Symbolism in "Two Kinds". In "Two Kinds", Amy Tan uses symbolism to express the frustrating struggles between parents and children and the growing realization of individualism.

Authors Avatar

Symbolism in “Two Kinds”

        For a lot of us growing up, our mothers have been an integral part of what made us who we are. They comfort us in times when nothing seems to go right. They forgive us when no one else can. They provide for our needs and know what is best for us. Most importantly, they love us with all of their hearts. In "Two Kinds", Amy Tan uses symbolism to express the frustrating struggles between parents and children and the growing realization of individualism.

        Jing-mei’s  mother “believed [that] you could be anything you wanted to be in America”(Tan 288). She came to America “after losing everything in China...But she never looked back with regret. There were so many ways for things to get better” (Tan 288). She came from China to seek a better life for herself as well as her daughter; her persistence for her daughter to be a prodigy is her way of stabilizing Jing-mei’s life so that it does not turn out like hers. She sees the piano as her daughter’s chance to make something of herself which will give her the opportunity for a better life. To the mother, the piano symbolizes success and happiness. However, the mother sees that the only way to achieve success and happiness is through perfection; she pushes Jing-mei to become a prodigy. Prodigy is shown when
Jing-mei first starts taking piano lessons, she “picked up the basics pretty quickly”(Tan 292). The fact that she effortlessly learns the basics shows that she has a natural born talent and could have become a prodigy and make her mother’s dream come true. Additionally, when she plays the song more than twenty years later, she is “surprised at how easily” the notes came back to her; her natural talents is not affected by the huge time period of not playing (Tan 296). Usually, if a musician does not play for awhile, they need some practice and get use to playing for sometime before being able to play again. Jing-mei, on the other hand, remembers how to play the song and also plays it better than the previous times.

Join now!

        Furthermore, although “in the beginning, [Jing-mei] was just as excited as [her] mother” and naively does everything she is told without hestitation,  her excitement slowly deteriotes after failing many of her mother’s prodigy tests (Tan 289) . One night after another failed test and “after seeing [her]mother’s disappointed face once again, something inside of [her] began to die. [she]hated the tests, the raised hopes and failed expectations” (TAN 289). Her troubled feelings of inadequacy that her mother’s expectations created are exemplified through the desperation that is portrayed; her self esteem decreases and she begins to feel useless after the constant failures ...

This is a preview of the whole essay