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"Two Kinds" Point of View

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The short story, “Two Kinds”, written by Amy Tan, is written from the point of view of the character named Jing-Mei. There are three experiences which demonstrate her viewpoint. In the first experience, Jing-Mei is being told by her mom about the “American dream”. At first, she strives to pursue this prodigy. Her mom would test her every night after dinner. Through Jing-Mei’s eyes, she starts to realize that it was not the life she wanted to live. Lines in the story illustrate this when he says “I won’t let her change me, I promised myself. I won’t be what I’m not.” (p.406). In the second experience, Jing-Mei performs in a talent show. Her mother forced her to learn how to play the piano. After seeing a little girl playing the piano magnificently, her mother was inspired to make Jing-Mei become a famous pianist. Through her eyes, she was not really concerned about playing well and didn’t practiced efficiently. As a result, when she played her piece at the talent show, she fumbled on some notes. As it suddenly became a snowball effect. At this point, Jing-Mei felt ashamed of herself and was not satisfied with how her performance went. Indeed, we see this exact thought in the lines of the story when she states, “my whole face quivering as I tried not to cry” (p.410). In the third experience, we see Jing-Mei at home about two days after the talent show. After her mom kept reminding her about her usual four o’clock lesson, Jing-Mei replies that she was not going to play the piano anymore. This angered her mother greatly, but she was just trying to stand up for herself and just wanted to be herself. Through her eyes, she feels like she doesn’t want to be the daughter of someone like her mother. These thoughts are illustrated in the lines from the story where she states, “Then I wish I wasn’t your daughter. I wish you weren’t my mother.”(p.411).

If the short story, “Two

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