Mother-Daughter Relationships.
Amy Tan's story "Two Kinds" is a powerful example of conflicting gender roles that plays a crucial role in the struggle between Jing-Mei and her mother. In every family, parents have, at one point, imposed their failures and expectations on their children, and in worse cases have even tried to live through their children. In most cases, it can be beneficial for the children if the parents guide them in a specific direction, but as in this story it can sometimes backfire, and the child can be left with feelings of disapproval and questions of "self-worth". Instead of a parent forcing a child to act a certain way or live its life in a way that the parents thinks will be beneficial to the child, a parent should step back and let the child be its own person and just direct the child in the right direction. In this story "Two Kinds," the mother is trying to mold her daughter into something she is not. .
"Two Kinds is a slice of events from her childhood that shows the conflict between Tan and her mother, the collision of old and new cultures, the past and the present, parents" expectations vs. reality, and obedience vs. defiance. Pairs of opposing elements comprise the whole of the story; the title itself, Two Kinds, shows the tension that Tan creates." (Shear). According to Amy Ling from the Pergamon Press, "It isn't uncommon in Chinese culture for immigrant parents of Americanized Chinese children to try to force certain aspects of the parents life and ambitions onto their children." (Tan). Tan is well known for portraying mother-daughter relationships in a lot of her novels. The most popular story that depicts the mother-daughter relationships is "The Joy Luck Club". .
The major conflict in this story is between Jing-Mei and her mother. Ever since Jing-Mei was a little girl, her mother always believed she could be a prodigy. Her mother would watch television shows or read articles in magazines to get ideas from other amazing children to try to impress upon on her own daughter.