Two Kinds and The Rocking Horse Winner: An Analysis - Admission/Application Essay Example

April 19, Two Kinds and The Rocking Horse Winner: An Analysis These two stories directly tackle the subject of parent-child relationships. With Two Kinds, the relationship was more aggressive and clear, unlike in The Rocking horse Winner where the parent-child relationship was more subtle. Perhaps this was because of the cultural differences of the authors: Amy Tan (Two Kinds) being a Chinese American, and DH Lawrence being an Englishman (Rocking Horse Winner). However, these differences make them more interesting to compare, as their family dynamics come to similar paths, somewhat, because of the intentions of both relationships. This analysis tackles the parent-child dynamic by comparing Tan’s and Lawrence’s story. Although they are both talking about the complexities of the parent-child relationship, they often differ because of the race and the social standing. It is to be noted that the family in Two Kinds is immigrant, and they are struggling and at the same time adjusting to the new environs. The family in Lawrence’s story is a formerly rich one but still continues to harbor the illusion that they are still capable of supporting their lavish lifestyles. However, even if there are these present differences, being the parent and the child still has bearing in their relationship, and these universal roles still work on these types of relationship. Family Dynamics The family dynamics in Two Kinds and The Rocking Horse Winner are very different from each other. In Two Kinds, the family dynamics is quite rigid in a way that one should practice respect. This is largely an Asian attribute, where elders are treated specially. The rules in the family centers on the fact that honor should be placed on their name and reputation: they should be the best, at least in one area; and the mother should always be followed as in filial piety. In The Rocking Horse Winner, the family dynamics as rigid in a way that the roles of each member of the family are defined: the father being the provider, the mother being the nurturer and the children being children. The roles here are stiff too, but in a Western point of view. Parent-Child Love Both stories show parent-child relationships. The stories actually revolve on that theme. In Tan’s story, the parent-child relationship enjoyed by the mother and the daughter was more passionate. They both love each other, but the mother continually pushes her daughter to be an ideal child: highly educated, highly skilled, to become materially successful… basically to become the best person that the immigrant can ever become (My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America). Maybe this is a manner of compensation on her part because she is an immigrant and she feels that in order to deserve the kids of life she has in America, she needs to be ideal. However, her child does not have the same idea about being in America. Being born there, she did not feel any need to prove her worth, and be the “best”. This conflict with their views often puts then together in bitter quarrels. But in the end, the love of the parent and child shines through and they end up honoring each other’s lives and wishes. In Lawrence’s tale, the parent-child love is more subtle. They love each other too, but unlike in Tan’s story, they didn’t engage in passionate talks or rifts. They were more passive, but engaged at the same time, especially, the child (One day his mother and his Uncle Oscar came in when he was on one of his furious rides. He did not speak to them). The child was aware of the problems that the adults have, which is about money (There must be more money!), and tries to alleviate it by making money on his own. Contrary to his sensitivity is his mother’s denseness, usually relegating her motherly duties to the governess. The child’s love for his mother (since she was the only one he gave his money to), cost him his life which is the most expensive (priceless!) possession his mother/family could ever have. Success Success for Tan’s story, is the ideal child: smart, educated, highly skilled, polite, and still rooted to tradition (America was where all my mother's hopes lay/ Things could get better in so many ways). The child’s vision of success in Tan’s story is being true to herself, which is far from being the ideal child. In the end, the child in Tan’s story did not really become the ideal child her mother wanted her to become, but she did not turn out to be a horrible human being. Her mother told her that it’s because she hasn’t tried hard, but for her, that’s her and she achieved what she wanted to succeed. The mother always tries to do this to fit in their new society. Success for Lawrence’s tale revolved around being materially wealthy, or being rich (The father, who was always very handsome and expensive in his tastes, seemed as if he never would be able to do anything worth doing. And the mother, who had a great belief in herself, did not succeed any better, and her tastes were just as expensive). This vision is parallel to that of the child’s interpretation of success. Yes, he achieved that as he became rich because of the horse races, but it was all in vain because his success, fueled by extreme want, was short-lived for he died and did not live to see the effects of his wins. Money, Class Both stories deal with the insecurities the mothers have brought about by their shortcomings. In Tan’s tale, it was about money and fitting in because they were immigrants. In Lawrence’s it was about money and the shortage of it. Both mothers are motivated by the desire to show the world that they are capable of attaining certain levels of living: for Tan’s mother, producing a perfect child even if they are immigrants and for Lawrence’s mother to be rich. Because of money and class, the children suffer for their mother’s intentions, which are for them, mundane. Because of money and class, the mothers in both stories fall victim to society’s harsh judgments, making them miserable even though they do not really need the approval of the society to live. Loss and Children In Two Kinds, the mother urges her daughter to try several things that would make her a virtuoso. Eventually, they stayed at having piano lessons to help fulfill her mother’s vision of having a perfect child. This is her way of making up for her lost daughters who did not make it to America. Her