The Reality Of Dreams In Amy Tan's 'Two Kinds'

The Reality of Dreams Chasing after your dreams always comes with consequences. Big or small, those dreams can positively and negatively affect your life. A dream is defined as a strongly desired goal to achieve something. Jing-Mei, from “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, tried to pursue her and her mother’s dream of becoming a child prodigy in America. Jing-Mei’s mother, Suyuan, first moved to America after losing everything in China; this led to the creation of her and her daughter’s dream. The United States gave her hope in a better future for her daughter. In “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, the caged bird dreamed of being free. During this time, “virtually every form of oppression has at one time or another been described as a form of slavery.” As a result, the caged bird in “Sympathy” symbolizes African Americans and other people facing slavery. Because each text took place in different times and locations, the
“After seeing, once again, my mother’s disappointed face, something inside me began to die. I hated the tests, the raised hope and expectations” (Tan 84). Jing-Mei’s dream resulted in strong emotions of hate. This is because the dream created too much stress and pressure that strained Jing-Mei’s mental health. All the negative thoughts in her mind eventually took a huge toll on her. Research shows that “stress can make existing problems worse” (Krantz, Thorn, Kiecolt-Glaser). With the thought of failure stuck in Jing- Mei’s mind, the stress that Suyuan puts on her daughter adds on to that existing negative thought. Stress can cause many different problems to an individual. In extreme cases, stress can cause anxiety and even suicidal thoughts.The heavy burden that Suyuan placed on her daughter caused Jing-Mei’s stress level to skyrocket. All the pressure that Jing-Mei faced while trying to achieve her dream had negatively affected