FREE ESSAY ON RISE AND FALL OF AN INNER PRODIGY

RISE AND FALL OF AN INNER PRODIGY

Rise and Fall of an Inner Prodigy
An "angry and powerful" girl glares back at Jing-Mei in the bathroom mirror (Tan 1066).
The girl is her newly discovered prodigy: a force that comes from within that could
potentially empower her to unlimited heights of personal growth and success.
Unfortunately, Jing-Mei, the daughter in Amy Tan's "Two Kinds", only allows her will to
manifest into a weapon of "won'ts" to lash out at her mother with (Tan 1066). She does
not think to create goals of her own because her only drive is to prove her mother wrong,
act out in hurtful ways, and sell herself short in the process.
Jing-Mei is determined to prove to her mother, self, and family that her mother has no
right to have pride and faith in her. After bragging to her sister about how her daughter
plays the piano day and night, Jing-Mei's mother and piano teacher, Mr. Chong, arrange to
have her perform at a talent show. Paving the way for her mother's shame and her own
embarrassment, Jing-Mei does not apply herself to practicing and memorizing the piece she
is to perform. The night of her performance, she is so taken with how pretty she looks
that she forgets she can't possibly do well. She is even "surprised when . . . [she] hit
the first wrong note" (Tan 1070). Even though Jing-Mei is embarrassed and ashamed, her
lasting impression is her mother's devastated expression and damaged pride. Jing-Mei,
sacrificing of her own pride, succeeds in proving her mother wrong to all.
Jing-Mei utilizes her will and perseverance as a weapon to hurt her mother with. After
the recital, Jing-Mei "[feels] disappointed" (Tan 1071). She wants her mother to react
and "start shouting, so that so that [she] . . . could blame her [mother] for her misery"
(Tan 1071). Her mother silently retreats to her bedroom, leaving Jing-Mei holding her own
shame. For two days, nothing is mentioned about piano practice or the recital. Jing-Mei
assumes that she will never have to play the piano again. She is shocked when her mother
demands that she stops watching television and to go practice the piano. Jing-Mei summons
up her "inner-prodigy" to loudly and adamantly refuse. Her Mother abruptly shuts off the
television and drags her to the piano bench and sits her down. Crying and staring up at
her mother, she "could sense her [mother's] anger rising to its breaking point . . .
[she] remembered the babies . . . [her mother] had lost in China . . . 'then I wish I
were dead, like them!'" (Tan 1071). Jing-Mei knows this hostile reference will hurt her
mother more than anything else will. Her mother painfully gives up and Jing-Mei never has
to play the piano again. 
Putting so much effort into not fulfilling her mother's dreams, Jing-Mei does not have
the time to realize that any thought should be put into creating her own dreams. So short
sighted is her vision, that she does not realize how her actions are detrimental to her
own approach to life. Jing-Mei quickly discovers many ways to not invest much effort into
what she perceives as her mother's dreams. Mr. Chong, who is deaf, watches her fingers
play the notes. Jing-Mei is clever and sees a window of opportunity in the discovery that
Mr. Chong's eyes are not much better than his ears. She plays in tempo while hitting
wrong notes because she knows she can get away with it. This is the beginning of a
lifetime of bad habits and selling herself short. Jing-Mei does not realize that a window
of opportunity to not succeed in her mother's dreams is only a hindrance of her own goals
by creating a negative habit and mindset. 
Thirty-something Jing-Mei finally sees and regrets the mindset she stubbornly clings to.
The choice has always been hers to decide who she will become and what goals she will
dream and pursue. Her only goal is to disappoint her mother. Jing-Mei limits herself by
acting on what she won't do instead of what she will do. Her actions lay the foundation
for a negative mindset that is shortsighted and lacking confidence, holding her back her
whole life. Actions quickly become habit, setting the standard for how one approaches
life and its challenges. By creating and perfecting a mindset that acts for all the wrong
reasons and lacks confidence, Jing-Mei lacks the ability to identify and seek much of
what life has to offer. Her attempts to prove her mother wrong and diminish her pride are
successful at the sacrifice of her personal growth and success. She does not realize that
a lifetime of actions based on disappointing her mother hurt her much more than her
mother; in the end, only proving herself wrong.
Works Cited
Marlowe, Christopher. "Come Live With Me and be My Love." Literature for Composition. 5th
eds. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 2000. 1065-1072. 
Rossetti, Christina. "A Birthday." Literature for Composition. 5th eds. Ed. Sylvan
Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 2000. 1065-1072. 
Bibliography
Works Cited
Marlowe, Christopher. "Come Live With Me and be My Love." Literature for Composition. 5th
eds. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 2000. 1065-1072. 
Rossetti, Christina. "A Birthday." Literature for Composition. 5th eds. Ed. Sylvan
Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 2000. 1065-1072.