Character Analysis: A Pair Of Tickets

There is a linguistic gap between the mothers, who are the first generation of Chinese immigrants, and their American-born daughters. The mothers speak only fragments of English and their daughters speak little or no Chinese at all. So the communication often becomes a matter of translations and leads to misunderstandings. The first misunderstanding with translation is shown when Jing-mei tries to explain the significance of the club’s name,

Consequently, she did not know the range of opportunities that were present in America and took them for granted, unlike her mother, who recognized and pushed her daughter toward them. More than anything, Jing-mei wanted to be her own self, not what her mother wanted her to be despite having Jing-mei’s best interests at heart, both the result of their generational and cultural divide. Her careless perspective on life resulting from her American identity are strongly juxtaposed with her mother’s hard-working and optimistic views. Furthermore, Tan describes when the pair’s brewing tension due to their cultural differences culminate when Jing-mei refuses to practice after a failed performance and her mother yells, “Only two kinds of daughters… those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!”(67). This defining moment clearly lays out the obvious divide between the cultures of Jing-mei and her mother. Jing-mei has been greatly influenced by the individualistic, independent ways of the United States, whereas her mother has retained her more traditionally Chinese values of respect and obedience. The “two kinds” of daughters represent the two cultures that Jing-mei and her mother embody, and how these differences influence their separate views on their place in the world. Jing-mei’s mother believed that if a person worked hard enough,

Four Chinese mothers have migrated to America. Each hope for their daughter’s success and pray that they will not experience the hardships faced in China. One mother, Suyuan, imparts her knowledge on her daughter through stories. The American culture influences her daughter, Jing Mei, to such a degree that it is hard for Jing Mei to understand her mother's culture and life lessons. Yet it is not until Jing Mei realizes that the key to understanding who her

Mostly, Jing-mei 's fears echo those of her peers, the other daughters of the Joy Luck Club members. They have always identified with Americans (Jing-mei also goes by the English name"June") but are beginning to regret having not paid attention to their Chinese history. Her fears also speak to a two-way fear shared by the mothers, who wonder whether, by giving their daughters American opportunities and (the ability to survive with no outside help), they have abandoned them from their Chinese history.

“Two kinds” is a story, a Chinese girl whose life is influenced by her mother. Her mother came to America after losing everything in China. Jing-Mei’s mother was immigrated early to America from China who has “American dream”. Her mother had high expectations on her daughter and did not care how it could affect her. It made Jing-Mei become a stubborn and rebellious person. “In the years that followed, I failed her so many times, each time asserting my own will, … for unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be, I could only be me. (104) She expressed her anger by going against her mother's expectations in ‘who I am’, it inferred that such tendency come from her childhood experiences. Jing-Mei was frustrated because she could not satisfy her mother.

In The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Jing-Mei and her mother have a very rocky relationship. Tan develops a relationship between Suyuan and Jing-Mei that is distant in the beginning due to culture differences and miscommunication, but gradually strengthens with time and understanding. Both of them have different backgrounds and have been influenced by two different cultures. Suyuan grew up in China and behaves according to the Chinese culture and her American-born daughter Jing-Mei is influenced by the American culture that surrounds her and wants to become part of it.  Their relationship is also shaped by the pressure Suyuan puts on Jing-Mei. She wants her to be a perfect

The story is around an American-conceived Chinese lady, Jing-mei, who goes to China to meet her twin stepsisters that her mom was compelled to relinquish numerous prior years. Since her mom had passed away just a couple of months prior, the meeting is full of vulnerability and bitterness. Jing-mei battles with self-character issues and what it truly intends to be Chinese. En route, she takes in reality about the reasons her mom deserted her sisters and the significance behind their names. At last, she at last associates with her sisters and makes the passionate association with her Chinese legacy.

Jimmy knows too well the agonies of abandonment. First, when his mother, Cecilia, ran away with Richard to pursue a better lifestyle. Then, due to his father’s, Damacio Baca, alcoholisms and violent behavior; he also had to leave Jimmy behind. In spite of the drawbacks from abandonment to being a maximum security prisoner in Arizona State Prison, Jimmy preserver’s the darkness of prison by overcoming his illiteracy. However Cecilia and Damacio is not as fortunate as their child; Cecilia is shot by Richard after confronting him for a divorce and Damacio chokes to death after he is released from the detox center(Baca 263). Therefore the most significant event in this section of the memoir, A Place to Stand by Jimmy Santiago Baca is the death of Jimmy’s parents.

1. What is Leah’s attitude to her Chinese identity as she travels to China? How do we know? (page 10)

Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long-cherished wish.”(277) Which explains that they are all like her mother and yet they aren’t, but all that doesn’t matter because all that counts is blood and heritage. Through her meeting with her half-sisters, Jing-mei finds her heritage and identity.

Jing-Mei can't deny who she is because it's in her DNA. Suyuan, her mother, told her "Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel and think Chinese" (Tan 139). Her mother said that to her because Jing-Mei is Americanize and knows little about her heritage. Tan is pretty much describing herself that she was born in American and knows little about her background. Jing-Mei tells her mother about her and her friends "I was about as Chinese as they were" (Tan 139). Jing-Mei means that she knows as much about Chinese as her white friends in America would know. But her mother claims that she knows more because she is a nurse and keeps telling her that no matter what, she is Chinese and it's in her.

Even the hotel she stays in looks like "a grander version of the Hyatt Regency" and the Chinese feast she had envisioned was replaced by "hamburgers, french fries, and apple a la mode." It is not until she finally meets her twin sisters, in modern Shanghai, that she realizes that she is Chinese because of "blood" and not face or place. Within this story, however, is her mother's story, set in another time and place. Fleeing from the Japanese invasion, during World War Two in 1944, Jing-Mei's mother is forced to abandon her twin daughters on the road between Kweilin and Chungking. Upon hearing her mother's story Jing-Mei Woo is able to understand a great deal more about her mother and their relationship, as well as her own past.

Jing-mei realized that she was an ordinary individual and that she would not let her mother’s expectations change that. She no longer believed that she “could be anything [she] wanted to be, [rather she] could only be [herself]” (Tan 44). In using a limited, first-person point of view, Tan is able to show Jing-mei’s emotional progress of following her mother’s dreams to finally realizing her own dream.

People’s self-awareness develops and matures as they age and interact with others. This development can be seen throughout the story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan. In the story the protagonist Jing-Mei, develops from being a young girl who lacks identity and is constantly searching for it, to a woman who has found a sense of self because of her persistent and defiant nature. At the end of the story, Jing-Mei is a confident woman who knows what she likes and dislikes.

However, they have different cultural perspectives not based on an item, but instead on how they view life. Jing-Mei’s mother grew up in China under strict living and high expectations. Before she gave birth to Jing-Mei she had two daughters who she held to a high level of expectation when it came to what it is they can do. But when she moved to America and had Jing-Mei she started to notice that she was different than her other two daughters, but could not figure out why.The reason Jing-Mei was different because she was born and grew up in a different culture than that of a Chinese one. Jing-Mei grew up in a culture where you could be what you wanted to be whether it was a famous all-star prodigy, or a regular, everyday commoner. Another way culture is viewed differently is by the way of