Parental Misguidance In Two Kinds And The Rocking Horse
Parental Misguidance Parents can cause serious problems in their children’s lives without intending to do so, a child can be called upon to repair a loss in his or her parent’s life and it effectively has a negative impact on the children. This is a apparent theme in the two stories “Two Kinds,” by Amy Tan and “The Rocking Horse Winner,” by David Lawrence. Whether the aspirations are from the death of a family member, as in “Two Kinds,” or a financial situation as in “The Rocking Horse Winner,” the effects are shown to be too much for a child to handle, causing a feeling of pressure to fill the void. This can rob them of a happy childhood and ruin the relationship with their parents, ultimately causing psychological problems or even death. In the story, “Two Kinds”, Amy Tan writes about a relationship between a mother and a daughter. The mother of Jing-mei wants her daughter to become famous, but Jing-mei just wants to be herself. The mother, moved to American after losing her entire family in China, and looked to restore her loss through her daughter. The mother tries to direct her daughter’s life starting at a young age, which destroys her daughter’s childhood. “At first my mother thought I could be a Chinese Shirley Temple” (Tan pg 694). June’s mother pressured her to become a child prodigy, and the amount of stress placed on her by her mother
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definitely led to extermination of their mother-daughter bond. Throughout the story June cannot seem to meet her mother’s expectations of her, this greatly effects her self confidence. “And after seeing my mother’s disappointed face once again, something inside of me began to die.”(Tan pg 695), she is constantly disappointing her mother time after time. Jing-mei starts to realize that the struggle and pressure of becoming a child prodigy is not worth it after all. When she finally grasps that it was not her destiny to become a prodigy child, June hopes that her mother will understand and accept her for who she is. But it was all for nothing, because the damage had been done and the haunting thought of not pleasing her mother had ruined her childhood. The amount of pressure placed on her by her mother causes June to rebel. “ I was determined to put a stop to her foolish pride” (Tan pg 698). June wanted to be who she wanted to be and was tired of living out her mother’s dream. The amount of pressure placed on her makes her struggle to find her own identity. Initially, she listened to everything her mother said, because she wanted to make her proud. But, then recognized that she was becoming something that her mother dreamt up and it was not who she wanted to become. “For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be. I could only be me” (Tan pg 700). Her mother expected June to fall in line with what she wanted her to be, but that just caused June to have a distressed childhood. “The Rocking Horse Winner” is the story about a young boy named Paul who tries to win his mothers love by acquiring money for her and his family.
The house is haunted by the call for money and Paul asks his mother to explain why this is the case. She tells him that she has no luck and so the house is cursed by a shortage of money. As a result of this pivotal conversation Paul taps into a supernatural power, by using his rocking horse he can now find out the names of the winning horse in horse races. However, in doing so Paul tries too hard and he becomes desperately ill, he dies in his quest to win his mothers
love. The mother’s thought of lacking money, and the need to fill it, is exhibited by the house being haunted by the phrase, “There must be more money!”(Lawrence pg 524). Paul’s father cannot fill this need and is considered to be “unlucky” by his mother. Paul desperately wishes for his mother’s love, and believes if he is “lucky”, unlike his father, he will receive her love and affection. Paul begins to ride his rocking horse, riding the horse allows Paul to predict horse-race winners and ultimately win money for his family, which leads him to believe he is now lucky. Instead of Paul’s mother being grateful for the money she is receiving from her son, she just becomes greedier and wants more. Paul’s attempt to block out the haunting phrase is a failure due to his mother’s greed, and the voices only grow louder. Paul’s final attempt to receive love from his mother was right before the most biggest horse race, Paul is madly riding his rocking horse determined to know the winner when he falls dead to the ground. Paul’s mother’s perpetual focus on money and greed eventually lead to the death of her only son. In an effort to be loved by his mother, Paul always felt pressured to feed his mother’s greed. The relationship between Paul and his mother caused Paul to be deprived of a loving childhood. Both the stories “Two Kinds” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” display problems caused by parents and the negative outcome it has on their children. The mother from “Two Kinds” wants her daughter to live a life that is according to her plan. This continual pressure placed on her forces June to have a dreadful childhood and to rebel against her mother, so she can be herself. The mother from “The Rocking-Horse Winner” embodies materialism and greed, which prompts her son to go fill his mother’s needs. When there is a feeling of loss from a parent, there is a correlation between that and the result it has on their children. Whether it’s being the parent trying to restore their own losses through their children, as in “Two Kinds” or the child trying to restore the parent’s losses, as in “The Rocking-Horse Winner.” In both cases, there is a direct responsibility placed upon the children, and both having fateful endings. Having a firm parent-child connection is key to having a pleasant upbringing. This relationship will help mold the child’s life and will be a deciding factor in a happy childhood.
