Two Kinds Literary Analysis

In “Two Kinds”, Amy Tan, the author shows the expectations immigrant parents have for their first generation children. Throughout “Two Kinds” the mother and daughter bump heads because the mother wants her daughter to become a child prodigy and be the best she can be; while on the other hand the daughter only wants to be herself and does not handle the pressure well. The way these expectations affect children is present through motif, repetition and diction. This helps us understand that immigrant parents may be tough on their children to help them achieve what they themselves were unable to accomplish in their youth.