Summary Of Two Kinds By Amy Tan

1159 Words5 Pages

Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds,” written in 1989, captures the relationship of a mother and daughter from China that has just relocated to America. So, in the beginning of the short story Tan expresses the mother’s beliefs of America by saying “my mother believed you could be anything you wanted in America” (Tan, Two Kinds, www.rtsd.org). then going into examples such as “You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get good retirement and of course, you can be a prodigy, too” (Tan, Two Kinds, www.rtsd.org). Nevertheless, as the story unfolds, Tan explains in more detail of the relationship of the mother and her daughter. In which the mother fully believed her daughter would become this great prodigy. Therefore, pressuring her daughter …show more content…

That in return turns into resentment within the mother daughter relationship. In a study performed by Akm Aminur Rashid that was published in the Journal Of Humanities And Social Science states Mrs. Woo “places unreasonable expectations on the shoulders of her young tender daughter. While the mother may not exactly know where her daughter’s prodigal talents lie, she is nevertheless adamant that her daughter is destined for greatness, by virtue of having been born in America” (Matondang, A. Yakub, and Dja’Far Siddik, IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Www.iosrjournals.org). Although, Tan’s story is set 29 years ago, this issue of elevated expectations and cultural differences still remains today. Therefore, “Mrs. Woo’s aspirations for her daughter can be learnt from her dogmatic belief that America is the Land of Opportunity” (Matondang, A. Yakub, and Dja’Far Siddik, IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Www.iosrjournals.org). Which is safe to say that America does have many opportunities in which one can succeed in. But as an American we may see the chances of being some type of prodigy differently due to cultural