Rose Hsu Jordan

But in particular reference to the two songs, the “Pleading Child” represents the time Jing-mei was tested and forced to practice piano as a child. When Jing-mei is finally free from this discipline, she becomes more individually free and feels more like the “Perfectly Contented” child/woman.

In “Two Kinds,” “Pleading Child” and “Perfectly Contented” have a double meaning in the story because they represent the changing feelings of Jing-Mei towards her mother.

In “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, the mother believes that a person can become whatever she chooses in America. Jing-Mei and her mother’s relationship are often difficult. The mother expects more from her daughter than she is willing to give.

1. Popo is An-mei’s maternal grandmother. She forced An-mei’s mother to leave the house and leave her children behind because she had remarried after her husband’s death. She made An-mei feel unlucky to have such a bad mother.5

It has the power to help us connect in inexplicable ways and feel less isolated. In the case of Joy Luck Club, it also has the ability to heal. When we speak of our pain, it feels less loaded, less tempestuous, less like a knife at our throat. Storytelling can be an act of survival.14

The present day of the book takes place in the 1980’s-era San Francisco Bay Area, with a trip at the end to Guangzhou and Shanghai, China. The daughters’ youth therefore takes place somewhere in the 1950’s in San Francisco.

The Joy Luck Club was formed by four women in San Francisco: Lindo Jong (Tsai Chin), Ying-Ying St. Clair (France Nuyen), An-Mei Hsu (Lisa Lu), and Suyuan Woo (Kieu Chinh). The members have mainly played mahjong and told each other’s stories over the years.