Response Paper Two Kinds by Amy Tan

A short story Two Kinds written by the modern American writer Amy Tan is a psychological story which proves the fact that any person can be what she or he wants to be only if it is his or her own desire but not a desire of somebody else. In other words, you must not force anybody to do anything in his or her life. The story shows the relationship between a mother and a daughter. In our case, the mother of the Chinese girl put too much pressure on her daughter that the girl rebelled against it.

It is clear that a Chinese woman who came to the United States to build a new life made up her mind to bring up a child who will become famous due to the talent. She believed that her daughter who was 9 years old also could be prodigy.

I think it is very important for any mother to take care of her child and to think about the future of her child. That is why I cannot say that the girl’s mother did something bad. She only wanted her daughter to find the scope of activity where she would be able to show her talent.

The only thing I cannot agree with is that the girl’s mother did not regard her daughter’s opinion. She insisted on her daughter playing piano while the girl did not like that idea.
The example which proved the fact that the girl was not good at music is her participation in a talent show which was held in the church hall. The girl played a piece from Schumann’s Scene’s from Childhood and her play did not impress the public. Moreover, some people said that her play was awful.

The girl gave up her music lessons. She did nor want to continue her music education because she did not like music at all. It was her mother’ dream to teach her daughter music. The author of the story shows a psychological struggle of the small girl who wants to please her mother and that is why agrees to all her ideas.

In fact, the girl is tired of her mother’s ideas to make prodigy of her. She says: “You want me to be someone that I am not!” The girl tries to explain her mother that she will never be the kind of daughter she wants her to be. The girl is lost because she cannot understand her real mission in this world. Two kinds of person struggle inside her: the person who wants to express herself and the person created by her mother’s desire.

I think that this story is an educative one. It teaches to see individuality in each person. It teaches not to place pressure on other people who have their own desires and goals in life.
The parents should not control the life of their children, they should only help them to make a choice and to find a right direction in life. The girl’s mother’s mistake was in her attempt to take control over her daughter’s life.

I am sure that it is necessary to give a freedom of choice to any child because the talents can be revealed only if the child is really interested in something but not if he or she is forced to do it.