Amy Tan Two Kinds Essay

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Amy Tan's short story "Two Kinds" explains the problems that a mother who is intoxicated by the idea of the "American dream" and a daughter who just wants to live a normal life, run into. The story conveys a strong message of high expectations coming from the main character’s mother, which are, much to her dismay, met with resistance and eventually a harsh loathing. With the combination of disapproval displayed in the passage and the sudden awareness of what is truly inside of her, “Ni Kan” comes to the realization that she was her own person, who is able to choose her own destiny.

An aspect that Ni Kan touches on is that she and her mother are not living in China anymore. Ni Kan uses this as the crutch to support her eventual uprising against her mother. “I didn't budge. And then I decided. I didn't have to do what my mother said anymore. I wasn't her slave. This wasn't China. I had listened to her before and look what happened. She's the stupid one” (Tan 297). Evidently Ni Kan is using the American societal standards to her …show more content…
As Ni Kan eventually realizes they're not in China and that she truly feels like she cannot become a genius prodigy, she finally comes to the realization of her own self. “'No!' I said, and now I felt stronger, as if my true self had finally emerged. So this was what had been inside me all along” (Tan 297). With this new found self-realization, she quickly crushes her mother's final hopes by putting her past her tipping point with an abrupt remark about the babies she lost back in China. With this final negative interaction between Ni Kan and her mother, “Two Kinds” highlights the risks one takes when they decide to force an incredible greed for success upon their uninterested child, by uprooting both their lives and chasing after the American

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