Suyuan gives a green jade pendant to her daughter and refers to that as Jing-mei’s life importance. That is why she does not identify any qualities in her personality and underestimates herself as compared to Waverly. The hidden message that requires attention actually is the fact that Jing-mei does not know what the best quality is. In the whole episode, Tan gives the audience the impression that Jing-mei can not tell good quality crabs from the bad ones. On the New Year’s dinner, Jing-mei picks up a bad crab and gets disparaged by Waverly. Jing-mei is particularly made to think negatively about her mother because of certain incidents. Jing-mei is of the view that her mother’s uninterrupted criticism signifies her lack of love, whereas in reality, the high expectations her mother associates with her and her mother’s severity are the symbols of her immense love, care and consideration towards Jing-mei. The clash of their personalities in fact symbolizes the clash of the Chinese and the American culture. Her mother is prudent and criticizing while Jing-mei wants freedom. Her mother and she are on the opposite extremes with respect to personality. Suyuan to Jing-mei is an extremely demanding and hard-to-satisfy Chinese mom who maintains an uncompromising attitude about the future of her daughter. Jing-mei does not have an all-time-pleasant sort of relationship with her mother. hinking that they have committed a big mistake by providing their daughters with opportunities in America that have broken their daughters’ ties with their indigenous Chinese culture. Of all the daughters, it is nobody else but Jing-mei who develops personality to the least level. Jing-mei confesses that she is fully capable of becoming a wonderful pianist, though she chose not to be one, and accordingly is not one. She feels that it is her fundamental right to be just the way she felt like being. As a child, Jing-mei maintains an inflexible attitude regarding expectations her mother associates with her. Jing Mei is the protagonist of the story. This not only unites the three sisters, but also provides Jing-mei with a solid understanding of her mother’s character. It is nobody else but Jing-mei who makes her half-sisters aware of what happened to Suyuan which is a very important incident of the whole story. She repents having ignored her mother whom, she feels so related to while traveling to China. This can be estimated from the immense arousal of emotions in her on her way back to China. An example of this is Jing-mei's unwillingness to discuss her conflicts with her mother and her unwillingness to apologize to her mother.The character of Jing-mei can also be perceived as a bridge between China and America. Jing-mei lets her pride stand between herself and her mother. This is an example of the immense amount of pride that Jing-mei possesses. Throughout the story whenever Jing-mei's mother makes a suggestion, Jing-mei goes out of her way to contradict or oppose her mother. Jing-mei's pride drives her to refuse to subject herself to being dictated by her mother. On page 97, paragraph 3, Jing-mei states, "So now on nights when my mother presented her tests, I performed listlessly."" This statement is an example of how Jing-mei reacts to her mother's efforts.Īnother character trait of Jing-mei's which is probably the most significant is her pride. This is the reason why Jing-mei does not put her all into whatever activities that her mother selects for her to participate in. Jing-mei feels that she can be successful through her own efforts, hard work, and determination. Jing-mei's mother wants her to be successful by being a child prodigy and Jing-mei does not feel that she needs her mother's help. Jing-mei's independence plays a major role in making up her personality. The combinations of these three character traits are what aid in creating conflict in the story. Jing-mei has three prominent character traits that make up her strong-willed personality, and these traits are stubbornness, independence, and determination. In the beginning of the story, Amy Tan provides the audience with just enough insight into the character Jing-mei in order for the audience to determine a few character traits that combine to make up Jing-mei's personality, which evolves throughout the course of the story. "Two Kinds" is a fictional short story written by Amy Tan that tells of the trials and tribulations that a young girl and her mother experience when the girl feels that her mother is pushing her too hard to become a child prodigy.
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