Works Cited
Tan, Amy. “ Two Kinds.” Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2009. 694 - 702. Print.
Lawrence, David Herbert. “The Rocking-Horse Winner.” Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 20009. 523-534. Print.
definitely led to extermination of their mother-daughter bond. Throughout the story June cannot seem to meet her mother’s expectations of her, this greatly effects her self confidence. “And after seeing my mother’s disappointed face once again, something inside of me began to die.”(Tan pg 695), she is constantly disappointing her mother time after time. Jing-mei starts to realize that the struggle and pressure of becoming a child prodigy is not worth it after all. When she finally grasps that it was not her destiny to become a prodigy child, June hopes that her mother will understand and accept her for who she is. But it was all for nothing, because the damage had been done and the haunting thought of not pleasing her mother had ruined her childhood. The amount of pressure placed on her by her mother causes June to rebel. “ I was determined to put a stop to her foolish pride” (Tan pg 698). June wanted to be who she wanted to be and was tired of living out her mother’s dream. The amount of pressure placed on her makes her struggle to find her own identity. Initially, she listened to everything her mother said, because she wanted to make her proud. But, then recognized that she was becoming something that her mother dreamt up and it was not who she wanted to become. “For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be. I could only be me” (Tan pg 700). Her mother expected June to fall in line with what she wanted her to be, but that just caused June to have a distressed childhood. “The Rocking Horse Winner” is the story about a young boy named Paul who tries to win his mothers love by acquiring money for her and his family.
The house is haunted by the call for money and Paul asks his mother to explain why this is the case. She tells him that she has no luck and so the house is cursed by a shortage of money. As a result of this pivotal conversation Paul taps into a supernatural power, by using his rocking horse he can now find out the names of the winning horse in horse races. However, in doing so Paul tries too hard and he becomes desperately ill, he dies in his quest to win his mothers
love. The mother’s thought of lacking money, and the need to fill it, is exhibited by the house being haunted by the phrase, “There must be more money!”(Lawrence pg 524). Paul’s father cannot fill this need and is considered to be “unlucky” by his mother. Paul desperately wishes for his mother’s love, and believes if he is “lucky”, unlike his father, he will receive her love and affection. Paul begins to ride his rocking horse, riding the horse allows Paul to predict horse-race winners and ultimately win money for his family, which leads him to believe he is now lucky. Instead of Paul’s mother being grateful for the money she is receiving from her son, she just becomes greedier and wants more. Paul’s attempt to block out the haunting phrase is a failure due to his mother’s greed, and the voices only grow louder. Paul’s final attempt to receive love from his mother was right before the most biggest horse race, Paul is madly riding his rocking horse determined to know the winner when he falls dead to the ground. Paul’s mother’s perpetual focus on money and greed eventually lead to the death of her only son. In an effort to be loved by his mother, Paul always felt pressured to feed his mother’s greed. The relationship between Paul and his mother caused Paul to be deprived of a loving childhood. Both the stories “Two Kinds” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” display problems caused by parents and the negative outcome it has on their children. The mother from “Two Kinds” wants her daughter to live a life that is according to her plan. This continual pressure placed on her forces June to have a dreadful childhood and to rebel against her mother, so she can be herself. The mother from “The Rocking-Horse Winner” embodies materialism and greed, which prompts her son to go fill his mother’s needs. When there is a feeling of loss from a parent, there is a correlation between that and the result it has on their children. Whether it’s being the parent trying to restore their own losses through their children, as in “Two Kinds” or the child trying to restore the parent’s losses, as in “The Rocking-Horse Winner.” In both cases, there is a direct responsibility placed upon the children, and both having fateful endings. Having a firm parent-child connection is key to having a pleasant upbringing. This relationship will help mold the child’s life and will be a deciding factor in a happy childhood.
Works Cited
Tan, Amy. “ Two Kinds.” Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2009. 694 - 702. Print.
Lawrence, David Herbert. “The Rocking-Horse Winner.” Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 20009. 523-534. Print.