Two Kinds

Pleading Child, Perfectly Contented

Focusing on: Two Kinds

This chapter as a whole made me wonder, "wow, are all Asian moms like this?"Jing-mei and Suyuan Woo's scenario scarily reminded me of the dilemma that I had and sometimes still have with my mother, being that I started playing piano through my mother's "good intentions." Like Jing-Mei, or in other words June, who hated learning piano, I also hated piano during the first few years of learning. Also, ironically, just like June, I only became fond with and learned the importance of playing piano once I grew up. One scene that made me think this was the scene in which Jing-mei discovered that Pleading Child and Perfectly Contented were two halves of the same song. June would have never been able to achieve this if she did not go beyond the hates she had towards piano, which she was able to do once she became an adult. Once I went past this stage, I also was able to achieve much more by, discovering a hidden joy for piano and finding opportunities to play piano for other causes. One scene that convinced me that my mom was like Suyuan was when Suyuan said in response to June's complaints and cries, " 'Who ask you to be genius?,' " " 'Only ask you be your best. For you sake.' " This line made me get a sense of deja vu in that what she said was way too similar to what my mom would tell me.Though I may have not been as rebellious as Jing-mei and my mom was not as strict as Suyuan, I believe that we are able to totally connect with this chapter. Two Kinds also portrayed the fact that sometimes, the only way you can really appreciate something or someone is once they are gone.

One adjective to describe the relationship between June and her mother is " incomplete ". I believe that Amy Tan was trying to symbolize piano learning with the relationship between June and her mom. When June sits down at the piano again, reminiscing about her past, it is expressed that she thinks that, "it was a good piano." Ironically, though she hated even the slightest thought of playing the piano, she was now drawn to it and even complementing and admiring it. Just like how June is only able to regret and miss the importance of her piano playing after she stops learning how to play, she is only able to regret and realize the importance of what her mother said and did once she is gone. Like her piano learning, Jing-mei's relationship with Suyuan was incomplete and had,in a sense, so much potential.

One writing technique that Amy Tan uses in this chapter is simile. An example of this was shown when Tan expressed staccato playing as being like the "march," of, "an obedient soldier." Her use of simile in this passage helped teach readers what stacatto playing was, and in general all her explanations of different types of piano playing were understandable and entertaining to read about. Thus, her use of similes helped the story flow, despite the many facts about piano playing.

I believe that this chapter connects with the allegory in that they are both trying to expose the same theme. This theme being that "children should listen to their mothers, because their mothers know what's best for them." Just like the disobedient daughter who does not believe what her mother says about the The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates, June doesn't trust what her mother says about being a "prodigy" and "becoming whatever you want to become." These two daughters are rebellious and go against their mothers because they do not believe in their mothers' words and thus become disobedient daughters who, in the words of Suyuan, "follow their own mind."Also, just like the disobedient daughter in the beginning of the story, June realizes that her mother is correct only once she "falls," or in this case, only when her mother is gone.