Jing-Mei says this of her cousin Waverly:
We had grown up together and shared all the closeness of two sisters, squabbling over crayons and dolls. In other words, for the most part, we hated each other. I thought she was snotty. Waverly Jong had gained a certain amount of fame as "Chinatown's Littlest Chinese Chess Champion." "She bring home too many trophy." Auntie Lindo lamented that Sunday. "All day she play chess. All day I have no time do nothing but dust off her winnings."
Waverly represents the Asian dream of success in America, the dream that states you can excel and be whatever you want to be. Jing-Mei knows her mother wants her to have that kind of competitive success at music and so rebels. She wants to be her own person, not what her mother wants to mold her into.
Jing-Mei plays the wrong notes and has a terrible piano recital at a talent show. She then fights bitterly with her mother over continuing practicing the piano. Her mother says she must be an "obedient" child but Jing-Mei goes her own way. Waverly, at least as presented in this story, fulfills the role of the obedient child and feels superior to Jing-Mei for doing so. Waverly represents the obedience that wars internally with Jing-Mei's more free spirited personality.
Jing-Mei and Waverly have grown up together and have constantly been competing about one thing or another all their lives. Waverly is a champion chess player, but Jing-Mei, tired of the constant comparisons between herself and her cousin, determines not to play the one-upmanship game anymore, and just be herself. The two girls' mothers pressure them relentlessly to excel, in part so the mothers can have bragging rights, and it is this pressure which undoubtedly is behind the contentious relationship between Jing-Mei and Waverly. Waverly, however, basing in her mother's praise, has become obnoxious and stuck-up, to Jing-Mei's chagrin. After Jing-Mei's disastrous performance on the piano, Waverly just shrugs and tells Jing-Mei, "You aren't a genius like me".
In the story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, what is the conflict between Jing-mei and her mother?
In "Two Kinds," the central conflict focuses on the issue of Jing-Mei becoming a child prodigy. On one hand, her mother believes in the American Dream, the idea that it is possible for a person to be anything they want to be in the United States. She is determined that Jing-Mei will become a child prodigy of some sort. At first, she believes her daughter can be a child star, a "Chinese Shirley Temple." Later, she tries to get Jing-Mei to become a master of the piano.
On the other hand, Jing-Mei is a girl who has very little interest in becoming a child star of any description. Although Jing-Mei goes along with her mother's obsession, she becomes increasingly frustrated and desperate for her mother to accept her for who she is. When her mother gives her the schedule for piano lessons, for example, Jing-Mei's frustration reaches its climax:
Why don't you like me the way I am? I'm...
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not a genius.
It is this conflict which fuels the plot of the story and has a lasting effect on the mother/daughter relationship.
In the story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, what is the conflict between Jing-mei and her mother?
The conflict between Jing-mei and her mother is over Jing-mei’s piano lessons. Jing-mei does not want to play anymore, but her mother wants her to become a prodigy.
When Jing-mei’s mother decides she should be a prodigy, Jing-mei is on board at first.
"Of course, you can be a prodigy, too," my mother told me when I was nine. "You can be best anything…”
Jing-mei is interested in being a prodigy. She plays along for a while, trying to become some kind of prodigy. It doesn’t take, and Jing-mei gets frustrated. When her mother tries to get her to take piano lessons, she is not excited.
"Why don't you like me the way I am?" I cried. "I'm not a genius! I can't play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn't go on TV if you paid me a million dollars!"
But Jing-mei’s mother insists, and she starts the lessons with the elderly—and deaf—Mr. Chong. Unfortunately, she figures out that she does not really have to learn anything pretty quickly. As a result, her first concert is an embarrassment for Jing-mei and her mother.
Jing-mei and her mother have a big argument when her mother tries to get her to continue playing the piano after the disastrous conflict. Her mother drags her to the piano bench to practice, and Jing-mei tells her she wishes she was dead like her twin babies in China. Her mother is so saddened that she drops the issue.