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By: Deanna Buitrago

February 22, 2013

In Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds” it is about a girl’s journey to finding herself and stating her independence and how she differs from what her mother wants. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” it is about Mama’s journey through her daughter’s visit home from college and dealing with the way she acts. In these stories the main characters are being faced with someone who wants them to be something they are not or wanting them to do something they do not want to do. Both come from different backgrounds however they both have someone in their life who is trying to be someone that they are not. Both of the main characters get to have their moment where they finally have had enough with the person who is trying to make them do something they do not want to do. They get to fight for what they believe in.

In the story “Two Kinds” it is about a girl named Jing-Mei, she is the main character in the story. This story revolves around the relationship between Jing-Mei and her mother. From the beginning of this story Jing-Mei’s mother has tried to find a hidden “talent” in her daughter; making her try many different types of activities to try to find the talent. ‘“Of course you can be a prodigy, too,’ my mother told me when I was nine.”’(Tan, 446) Jing-Mei’s mother was very persistent in trying to find a talent.

In the beginning of trying to find something for Jing-Mei to be good at, she was excited, “In fact, in the beginning, I was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so. I pictured this prodigy part of me as many different images, trying each one on for size.” (Tan, 447) After a while Jing-Mei had had enough of it and it showed when she spoke to her mother. However, even though she fought her mother about becoming a “prodigy” her mother would not have it. She did not think of it that way, she wanted her daughter to succeed and even when Jing-Mei confronted her she denied wanting her to be a genius. ‘“Who ask...