What is the relationship between Jing-mei and her mother in "Two Kinds"? Why does Jing-mei resist her mother's efforts?

The relationship between Jing-mei and her mother, Suyuan, becomes largely antagonistic as Suyuan continues to push Jing-mei to be a prodigy at something, anything. Feeling as though her mother does not accept her the way that she is, that her mother doesn't love her for herself, Jing-mei begins to think, "I won't let her change me, I promised myself. I won't be what I'm not." She begins to see her mother as an adversary rather than an ally. Jing-mei seems to know that her mother will reproach her for not trying her hardest almost as soon as Jing-mei credits another little girl on television for trying hard, despite not being the best piano player. Suyuan says, "Just like you [...]. Not the best. Because you not trying." After this, Jing-mei determines that she will not try at all. The more her mother seems to push, the more Jing-mei does nothing, as if to prove a point. She shouts at her mother "Why don't you like me the way I am? 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!" At this point, it has become a battle of wills for Jing-mei. She doesn't want to gratify what she sees as her mother's desire to show her off or brag to others about her ability.

What is the relationship between Jing-mei and her mother in "Two Kinds"? Why does Jing-mei resist her mother's efforts?

Jing mei and her mother are representative of many first and second generation immigrant families. Jimg mei is growing up in the United States where the ideas of self-determination and freedom are taught even to children. Her mother comes from a different country where children do not have such free will and are supposed to serve their families. When Jing mei's mother sees the young Asian girl on television, she sees an opportunity to advance the familiy's fortune and status. All Jing mei sees is someone who is forcing her to do something she hates. So she resists her mother's effort to develop her talents because she wants to be able to determine her future herself. Although she may not even recognize it at such a young age, she is fighting for self-determination, something Americans fully understand, but to Jing mei's mother it is willfulness and disobedience.

What is the relationship between Jing-mei and her mother in "Two Kinds"? Why does Jing-mei resist her mother's efforts?

To a large extent, the relationship between Jing-Mei and her mother Suyuan is determined by what happened back in China in 1949. There, Suyuan was forced to leave behind her twin daughters, and this has caused her considerable regret and sadness ever since. It has also led to her wanting her remaining daughter to avail herself of all the opportunities that American life has to offer.

This means that Suyuan wants Jing-Mei to become a child prodigy, just like the highly talented children she sees on television. The problem is that Jing-Mei's not quite so enthusiastic. Thoroughly Americanized, she doesn't share the values of her tiger mother, whose mentality is more traditionally Chinese than American. This clash of cultures persists throughout Jing-Mei's painful and ultimately fruitless efforts to become what her mother wants her to be.

Before long, the relationship between mother and daughter has become not just a culture clash but also a power play. Once Jing-Mei realizes that she will never be a child prodigy, she uses the one weapon she has left in her locker: her knowledge that Suyuan is still guilty and upset over leaving behind her twin daughters in China.

Jing-Mei angrily screams at Suyuan, saying that she—Jing-Mei—wishes she were dead like the twins. It's a low blow and a sign that Jing-Mei is ready to play dirty in this epic battle of wills with her mother.

What is the relationship between Jing-mei and her mother in "Two Kinds"? Why does Jing-mei resist her mother's efforts?

Jing-Mei and her mother share a belief in Jing-Mei's ability to become a child prodigy while she is young. They watch Shirley Temple movies together and Jing-Mei agrees to her mother's haircuts and looks forward to her eventual fame.  When it becomes apparent that Jing-Mei does not have the combination of talent and drive to become a child prodigy, their relationship becomes strained. Each is strong-willed, but they move in opposing directions as Jing-Mei's mother increases the pressure to practice piano and Jing-Mei subverts her authority.  

The eventual showdown over the continuation of piano lessons after the disastrous recital is the breaking point in their relationship. Jing-Mei puts her foot down, and does so with cruelty as she takes a shot at her mother's abandonment of her children in China. Her anger after years of being pressured to become a success reaches a peak, and from this day onward, her mother remains in a quietly disappointed retreat. Like many mothers and daughters, they eventually make peace with one another. They do this, however, in a way in which neither completely abandons what they wished for; for Jing-Mei's mother it is for her to be a genius, while for Jing-Mei it is simply to be accepted for what she has accomplished.

What is the relationship between Jing-mei and her mother in "Two Kinds"? Why does Jing-mei resist her mother's efforts?

In considering both of the main characters, we can feel empathy as readers with both of their positions, and likewise we can identify that the way they interact can be cruel and heartless.

