"Two Kinds" is a short story from the book The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. It was first published in 1989. The short story outlines the main character Jing-mei Woo's childhood and the effects of her mother's high expectations for her life. In 1993, a movie based on the book was made.
Character List
Jing-mei Woo is the narrator as well as the protagonist. After being pushed by her mother to become a prodigy, she develops a rebellious attitude toward her mother.
Mother is Jing-mei's mother.
Mr. Chong is Jing-mei's piano teacher. He is deaf and has poor eyesight.
Lindo Jong is Jing-mei's mother's friend.
Waverly Jong is Lindo's daughter. She is a Chinese chess champion and brags about it to Jing-mei.
Uncle Tin is Auntie Lindo's husband and Waverly Jong's father.
Father is Jing-Mei's father
Plot
"Two Kinds" tells of a mother and daughter expecting a great life in America. The daughter, Jing-mei, desperately wants to become a "Chinese Shirley Temple" by making her career of singing and dancing. Her mother is consumed in the belief that Jing-mei is a genius, thus making her do pointless tests that she sees other prodigy children doing in magazines such as standing on her head and reciting world capitals. All of this proves to be useless and the idea begins to fade away until Jing-mei's mother decides to make Jing-mei take piano lessons with their neighbor, Mr. Chong. The ex-pianist is, however, deaf and has poor eyesight. Having a teacher with disabilities gives her the ability to play as she wants to and ultimately not learn. A talent show ensues and her mother signs her up out of pride toward her friend Lindo Jong, whose daughter is a prodigy chess player. She plays a song called "Pleading Child" and does absolutely terrible. She thought her mother would be mad because the whole town was there watching. Surprising to Jing-Mei, her mother says nothing to her about the recital. Later, her mother asks if she is going to the piano lessons. Thinking that the recital was bad enough for her mother to have a notion that she wanted to quit, she declined. Forcing her to go, Jing-Mei exclaims "I wish I had never been born; I wish I were dead! Like them ." This left a blank face on her mother, horrified by what her daughter had remarked. The piano lessons had stopped and she didn't have to do any of the trivial tests her mother had forced her to do before. Her mother dies and as an adult Jing-mei is asked to take the old piano and her notes. She takes the piano into her home and begins playing through her old music. She finds that the song "Pleading Child" was only half of the song she had been playing. The other half was called "Perfectly Contented."
Significance of Title
The title "Two Kinds" is referred to by Jing-Mei's mother when she stated that there are only two kinds of daughters: “Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind!” She gives an example of the kind of daughter that she wants Jing-Mei to be, and the kind that Jing-Mei is being. Jing-Mei herself also refers to the title of the story, but she does this at the end and with a lighter tone. She does it by using two different pieces of music, “Pleading Child” and "Perfectly Contented”. These two pieces are different but Jing-Mei says that “After I had played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song."
Language
The language in "Two Kinds" varies per character. When Jing-Mei's mother speaks she uses what is known as broken or fractured English. When Jing-Mei speaks she simply just uses English. In return, this creates a verbal duel between the two. This can be seen when Mother tells Jing-Mei “Who ask you be genius?” Although this question is grammatically incomplete, it shows her confusion over not being able to comprehend her daughter's anger and frustration. The difference in Speech between Jing-Mei and her mother also emphasizes that they grew up in different parts of the world. Jing-Mei in America and her mother in China.
