Term Paper on "Story Analysis on Two Kinds by Amy Tan"

Term Paper 3 pages (1056 words) Sources: 1 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

character and theme. "Two Kinds" is a story of immigration to America and all the opportunities that are available to immigrants in this country. The narrator is the protagonist of Tan's novel "The Joy Luck Club," but it could be Tan herself telling the story. She tells the story in the first person, which makes it seem more real to the reader. The character changes throughout the story, which makes her a round character, and the theme of the story is the disagreements between mothers and daughters that can last a lifetime.

This is an interesting story about trying to please your parents and growing up. The character is a very round, dynamic character who shares her thoughts and feelings throughout the story. As a young girl, her mother wants her to do something remarkable, and at first, the little girl does everything she can to please her mother, but she does not succeed. The reader can feel her pain and sorrow when she does not please her mother. She remembers, "And after seeing my mother's disappointed face once again, something inside of me began to die" (Tan 348). Everyone who has tried to please his or her parents and failed can understand just how she felt at that moment. There is nothing worse than disappointing the people you are closest to, and that is why she is sad and guilty at the same time. Her mother wants the best for her, but she is too young to see that, and she begins to resent her mother and her mother's desire for her to be something special.

This character is a round, full character because this experience changes her, and shows her how powerful and strong she can be. She thinks to herself, "I won't let her change me, I promised myself. I won't be what I'm not" (Tan 348). She learns something from this experience and changes, and that helps make her a more complex, believable character. She learns that she has power over her mother, and that she can even hurt her. She learns how to be lazy and still seem to be learning something. In short, she shortchanges herself and does not push herself to be better. Instead, she is determined to go against her mother's wishes, even if it harms her instead. She says, "But I was so determined not to try, not to be anybody different that I learned to play only the most ear-splitting preludes, the most discordant hymns" (Tan 350). She is like many young people; she rebels against her parents and their beliefs and wants to be nothing like them. It takes her years to discover that the only one she really hurt was herself, because she cut herself off from her mother and her mother's feelings. She was selfish and never talked with her mother about it. She also hurt herself because she did not try to achieve things, or be the best. That is the only way people really become better people and stronger people, they must always push themselves to do better. She learns to be mediocre, and it makes her whole life uninspiring and… READ MORE

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