Two Kinds

Amy Tan’s short story “Two Kinds” is at its core a story about grief. She has set up a nonlinear narrative in two parts: in the current day (presumably 1989) and approximately 25 years prior, when the narrator was nine years old. The narrator imparts facts about other times (i.e. 1949), but the plot and narrative itself is constrained to these two timelines.

The story begins with a short description of the mother, Suyuan, and what her life was like before moving to the United States and having Jing-mei. By framing the story this way, Tan emphasizes the distance from which this narrative will be told; this is not a story about a child’s relationship with her mother told from the perspective of that child, but rather a story told by that child once she has grown up and had a chance to process her feelings.

The grief is also twofold; it manifests both in the mother’s story, through her past trauma in China of losing her first family, and in the daughter’s story, of losing her innocence, her confidence, and her trust in adults and herself. This story addresses the moment Jing-mei becomes aware of herself and her own limitations: “In the years that followed, I failed her so many times, each time asserting my own will, my right to fall short of expectations” (26). She is referred to as a “genius” and a “prodigy” both in her own right and in comparison with peers in her community and strangers on the television. Her mother pressures her to succeed, but she also fills her with a false sense of her own ability and worth. Even after 20 years’ worth of disappointments, Suyuan believes in her daughter: “‘You pick up fast,’ said my mother, as if she knew this was certain. ‘You have natural talent. You could been genius if you want to.’”

“Two Kinds” is also a story about motherhood and mother-daughter relationships, and it appears as one of 16 in a collection of linked stories revolving around four women who began a mahjong club and their four daughters. The title comes from a line in the story when Jing-mei and her mother are having a devastating argument; Suyuan believes there are two kinds of daughters: those who act out, and those who are obedient. She will only tolerate obedient daughters, though she sees her own daughter as being willful. While said in a moment of anger in the hopes of controlling her daughter, Suyuan’s words have the opposite effect on headstrong Jing-mei. In fact, her response does permanent damage to their relationship.

Chinese culture and the experiences of first- and second-generation immigrants are inexorably tied up with familial relationships in “Two Kinds.” Readers who may not be familiar with some general differences in the expectations of Eastern parents versus Western households may be surprised by certain demands or priorities Suyuan places on Jing-mei as a young child. They may also be surprised to find other stereotypes reframed; while the Woos are hard on Jing-mei, her mother outwardly expresses her confidence and pride in her daughter both in the home, as a disciplinary tactic, and to her friends in the Joy Luck Club and the church community. On the other hand, readers who have also grown up as children of immigrants may find connection with Jing-mei and her story.