A person spends most of their developing years under the guidance of their parents or guardians.
They affect how we think, how we feel, and how we act. These are among the people who hold the
greatest influence. Amy Tan's 'Two Kinds' and Jamaica Kincaid's 'Girl' both deal with the relationship
between a young girl and the guiding force in her life. Amy Tan tells of a mother's expectation for her
daughter to be a child prodigy. Jamaica Kincaid tells of an unknown person describing to a girl how to be
a 'good' girl. Both essays illustrate an authority figure that has expectations for a young female and why
and how those expectations will come about.
As young children growing up without a care in the world, we cannot comprehend why authority
figures dictate how we should behave. In 'Two Kinds', the daughter is expected to be a child prodigy
Young Woman Mother with Daughter Girl
Girl at sunset
Amy Tan, authorbecause her mother believes 'you can be anything you want in America'. The mother sees other children
with amazing talents and thinks her child could be just as talented, if not more so. She continually places
pressure on her daughter to be some kind of prodigy. The daughter is expected 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 are much lower, but just as stringent. The girl is expected to do a
myriad of chores and to become a 'lady'. She is advised on how she should act and how she can avoid
being a 'slut'.
In 'Two Kinds', the mother has high hopes; she believes a person can be anything they want in
America and she wants a daughter who excels in some...