TWO KINDS

By : Muhammad Fazli Bin Mohd Diah : Ahmad Elyas Bin Ismail

SUMMARY

In Amy Tans short story Two Kinds, Jing-mei, the American born daughter of Chinese immigrants, tells how her mother relentlessly drove her to become a child prodigy. The fun part of the story is that her mother pushes in all kinds of directions while searching for a natural talent that she seems certain must be lying dormant in her little girl. Although unsuccessful in finding some hidden talent, her mother settles on piano lessons and hopes that perhaps, with practice, the prodigy can come out. Jing-mei rebels against all of her mothers fussing, not understanding that the hope that she has for her daughter stems from a realization that her own life will never truly be anything grand. When her mother hires a deaf piano teacher to train her, the scene is set for this naughty little girl to fake all of her practice and lessons and waste her time ideally. She feels she has been fortunate in her mothers blunder; however, when a talent show comes along her instructor and mother sign her up to showcase her burgeoning piano skills for the entire Chinese-American community.

Trapped, she goes along with the show, hoping and praying naively that a miracle will deliver magic into her fingers with the pressure of an audience. No magic comes and she completely embarrasses her family. The battle between Jing-mei and her mothers expectations rages on after this recital, coming to a verbal battle in which Jing-mei devastates her mothers heart by sayingcompletely out of frustration and embarrassmentthat she wishes she was not her daughter. With this blow, the mother closes the lid to the piano, stops the lessons, and admits that her daughter could be a failure. This is a hollow victory of course for the main character. As the short story ends, we see the girl returning, now thirty, and having the piano serviced. Her mother has passed away and she has decided to keep the piano as a memento of her mothers hopes for her.

 FEMINIST

CRITICISM

By Muhammad Fazli Bin Mohd Diah

DEFINITION OF FEMINISM CRITICISM

feminist criticism is by definition gender criticism because of its focus on the feminine gender. But the relationship between feminist and gender criticism is, in fact, complex; the two approaches are certainly not polar opposites but, rather, exist along a continuum of attitudes toward sex, sexuality, gender, and language. Feminist criticism is a type of literary criticism, which may study and advocate the rights of women (Lombardi, n.d).

"Feminist literary criticism focuses on the relationship between literature and patriarch biases in society and on the potential role that literature can play in overcoming biasesliterature plays a central role in the development of social attitudes toward women and of women's attitudes towards themselves." (pg. 89, Booker)

"Only two kinds of daughters," she shouted in Chinese. "Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!
Two Kinds: 45

Her mother take a complete control over the situation and use her role as a mother to give an order.

"after seeing my mother's disappointed face once again, something inside of me began to dieI made high-pitched noises like a crazed animal, trying to scratch out the face in the mirrorI saw what seemed to be the prodigy side of meThe girl staring back at me was angry and powerfulI won't be what I'm not.

term prodigy as a unique sense of self, a powerful force within her character. The symbolic language, apparent to Jing-mei's mother, relates the term "prodigy" as something defined by a patriarchal society that decides what a feminine prodigy should be. The tension becomes apparent to the reader in this stage of the story, as well as, a sense of unique ideology of the feminist idea of heroism.

I wasn't her slave. This wasn't China. " I'll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be! "Then I wish I weren't your daughter, I wish you weren't my mother," I shouted.
Two Kinds: 45

Jing Mei is an americanized girl and cannot accept her mother decision about her life. In some of the sentences that I quote, we can see that Jing Mei show some rebellion to her mother that symbolize idea of feminism revolution.

 READER

RESPONSE CRITICISM

By Ahmad Elyas Bin Ismail

READER RESPONSE CRITICISM

Jing-Meis mother should not force his daughter to be what she wants, that is a child prodigy.

She should encourage and help her daughter

If they were forced, they may become a rebellious person.

EXAMPLE FROM TEXT:

Three days after watching the Ed Sullivan Show my mother told me what my schedule would be for piano lessons and piano practice. She had talked to Mr. Chong, who lived on the first floor of our apartment building. Mr.Chong was a retired piano teacher, and my mother had traded housecleaning services for weekly lessons and a piano for me to practice on every day, two hours a day, from four until six. (pg. 42) When my mother told me this, I felt as though I had been sent to hell. I whined, and then kicked my foot a little when I couldn't stand it anymore. "Why don't you like me the way I am?" I cried. "I'm not a genius! I can't play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn't go on TV if you paid me a million dollars! (pg 42)

From a sons perspective, I would not like being push when I am to do any work or task. I like to do it with my own capabilities. I like to choose my own path to do something and I would say no when someone is telling me to do anything without any concrete reason.