We are made to feel both pity for and resentment at Jing Mei's mother. We are given brief details about her difficult past in China and how she viewed her coming to America as representing being somewhere where anyone could achieve anything, so from this perspective we can understand the pressure under which Jing Mei is placed by her mother: partly her mother wants her daughter to have the success and prosperity that she was never able to have in her childhood and life.

However, through use of first person narration we are able to identify with the character of Jing Mei, and appreciate her increasing resentment throughout the story of her mother and her desire to be her own person and to be "normal".

Jing Mei and her mother both commit acts of cruely to each other, the high point of conflict coming after Jing Mei's disastrous debut as a pianist, when she refers to her mother's other children that died. Both characters are incredibly stubborn, and even though Jing Mei admits she could have become a competent pianist, she deliberately chose not to as a means of defying her mother's wishes and becoming the person she chose to be.

What is interesting about the ending of the story is Jing Mei's description of the piano as a "shiny trophy" - suggesting perhaps that she had metaphorically "won" it, but on her own terms, rather than by following her mother's plan for her life. Jing Mei's realisation that the piece of music "Pleading Child" is coupled with "Perfectly Contented" likewise provides a pleasing ending to this excerpt as we come to see that Jing Mei has reached a stage where she is no longer trying to gain her mother's approval and is at peace with her own decisions and life choices.

The two main characters in "Two Kinds" therefore are similar in their stubborness and resolute nature. Jing Mei's mother insists on trying to mould her daughter into a "prodigy" for a number of motives - both for her own good and for pride. However, in response to this pressure, Jing Mei embarks on a quest to gain the right to not be spectacular and to be normal, gaining her own independence and sense of selfhood through the process of this quest

What is Jing-Mei's relationship with her mother at the start of "Two Kinds"?

Jing-Mei, or June, has a conflictual relationship with her mother. While she honestly desires to be the model daughter that she believes her mother desires, she also must face her personal limitations and develop her own interests and skills. The narrative apparently begins in the present, as of when the work was written, with June speaking as an adult. This temporal placement only becomes obvious later through June’s mention of the “first husband” and “twin baby girls” that her mother had lost in China. June is now reminiscing on the ways their relationship changed, especially during a few crucial months of her childhood. Post–World War II optimism contributed to the popularity of ideas about personal growth, which her immigrant mother fervently embraced.

She told her daughter, “You can be best anything,” and seized on the idea of the “prodigy” as one that her daughter should embody. The initial experiments toward achieving that goal revolved around physical appearance as much as talent. Watching child actress Shirley Temple, the mother was especially optimistic about the lack of training or talent needed for acting, which seemed to consist of just expressing emotions: “Don't need talent for crying!” Despite a horrible fiasco in a beauty salon, where they tried to force her hair into “big fat curls,” June matched or even surpassed her mother’s enthusiasm. This sensation was not so much linked to personal development, however, as to parental acceptance.

In the beginning I was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so. I pictured this prodigy part of me as many different images, and I tried each one on for size. ... In all of my imaginings I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect: My mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach.

What is the source of conflict between Jing-mei and her mother in "Two Kinds"?

The main source of conflict between Jing-mei and her mother is the piano, and the fact that Jing-mei has not special talent, and Jing-mei’s mother wants her to be someone she’s not.

Jing-mei’s mother decides she needs to be a prodigy when she is about eight years old.  As Jing-mei states, they “didn't immediately pick the right kind of prodigy” and she had to try several different talents, none of which she was any good at.  Then, her mother traded housekeeping for piano lessons and practice, and Jing-mei was going to be a piano prodigy.

Jing-mei did not take to the piano well.  She objected because she did not want to be made into someone she was not.

But I was so determined not to try, not to be anybody different, and I learned to play only the most ear-splitting preludes, the most discordant hymns.

Jing-mei practices without practicing for an entire year before she has a recital and everyone finds out she can’t play.  She expects her mother to give up, but her mother does not.  She drags her to the piano bench and tells her that the only kind of daughter that can live in her house is an obedient daughter. 

Although the main conflict here is Jing-mei’s mother’s desire to make her into a piano player, there are many factors at work.  There is the conflict between American and Chinese values, as Jing-mei wants to make her own choices and her mother wants to make them for her and expects her to dutifully go on.  There is the inevitable conflict between mother and daughter.  There is also the conflict between the American dream of universal success, and the reality that we sometimes fail.