Two Kinds Amy Tan Character Analysis

A thought provoking observation was expressed by Kirsten Dinnall Hoyte regarding Amy Tan’s Two Kinds, “Like many immigrants, the mother both wants her child to be American and fears her daughter's Americanization and the accompanying cultural changes" (165). But why would June's mother immigrate to the United States if she feared the influences of another culture? What historical circumstance could have sway June's mother to have left her homeland and everything in her life behind? After relentless research, I hypothesized that World War II propelled the story of Two Kinds because it provoked the Japanese to invade China and promoted the influx of Chinese immigrants to Chinatown around the 1950s. This in tune, would lead to the mother’s infatuation with making June a prodigy as well as the ongoing misunderstanding among June and her mother. Towards the end of the story, June still lacks the insight of the causes of her mother’s

June had an extraordinary life in America in comparison to her mother’s life in China. June being young and naive, she could have perceived the high prospects of her mother as tough and which lead to amp distress. But truly, these troubles were insignificant when contrasted to her mother’s loss of family, destruction of her homeland, and probable poverty stricken circumstances due to World War II. For this reason, it is understandable why June’s mother would become so outraged when June roared, “I wish I were dead! Like them” (Tan 389). To her mother, the climatic mention of the past was her vulnerable point. Not only was she reminded of those challenging times when June bellowed those words, but also demonstrated the ungratefulness of June. Overall, grasping the historical context of the story can explain the actions and reactions of June’s mother throughout Two