guilt as a mother egged her to be a perfectionist on her daughter. Also, she pursued her wishes to be a perfect being on her daughter. This results in the daughter feeling resentment for her mother because indeed, it is quite unfair because it is, after all, her mother’s wishes, not hers. In Rocking Horse Winner, the mother was short on the financial department. She did not really goaded her child to make money but her child, because he loves his mother and he does not want to see her suffer, made money for her. You can see a reversal of roles here, the young son being the provider for his mother. The child died in the process but the mother continued to live, perhaps in guilt because of the death or her son. Unlike in Two Kinds, the thing that’s missing here is contentment, not chasing the ideal to fit in the new society. Growing up Growing-up entails responsibilities. It means freedom and the loss of innocence of childhood. In Two Kinds, the daughter grew up when she stopped playing the piano, when she decided not to follow anyone but herself. She finally faced the fact that she is her own person, not the person the society dictates her to be, not even what her mother dictates her to be. She finally became the person that she wanted to be: her, and she was responsible for it. This is an answer to the filial piety tradition they have back in their homeland. In The Rocking Horse Winner, the son practically grew up when he realized that the family needs more money (by hearing the house talk). He lost his innocence and his childhood by taking charge of this financial problem. His sensitivity towards the needs of his family signals us that he is more than a child. He does not play like other kids, but places bets and invests money to make more money. He named it being “lucky” but it was actually being mature and taking direct responsibility in making money. This affectation on money and image is largely the problem of the middle class. Imagination and Empathy Both the mother and the daughter lack imagination and empathy in Two Kinds. The mother lacks imagination: there are other ways of being a perfect daughter: just not being a genius, a concert pianist or a child actor. She also lacks empathy because she never really understood her child’s needs, which is to be a child without being pressured to be something that she was not. The daughter, meanwhile, also lacks empathy because she did not understand the needs of her mother: to prove to the society that she can do it in a foreign land. The daughter being a perfect girl was an assurance in the part of the mother that she actually succeeded. They were both very selfish, but fortunately, the daughter realized this at the end of the story, when she noticed the piano pieces were the same song. In The Rocking Horse winner, the mother lacks empathy. Actually, she was not being sensitive to her child’s needs in the story, that’s why she cannot empathize to the kid. She was blinded by her own monetary problems that she did not become the mother that she was supposed to be, which was being sensitive to the needs of her children. She was very passive and insensitive that the child continued to participate in a very dangerous hobby, resulting to death. In the end, though, even if it was the end for the child, he achieved what he had to, and he was freed from the shackles of his problems which he kept on hearing from the walls of the house. He actually found himself and saved himself through death. Dreams of Children and Parents In Two Kinds, the dream of the mother is not parallel to what the daughter had for herself. Their dreams and hopes clashed. Because of this, serious consequences occurred like the daughter’s failure to perform well at her recital. This embarrassing moment was fueled by her desire to prove her mother wrong: she was far from perfect. Of course, their relationship suffered because of that. Her defiant attitude towards what her mother wanted for her made it worse. Only when she grew up and lost her mother the daughter realize what her mother really meant, and that they meant the same things, but on different planes (And after I had played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song). In Rocking Horse Winner, the mother’s dream to be rich was actually realized because of her young son’s efforts. It was done secretly though, and I think that if the mother knew that her son was sacrificing a lot for the mere projections that she shows the public, she would have stopped her son, as she demonstrated that she was a good mother (although passive most of the time) with the lines “Two nights before the Derby, she was at a big party in town, when one of her rushes of anxiety about her boy, her first-born, gripped her heart till she could hardly speak,” that demonstrated that she was being maternal. Her son just wanted to be lucky so that there would be more money for their house; the mother just wanted money. They have the same dreams but each one had their own way of achieving it, and their means have serious consequences. The son had the most serious consequence, but in turn, he found himself and his problems were finished. Values The parents’ values are in sharp contrast to that of the children. This is largely evident in the story Two Kinds. This happened because of the daughter’s rebellion for what the values of her mother stands for. She did not like it, that’s why she took the values that stand opposite that of her mother’s. Her mother looked at her as the perfect girl, but since she does not feel like it, she did not adapt the identity. In The Rocking Horse Winner, the child’s values are different from that of the mother in a sense that he looked at the problem with a child’s eyes. He did not go looking for money to present a lavish lifestyle in front of society: he looked for luck to make money to make his mother happy. His mother, on the other hand, pursued money for the shallowest reasons: to show to the society that she is rich even if she is not. True, they both looked for money, but with different motivations. This is what differentiates them from each other. They may be similar, but then again, they are so stark in a sense that their values are polar opposites: one is shallow and the other one is profound. References: Lawrence, DH. The Rocking Horse Winner.1926. World English.org. Web. 6 September 2011. Tan, Amy. Two Kinds. 1989. My Favorite Literature. Web. 6 September 2011. Read More