Literary Connection
In the story “Two Kind” by Amy Tan, the young girl cried out to her mother “Why don't you like me the way I am? I'm not a genius! I can not play piano. And even if I could, I wouldn't go on TV if you paid me a million dollars!”(Tan 291). It’s easier growing up when parents decide to accept their child for who they are. But in some cases parents try to live there life through their son/daughter. In America most parents believe that the kids should be able to be their selves without their parents trying to influence them on what to do. When the parent is not supportive it sometimes causes the child to feel lonely and confused on who they want to be. This is seen in “two kinds” when the protagonist is confused about if she wants to be become the prodigy child her mother desires her to be.
The society the protagonist grows up in believes in making their children be the best in whatever their parents decided for them to do. The protagonist does not have a choice a real opinion on what she wants to become. The immigrant society she is raised believes that anything is possible in America. Her mother stated in the book “Only ask you to be your best. For your sake. You think I want you to be genius? Hnnh! What for! Who ask you?!” (291).The mother was yelling at the protagonist because, she did not to be the best at what her mother choose for her to pursue. The she just wanted to be accepted for who she is. The conflict in this short story revolves around Asian American freedom of choice compared to immigrant Asian idea of obedience. The protagonist rebelled against the norms of her society to follow the culture she was born in not the culture her parents wanted to raise her in.
