Two Kinds Jing Mei Characters

Character Analysis In “Two Kinds,” the main character, Jing-mei, is portrayed as a skeptical, independent, and strong-willed young girl. These attributes are shown through her lack of faith in herself and her disobedience towards her mother. The first sign of Jing-mei’s skepticism is when she becomes impatient with the prodigy inside her. In fact, she imagines her inner prodigy telling herself that, “‘If you don’t hurry up and get me out of here, I’m disappearing for good”’ (Schilb & Clifford 241). Another instance where Jing-mei’s skepticism becomes apparent is when she looks into the mirror and realizes “that it would always be this ordinary face” staring back at her (Schilb & Clifford 241). Previous to that, she had held out hope that she
With her growing defiance, she decided to test her mother’s limits by playing a game to see how long it took before her mother gradually gave up, which did not take long. As a further act of independence, Jing-mei purposefully played the wrong notes at piano practice because she “was so determined not to try, not to be anybody different” (Schilb & Clifford 244). Jing-mei’s independence led directly to her strong will. Not only did she want no part in her mother’s forced lifestyle, but she “was determined to put a stop to her [mother’s] foolish pride” (Schilb & Clifford 244). After embarrassing herself during her piano performance, Jing-mei believed that her mother would finally stop forcing her to become a so-called “prodigy.” However, when that did not stop her mother, Jing-mei’s strong will broke through with ruthlessness when she said that she “wish[ed] [she] were dead” (Schilb & Clifford 247). That moment finally broke her mother down, but that did not stop Jing-mei. She continued to fail her mother, each time asserting her strong will because it was her “right to fall short of expectations” (Schilb & Clifford 247). Jing-mei’s reasoning behind all of her actions was that she “did not believe [she] could be anything