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"Two Kinds" by Amy Tan

What does Jing-mei`s mother want her to be?

Why does Suyuan want her daughter to have curls?

Why is Jing-mei able to get away with making a lot of mistakes on the piano?

Answer and explanation:

What does Jing-mei's mother want her to be?

In the short story "Two Kinds" by author Amy Tan, Suyuan is the mother of the narrator, Jing-mei. Suyuan is a Chinese woman who immigrated to the US. She is still very attached to her Chinese culture and life principles. One day, she decides she wants Jing-mei to be a child prodigy, a genius of some kind. The area doesn't really matter - singing, dancing, acting, doing math, playing the piano -, anything goes as long as Jing-mei is successful.

Why does Suyuan want her daughter to have curls?

Suyuan wants her daughter to have curls because she wants her to have a Shirley Temple look. They watch Shirley Temple movies together, while Suyuan tells Jing-mei she can do those things (acting), since she already knows how to fake cry. Suyuan takes her daughter to a beauty training school to get her hair curled, but the result is a mess. They end up having to cut her hair and give her a Peter Pan look.

Why is Jing-mei able to get away with making a lot of mistakes on the piano?

Jing-mei gets away with her mistakes on the piano because of two reasons. First, the lessons take place at the teacher's apartment, away from her mother. Without anyone around to judge and demand perfection, Jing-mei just pretends to be doing a good job. Second, the teacher is deaf. He thinks she is doing well because she moves her hands quickly to deceive his eyes. When the day of the recital finally comes, as we could expect already, Jing-mei's performance is awful.