How to be a bad daughter: Conflict in “Two Kinds”, by Amy Tan

Abstract

The short-story “Two Kinds”, included in the anthology The Joy Luck Club (1989), is one of the best by Asian American author Amy Tan. The narrative deals with the expectations that a mother, Suyuan Woo, has regarding her daughter, Jing-Mei Woo. Suyuan insists on seeing her as a prodigy child, in order to fulfill the American dream of fame and richness. However, Jing-Mei is just a common girl, without any special talent. Consequently, a friction between them occurs, in the context of the generation gap and the differences in thought between the first wave immigrants and their descendants. To analyze this short-story, I resort to studies by specialists in Cultural Studies, to literary critics and, naturally, to my opinions.