Jing-Mei Character Analysis

Amy Tan’s short story â€Å"Two Kinds† illustrates a young girls struggle with her highly opinionated mother and finding her own way. Jing-Mei’s mother continually enforces Jing-Met to carry out tasks the way she wants her to, her way. Therefore Jing-Mei is unable to grow as her own person and carry out the choices she wants to. Throughout Jing-Mei’s journey she begins to develop negative thoughts of herself and displays the attributes of insecurity, stubbornness and cruelty.Jing-Mei’s stubbornness encourages her to believe her mother is being unfair and cruel, â€Å"when [her] mother had told [her] this, [she] felt as though [she’s] been sent to hell. † When in reality, all her mother is doing is guiding her so she won’t have to go through the hardships she herself had gone through (Page 5). Jing-Mei has no desire to cooperate with her mother. She fights with her every way she can, determined to extinguish her mother’s d reams of her becoming successful, Jing-Mei neglects her studies as well as the piano.Jing-Mei believes her mother is trying to change her, Jing-Mei states â€Å"I won’t let her change me†¦ I won’t be what I’m not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  despite her mother’s real intentions of her becoming successful (Page 3). Jing-Mei feels she must reject her mother in order to find herself â€Å"right then and there, [she] was determined to put a stop to her foolish pride. † however, in doing so, she is rejecting her heritage and identity (Page 7).Suyuan Woo’s constant criticism hands Jing-Mei the idea of lack of affection, which results in Jing-Mei’s insecurity. Suyuan’s values of family obedience, concealment of unnecessary emotions, and criticism as expressions of love contrast with Jing-Mei’s American ideas of independence, self-esteem and open expressions of love guide Jing-Mei’s belief of never fulfilling her mother’s e xpectations. Therefore, Jing-Mei constantly puts herself down â€Å"[she] looked in the mirror†¦ [she] began to cry, such a sad ugly girl! due to misunderstanding her mother’s intentions (Page 3). Her mother’s high expectations and criticism are her way of expressing love and faith in her daughter. Jing-Mei misunderstands her mother’s actions which lead her to the conclusion that she will â€Å"never be the kind of daughter [her mother] wants her to be† and leads her to the question of â€Å"why don’t you like me the way I am? I am not a genius! † (Page 10,5).