9/21/2023 0 Comments Two kinds jing mei characteristicsThe story is clearly presented in a way that makes readers empathize with the daughter. The third technique used by Amy Tan is what Heung refers to as “daughter centrality” in the relationship between mother and daughter (597). This technique conveys the idea that the way someone speaks may sound as a foreign language to the person who does not agree with what is said. Amy Tan uses the Chinese word specifically to accentuate how Jing-Mei recalls her mother’s words and the gap between them. In all three cases, there is no necessity to avoid the use of English language. The meaning of this phrase can be interpreted as “you watch”. It should be noted that this is not a Chinese linguistic subtlety that cannot be expressed in another language. Specifically, the phrase “Ni kan” is used on three occasions (132, 133, 135). The narration itself is in English, but some of the words said by Jing-Mei’s mother are not translated. This aspect becomes especially noteworthy during Jing-Mei’s recollection of dialogues with her mother. Considering that Jing-Mei’ mother is Chinese born, it is reasonable to expect lingual subtleties that distinguish her foreign origin. Cheng notes that language is presented as “a major gap” between mothers and daughters in Amy Tan’s writing (12). The second technique is the use of different languages to emphasize cultural differences between characters. The use of this technique leads to the development of an idea that past events have a long-lasting effect on people’s lives. It forces the mother to completely change her attitude and never speak of the reason for that conflict again. Most prominently, this technique is used during the climactic confrontation between Jing-Mei and her mother, when the Jing-Mei’s long-deceased sisters are mentioned (Tan 142). Two Kinds opens with Jing-Mei’s narration of her mother’s biography – her flight from Communist China to the United States. This setup lays the foundation for the first technique used by the author – referencing the characters’ past to accentuate their present dilemma (Wood 84). The story revolves around Jing-Mei, an ethnic Chinese girl who was born in a family of Chinese immigrants to the United States. In her short story Two Kinds, Amy Tan uses influence of past events on present life, language subtleties, and daughter centrality to explain why the characters are in conflict and how it is exacerbated.
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