A Mother/Daughter Conflict in Amy Tans Two Kinds and...

Amy Tans Two Kinds and Best Quality depict a struggling and often stressful relationship between a defiant daughter and an overbearing mother. June Mei and her mother Suyuan engage in a destructive battle between what is possible and what is realistic. June, although headstrong, seeks her mothers approval and adoration. Suyuan, although patronizing, yearns for her daughters obedience and best qualities. The relationship between mother and daughter falls victim to tension inherent in any mother/daughter struggle, especially between first-generation American daughters and their immigrant mothers (Yglesias 1). Their inability to understand one another largely stems from cultural differences; Suyuan is a Chinese woman who flees to†¦show more content†¦In Two Kinds, the conflict between Suyuan and June culminates after Junes piano fiasco when she decides she will no longer play. After Suyuans insistent struggle to get June to play the piano, the ultimate communicational barrier i s stressed. June shouts through belligerent sobs at her mother, You want me to be something that Im not! Ill never be the kind of daughter you want me to be! Suyuan shouts back in Chinese bellowing, Only two kinds of daughters ... obedient or follow own mind! ... Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient kind! (Tan 153). These two kinds of daughters suggest Suyuans cultural expectations and customs which contributes to the cultural net; her shouts in Chinese cause the communicational net, ending with the mother and daughter struggle. June responds with a devastating proclamation, leaving her mother, like her hopes, blowing away like a small brown leaf, thin, brittle, lifeless. As a result of Junes iron-will to assert her individuality, she fails her mother many times in the following years, including at a crab dinner twenty years later in Best Quality. At the beginning of the meal, everyone selects a crab until the last two are left for Suyuan and June. June, thinking it is the best and right thing to do, opts for the worst crab. However, Suyuan insists she take the better of the two crabs: I knew I could not refuse ... thats the way Chinese mothers show they love their children, not through hugs andShow MoreRelatedTwo Kinds Character Analysis Essay935 Words   |  4 Pages A mother’s belief in the American dream causes her to incessantly encourage her daughter to be an Americanized prodigy in Amy Tan’s Two Kinds. An immigrant from China, where she lost everyone and everything in her life, Jing-mei’s mother sets about training her daughter to achieve the best quality of life America can offer. At first excited, Jing-mei, tries everyt hing her mother sets before her. 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