Two Kinds By Amy Tan Literary Analysis

The short story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan explains a mother and daughter relationship that has many differences within a conflict in the story. The narrator demonstrates that the mother and the daughter do not agree with the same aspect on life. Since the mother wants her daughter to be perfect, the daughter refuses to make her mother’s wishes come true. Her mother wanted the narrator to become the perfect traditional daughter, but the narrator’s differences triggered with her mother. An indication from the story is, “Unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be, I could only be me” (137). According to the quote from the story, the author just wanted to be somebody she wanted to be, not somebody her mother wanted her

The story has a conflict that is related to opposition. The narrator disagrees with what her mother wants her to be, since the narrator felt that her mother was controlling her for years. For instance, the mother in the story suggests that her daughter would become the perfect girl and she would become famous. The traditional daughter relates to the American icon, “Shirley Temple”. Furthermore, the narrator goes through a rough time during the story because her mother feels like she can be good at something and stick to it. The narrator thinks otherwise because of the fact that she wants to do something that is in her best interest. For instance, the narrator’s experiences as a child were difficult to deal with because of the suffering that the mother gave to her. The mother had authority over the narrator and forced her to involve in things that she did not want to do. An indication of the story is, “Only two kinds of daughters. Those who obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter live in this house. Obedient daughter” (136). According to the indication, her mother wanted the best for her and she wanted her to be devoted in what her daughter wanted to do with her life. The narrator describes her experience as she is taking piano lessons with her mother beside her. Even though the relationship between the mother and the daughter is unfitting, the contrast of the relationship sets off