Two Kinds Short Story by Amy Tan

Conformity and Two Kinds

Amy Tan's Two Kinds is a story that, like some of her relationships in The Joy Luck Club, is concerned with the conflict and complexity within the relationship between mothers and daughters -- particularly those mothers who are first-generation immigrants, born in China before the Communist revolution and their American-born daughters who must choose which parts of traditional culture they will adhere to, and which they will reject in favor of their desire to conform to a new culture. In Two Kinds, the narrator is Jing-mei, who wishes with all her heart to be just a regular American "kid." Her mother, however, is overbearing and wants Jing-mei to become a musical prodigy so that she can compete with one of her friend's daughters. Jing-mei tells the store after two decades, but she still struggles in trying to understand her mother's viewpoint, motivations, and attitudes.

The idea of conformity comes early in this relationship. It is Suyuan Woo, the mother, who wants Jing-mei to be a prodigy -- excellent at something. Suyan Woo would give tests or relate stores about children with fantastic abilities, but finally stopped when she saw Jing-mei's utter disinterest. This culminates in a recital in which Jing-mei does not play well, and a silent ride home. Jing-mei is thrilled, thinking she finally does not need to play the piano any longer, but the next day, her mother insists she practices. Jing-mei loses her temper and screams that she will never be the kind of daughter Suyan wants, to which her mother succinctly replies, "Only two kinds of daughters. Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter." Jing-mei replies that she wishes she were dead like the other children, not knowing that in her earlier life, Suyuan Woo had children who died as babies. From that time on, Suyan Woo never pushed piano lessons again, but it was not until she was an adult that she realized some of the songs she practiced had more symbolism than she realized -- "Pleading Child" on one half of the page, "Perfectly Contented" on the other -- a sort of yin-yang explosion of spirit and longing.

For Jing-mei, the process of becoming America was about being part of the group. She did not have the experiences, the hardships, or the trials that Suyan incurred just to get to America. And, like most children of that age, empathy is not developed. Instead, Jing-mei is thrust between two cultures. On one hand, she is desperately trying to fit in with her new American life. The norms that are established ask her to be American, not Chinese, and find that her separateness in ethnicity also has cultural overtones. All Jing-mei sees is a competition between her mother and her mother's friends that is acted out with the daughters; never realizing the tremendous sacrifice it took for these individuals to even make it to America.