Jing-mei wanted to be her own person so she was determined not to try hard at the piano lessons. Jing-mei says to her mother, "You want me to be someone that I'm not, I'll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be. "(Tan, 51) This external conflict between Jing-mei and her mother serves as a premise for the remaining conflicts in this short story. Another example of conflict, an internal one, is that of Jing-mei's gloomy, sad feeling after she realizes that she cannot become the great person her mother wants her to be. Jing-mei thinks to herself, "After seeing my mother disappointed once again, something inside of me began to die; I hated the tests, the raised hopes, and failed expectations.
Jeing-Mei liked to practice best the fancier parts of songs that she could use her foot and leg to play. Things seemed to settle awhile until the day of her recital where the rebellion kicked in. Jeing-Mei hit a wrong note in the song she was playing and instead of correcting herself she continued to hit wrong keys on the piano. After making her mistakes Jeing-Mei looked at her parents for comfort but instead got rejected. “But my mother’s expression was what devastated me: a quiet, blank
Joan Didion’s “in keeping a notebook”, has shown that she writes to suppress bad memories by her expressing the difference between her childhood and he daughters. Although there is not a direct reason as to why Didion writes s, one could imply that because Didion did not have a “perfect” childhood, she writes in order to not remember the bad memories. Didion states that her daughter would never write like her because she is “singularly blessed and accepting child, delighted with life exactly as life presents itself to her” (55). This quote presents the idea that Didion has a much different childhood than her daughter. Although she does not talk about how her childhood was, she explains how her daughters’ good life does not compel her to write things down like she has since she was 5 years old.
Esperanza doesn’t fit in because the only friend she has is her little sister Nenny who she doesn’t even consider her friend because she is too young. Cisneros and Esperanza also have a similar personality. They are both very persistent. Esperanza is persistent by that she won’t let the bad influences and bad role models around her get in her way of achieving what she wants. In Mango Street Esperanza says “One day I will say goodbye to Mango.
Her mother decides that Jing-mei should be like Shirley Temple and takes her to have her haircut and curled. This does not turn out so her mother tries to blame Jing-mei. Next Jing-mei’s mother decides that Jing-mei should be a pianist after watching Ed Sullivan. Jing-mei hates piano lessons and asks her mother “Why don’t you like me the way I am?” After this event Jing-mei decides that she will never live up to her mother’s expectations, she then decides to quit trying. Similarities In “Two Kinds” the girl Jing-mei has to try to live up
Imposing an interest upon her daughter, regardless of her daughter’s aptitude or inclination is Suyuan’s first mistake. Her second mistake is stressing that her daughter must excel at this new endeavor. Merely trying her best is not enough: she wants June to be perfect. This is despite the fact that even many talented individuals were not prodigies when they first attempted their art, sport, or activity. June feels so pressured she decides to give up even before she really tries because her mother’s standards are so high.
This choice was a compromise to her original idea of personal happiness; however, as she comes to love and be loved by Turtle, she finds that true happiness lies in having meaningful relationships with others. Early in her life Taylor was missing out on the lifestyle of a teenager; she never went to parties, she never had a boyfriend or was considered a girl who was noticed Taylor couldn’t do these things because she was committed to her mother Alice. Taylor compromised her happiness and worked in the Pittman County hospital for five long years, in order to support her ailing mother. She worked in the lab with blood samples, urine samples and lots of other gross things. Taylor left Pittman with not a single dollar to her name.
She wanted her daughter to try every opportunity she felt would eventually make her a star, such as being the next Shirley Temple by becoming an actor, intellectual testing, and when neither of those areas was working, she then decided that Jing will be a pianist. At first, Jing-mei seems to tolerate of her mother’s goals, but later became annoyed and felt her mother constant behavior towards her being a prodigy child that she is not may have gone too far. Being a housecleaner, Mrs. Woo didn’t much money to provide Jing with piano lesson; instead she traded housecleaning services for her piano lesson from a retired piano teacher Mr. Chong who is deaf and don’t have the best vision to tell whether or not Jing-mei is playing the right notes. Jing-mei had learned
After her aunt kicks her out of her house, Hannah began to cry and says “Don’t make me go, Tante Rose” (Horton 39). This shows that Hannah still loved her aunt and loved to play the piano. Even though Hannah broke the rules, she still wanted to study and become a famous pianist. However Tante Rose was still furious. Hannah is an eager, kind, and devoted person, while Tante Rose is an arrogant, selfish person who wanted Hannah to become a pianist for her own needs.
Supporters believe that children can concentrate more on their own development in values and abilities without wasting time on useless activities so that they perform much better than others. Amy Chua is a case in point. She did not allow her daughter to take a toilet break unless her daughter played violin or piano well. She did not receive birthday cards from her children if the quality of it did not meet her requirement. Although it seems inhuman, her two daughters bear fruit in both academic and music competitions.