Although the story is heartbreaking in a way, there is
actually a lot of humor in “Two Kinds.”
The
Chinese Shirley Temple
Jing-mei’s mother is so
concerned with making her a prodigy that she is willing to try anything. They watch
Shirley Temple movies as though they are “training
films.”
My
mother would poke my arm and say, "Ni kan.You watch." And I would
see Shirley tapping her feet, or singing a sailor song, or pursing her lips into a very
round O while saying "Oh, my
goodness."
Her mother's
attempts to get Jing-mei a talent never seem to have anything to do with what the girl
wants or can do. Imagining the mother and daughter watching, analyzing, and emulating
Shirley Temple together has an element of the ridiculous to it, which injects humor into
the story.
The Failed
Attempts
The many failed attempts to make
Jing-mei a prodigy are actually quite funny. She tries to memorize the capitals of
countries, passages from The Bible, and other tests. Nothing
sticks.
But
sometimes the prodigy in me became impatient. "If you don't hurry up and get me out of
here, I'm disappearing for good," it warned. "And then you'll always be
nothing."
Eventually,
Jing-mei will have had enough. Her mother, however, does not give up so
easily.
Mr.
Chong
Jing-mei’s lessons with Mr. Chong are sad
in some ways, but they are humorous too. Mr. Chong can’t hear, so Jing-mei just plays
whatever she wants and never really tries.
He taught me all these things, and that was how I
also learned I could be lazy and get away with mistakes, lots of
mistakes.
The time with Mr.
Chong is not put to good use. Jing-mei could learn, but by now she does not want to.
It's no surprise she slacks off when her piano teacher is
deaf.
In these three instances, there are elements of
ridiculousness and humor behind the tragedy of "Two Kinds."
No comments:
Post a Comment