Separated by age, upbringing and ambition, the two main characters in Amy Tan's short story "Two Kinds," struggle to find common ground between the two of them. Jing Mei's mother, a Chinese immigrant in America, puts her own personal gratification on the shoulders of her daughter. This is apparent when Jing Mei's mother, not exactly knowing what talents her daughter possesses, is convinced that Jing Mei can be a prodigy just because she's been born in America. However, as an American born child, Jing Mei does not want to live up to the expectations of her mother. The separation in ideals between Chinese immigrant mother and American daughter places extreme expectations on Jing Mei, which leads to character assassination, rebellion and emotional devastation between the two of them. As a result, this conflict destroys their mother-daughter relationship.
One would think that by Jing Mei's mother losing her mother and father, a home, a husband, and twin baby girls (Tan 1) that this devastation would give her the experience needed to identify the signs of an emotional struggle with her daughter. Unfortunately, it did not and Jing Mei's mother stood steadfast in her short sighted thinking that living in America would afford both she and Jing Mei the luxuries and benefits that China did not. Additionally, Jing Mei's mother buried her own helpless feelings and pushes Jing Mei with unrealistic goals and her own ambitions by believing that with hard work and determination, "America is where you can be anything you want to be" (Tan 1); "You can be prodigy, too" (Tan 1); and "You can be best anything" (Tan 1). While individually taken, it appears Jing Mei's mother is being encouraging to her daughter. However, taken in its totality, it really shows just how fixated and aggressive she is on Jing Mei to be successful and the pressure she is putting on her.
