Amy Tan’s ‘Two Kinds’ and Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘Girl’ Essay

A person spends most of their developing old age under the gui bounce of their p atomic number 18nts or guardians. They affect how we think, how we feel, and how we act. These ar among the people who switch the greatest influence. Amy Tans Two Kinds and Jamaica Kincaids miss two deal with the relationship between a young girl and the directing force in her life. Amy Tan tells of a mothers presentiment for her young lady to be a child prodigy. Jamaica Kincaid tells of an unknown person describing to a girl how to be a good girl. both(prenominal) essays illustrate an billet figure that has expectations for a young female and why and how those expectations will seminal fluid about. As young children growing up without a c ar in the world, we placenot comprehend why authority figures dictate how we should be take aim. In Two Kinds, the missy is anticipate to be a child prodigy because her mother believes you throw out be anything you want in America.The mother sees other c hildren with painful talents and thinks her child could be just as talented, if not more so. She continually places pressure on her young lady to be some agreeable of prodigy. The daughter is evaluate to be a great beauty with unmatched dance abilities, an untapped wealth of useless information, and piano-playing skills like no other. In Girl, the expectations atomic number 18 much lower, only just as stringent. The girl is expected to do a myriad of chores and to become a lady. She is well-advised on how she should act and how she can avoid existence a fornicatress. In Two Kinds, the mother has graduate(prenominal) hopes she believes a person can be anything they want in America and she wants a daughter who excels in some area. All of the mothers hopes lay on the daughter. Her hopes are bolstered by stories about remarkable children with incredible talents. If they can succeed are such a young age, surely her child can as well. The mother wants her daughter to be the bes t she can be, but she has wild expectations.The girl in Jamaica Kincaids essays is not being held to such high hopes and dreams. The expectations placed on her are not as high, but are equally unforgiving. Her authority figure wants her to be the perfect traditional girl. She is expected to cook, clean, iron, and not assert her independence. Children, though, are naturally independent and free-willed. For the authority figures to have their authority, the girls must be obedient. Obedience and denigration are the methods in which these expectations are supposed to met. In Two Kinds, the mother states, Only one kind of daughter can live in this houseobedient daughter The daughter does not want to live up to outside expectations, but she does not want to disappoint her mother part of her feels obligated to be loyal.The mother compares the daughter to other children, which makes the daughter feel worthless. The mother dialogue about a three-year- old who knows the capital of all the states. She forces the daughter to celebrate television shows featuring talented youngsters. She implies her daughter is not as good as the other children. In Girl, the girl is given two choices be a girl or be a slut. Essentially, she is being told what she must do there is no room for debate. In between being told what to do, though, the authority figure also reminds her she could well be on her way to becoming a slut. In some(prenominal) essays, the girls come full circle.They both go through a period of being told what to be and what to do. Both girls resent the pressure and expectations put on them in their adolescence, but in the end, they choose paths that lead back to their beginnings. Amy Tans girl spends a good portion of her youth hating practicing piano. As an adult, she plays an entire piece of music and is marveled by the beauty of it. In some respects, she becomes the child her mother wanted. Jamaica Kincaids girl spends a good portion of her youth protesting the label of slut placed upon her. In the conclusion, she becomes the kind of woman she swore she was not.