easily send back money to China and pay the people that they borrowed money from. The misconception and the mistaken idea of the Chinese people’s view of America is that once you have set foot in America, your success has been guaranteed and assured and that there is nothing to worry about. They saw that in America, it was so much more peaceful, away from all the mess and the wild and uncontrolled conflict, problems and wars that were happening back in China. Everybody seemed to be satisfied with what they were doing. It was as if everybody lived happily without any troubles and worries. They also watched Americans taking vacations and just relaxing and enjoying life, and this was exactly what every Chinese person wanted and what everyone in China looked for during those times of tribulations. In addition, they noticed how America greatly valued and gave importance to freedom; they strictly respected the rights of the citizens. The Chinese really noticed how in America, people had so more liberty and independence compared to the situation that they experienced back home. What the Chinese people did not know though, was that yes, for the native Americans, they may have had complete freedom and they really enjoyed living their lives in that country, but not for the immigrants who came from then poor countries such as China. There was discrimination and racism that was happening against all other races other than the whites. In the story, it was shown that the erroneous belief of America being the land of opportunities was not entirely true after all. The livelihood of Jing’s mother as a housemaid, cleaning up houses and taking errands from their masters, revealed that America isn’t exactly as perfect as how they thought it would be. They thought that the debts that they made in order to come to America would easily be paid back once they reach the country. The problem was it was not that way at all. Sometimes, they had to work for so many years and they would still be unable to pay back the money that they owed, leaving their parents in destitute, working as slaves. Success and fame was not knocking on the front of their doorsteps after all. They have discovered that for them, this land was not filled with great and wonderful chances that will, without doubt, bring them out of poverty and of hardships in life. What they have thought to be great opportunities that will turn their lives around a hundred and eighty degrees, was just another life of poverty, having jobs and occupations that were low paying and labor-intensive. A successful life in America after all was not that easy. Therefore, since immigrants’ lives were not the same as those of the Native Americans, it was a lot harder compared to them; life in America was really hard and tough. It was just a misled dream that turned into times of more troubles and more pain. The immigrants during those times were maids and domestic helpers; some people worked in tiresome jobs such as in railways, construction, mining, farms, orchards and other low paying, risky and tough jobs. Just like Jing’s mother in the novel, the immigrants were poor and stayed poor in America since they had no education back in China and if they did not have any formal education, then certainly, they would not be able to get a proper and a decent job that will pay a higher price than those menial jobs. Because of this, all they ever got back from migrating to America was a shattered dream based on a false hope. What they expected from America is not what they actually experienced. A very few people were lucky enough to gain the success, fortune and the fame that they dreamed to acquire. Although the people who migrated from China to America did not experience their ultimate dream and goal during those times when they experienced hardships and trials from the Chinese Japanese war in the 1940s such as Jing’s mother in the story, the second and the third generations who grew up in America were the ones who became more successful. They were able to learn and fluently speak the language; they were also able to fit in and adapt to the culture of the Americans. With all the hard-earned money from their parents, they were able to get proper education, therefore, finding much better jobs and occupations than what their parents found before. Especially for the people who were particularly gifted in certain skills and those who where prodigies, they finally were able to gain success in their lives, which was the dreamo of their parents. Through all their parents’ hard work and effort, through all the sufferings that their parents experienced for their children, it finally paid off in the future generations. Works Cited Elton, Matthew. "A Literary Analysis of Two Kinds by Amy Tan." Docstoc. 2008. Web. 24 April 2011.  Tan, Amy. "Two Kinds." The Oxford Book of American Short Stories. Ed. Joyce Carol Oates. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. 714-26. Print. "Japanese War Crimes." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia, Inc. Web. 24 April 2011.  Cakewaltz. “Two Kinds by Amy Tan.” LiveJournal. LiveJournal, Inc. 23 March 2009. Web. 24 April 2011. “The Chinese Immigration to Land Of Opportunity.” Example Essays. Web. 24 April 2011. “Chinese American History." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia, Inc. Web. 24 April 2011.  Wang, L. Ling Chi. "Chinese Americans." Countries and Their Cultures. Web. 24 April 2011.  "Prejudice." 123HelpMe.com. 24 April 2011  "Chinese Americans." The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. Web. 24 April 2011. "Chinese Exclusion Act." Menlo's Sun Server. Web. 24 Apr. 2011.  Read More