She was at times a difficult mother for Jing-mei, and she was competitive and bullying to some of her friends. Though she married Canning in China and moved to California, she never forgot those babies, and spent her life trying to find them. Suyuan had a troubled past-she gave up her twin daughters when they were babies and lost her first husband in the war. Wife of Canning Woo and, previously, Wang Fuchi. Suyuan Woo: Mother of Jing-mei, Wang Chwun Yu and Wang Chwun Hwa. She also begins to see that though they often fought and rarely saw eye to eye, her mother did love her and understood her, at times, even better than she understood herself. When she finally meets her mother's other daughters in China, she feels like she has her mother back. After her mother's death, she begins to see that her mother's history is part of her, and China is part of her identity. She does not speak Chinese fluently, and she tried to reject Chinese culture and even, for a while, believed that she was not Chinese at all. She never knew the whole story of her mother's previous life in China. She never understood why her mother was never satisfied with her. Jing-mei always had a troubled relationship with her mother, so when Suyuan dies, she has to deal with her grief, frustration, and her many questions. Jing-Mei misunderstands her mother’s actions which lead her to the conclusion that she will “never be the kind of daughter wants her to be” and leads her to the question of “why don’t you like me the way I am? I am not a genius! ” (,5).Jing-mei (June) Woo: Daughter of Suyuan and Canning Woo. Her mother’s high expectations and criticism are her way of expressing love and faith in her daughter. Therefore, Jing-Mei constantly puts herself down “ looked in the mirror… began to cry, such a sad ugly girl! due to misunderstanding her mother’s intentions (). Suyuan’s values of family obedience, concealment of unnecessary emotions, and criticism as expressions of love contrast with Jing-Mei’s American ideas of independence, self-esteem and open expressions of love guide Jing-Mei’s belief of never fulfilling her mother’s expectations. Suyuan Woo’s constant criticism hands Jing-Mei the idea of lack of affection, which results in Jing-Mei’s insecurity. ” however, in doing so, she is rejecting her heritage and identity (). Jing-Mei feels she must reject her mother in order to find herself “right then and there, was determined to put a stop to her foolish pride. Jing-Mei believes her mother is trying to change her, Jing-Mei states “I won’t let her change me… I won’t be what I’m not…” despite her mother’s real intentions of her becoming successful (). She fights with her every way she can, determined to extinguish her mother’s dreams of her becoming successful, Jing-Mei neglects her studies as well as the piano.
Jing-Mei has no desire to cooperate with her mother. ” When in reality, all her mother is doing is guiding her so she won’t have to go through the hardships she herself had gone through (). Jing-Mei’s stubbornness encourages her to believe her mother is being unfair and cruel, “when mother had told this, felt as though been sent to hell. Throughout Jing-Mei’s journey she begins to develop negative thoughts of herself and displays the attributes of insecurity, stubbornness and cruelty. Therefore Jing-Mei is unable to grow as her own person and carry out the choices she wants to. Jing-Mei’s mother continually enforces Jing-Met to carry out tasks the way she wants her to, her way. Amy Tan’s short story “Two Kinds” illustrates a young girls struggle with her highly opinionated mother and finding her own way.
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