Kyle Neri Professor Day LCS 121 5 May 2023 Changing of Tides In the past, America has become known as the land of opportunity where many can come and be who they want to be. This idea of America has been expressed through numerous pieces of novels, short stories, drams, and other forms of literature. Two pieces of literature which touch on this idea through characters are Amy Tan’s, “Two Kinds” and Jhumpa Lahiri's novel, “The Namesake”. In Amy Tan’s short story, Jing Mei is the main character who tries to break free from her mothers Chinese ways and create a new path for herself. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, Moushumi is a character who comes later in the novel and exemplifies the idea of break free from her parents' culture through separation and rebellious actions. Both of these characters have the commonality of being born in and raised in America …show more content…
Jing Mei Too’s mother brought her family to America because she believed like many others that America was a place where you can be whatever you wanted to be. Her mother, like any mother, pushed Jing Mei to try and be the best version of herself and perhaps pushed a little too far. It was not until Jing Mei had enough of her mothers drilling that she had her own epiphany, “I had new thoughts, willful thoughts, or rather thoughts filled with lots of won’ts. I won't let her change me, I promised myself. I won’t be what I’m not.”(Tan 591). At this point Jing Mei had decided she was not going to conform to her mothers ideas. She was not going to become what her mother wanted and was not going to be her little puppet anymore. Jing Mei decided she did not want to be a little fine-tuned Chinese girl and that she wanted to be a version of herself which she liked. Jing Mei Too’s rebellious actions followed this epiphany she had in the bathroom when it came to the next task her mother would set forth for