Student Question

In "Two Kinds," how do the last three paragraphs reveal Jing-mei's complex relationship with her mother?

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In the last three paragraphs of the short story "Two Kinds," the author uses literary devices such as imagery, figurative language, and tone to reveal Jing-mei’s complex relationship with her mother by demonstrating that while the moments of being a "Pleading Child" stand out most vividly in her memory, there were also long periods of her childhood when she was "Perfectly Contented."

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The imagery in these final paragraphs takes Jing-mei back to the central conflict of her childhood between herself and her mother. As she sees the "handwritten scales" and the "yellow tape" holding the music books together, she recalls how the piano had come between herself and her mother.

Jing-mei had never wanted to be a pianist, yet her mother believed in her talents. Jing-mei had cheated her way through her lessons, and when her lack of effort was revealed at the recital, her mother became only more resolute that Jing-mei should practice harder. She had refused, and eventually, the piano stood as a reminder of Jing-mei's failures. In these paragraphs, Jing-mei opens a book to the piece she had played at the recital, and she is flooded with complex emotions surrounding that day and the realization that along the way, she had disappointed her mother many times.

When Jing-mei returns...

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home in these paragraphs, she also begins packing up her mother's things, and thealliteration of the s sound sweeps through her memories:

I put the jewelry in special silk pouches. The sweaters I put in mothproof boxes. I found some old Chinese silk dresses, the kind with little slits up the sides. I rubbed the old silk against my skin, and then wrapped them in tissue. (Bold added for emphasis)

Memories come flooding back to Jing-mei as she touches her mother's personal belongings, and the alliteration here mimics the whispers of her childhood and the memories of her mother. This is a tender and beautiful reminder of her mother's life, which stands in contrast to the way her mother's goals for Jing-mei sometimes created conflict between them.

The tone here is sentimental, breaking from the angry tone that often characterizes Jing-mei's reaction to her mother's interventions. Looking back, she can see that their relationship was complex, symbolically represented by the two songs on opposite pages in the book. She had often played the part of the "Pleading Child," but she also now realizes that there were long moments in her childhood when she was "Perfectly Contented." These two halves of the same song symbolically represent the relationship she shared with her mother.

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