Pair Of Tickets

Maxine Hong Kingston shows big concerns over ethnicity by depicting the ethnic dilemma in her fictional world. In Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book, however, ethnic malaise is reflected in the harsh split between the image of Chinese Americans which the dominant culture wishes to construct and what really exists. Kingston in her novel first of all deconstructs the preconception of the Chinese diaspora in America, subverting the socially constructed stereotypical identity of Chinese Americans.

Traditions, heritage and culture are three of the most important aspects of Chinese culture. Passed down from mother to daughter, these traditions are expected to carry on for years to come. In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, daughters Waverly, Lena, Rose and June thoughts about their culture are congested by Americanization while on their quests towards self-actualization. Each daughter struggles to find balance between Chinese heritage and American values through marriage and professional careers.

The short story "A Pair of Tickets," authored by Amy Tan is a detailed analysis of issues that concern many people that are of a different descent but that have been residents or migrated to another country for a long time. The story was written in such a way that if one does not take cognizance of interpretation of stories; one may not really gesticulate what the author is trying to portray. The story was about a young American student on a journey for the first time to China with a plan of reuniting with her half-sisters for the first time after the demise of her mother. The writer made use of stereotypes and prevalence of internal conflicts in presenting the theme of the story to the readers for easy understanding. The Protagonist or

Amy Tan’s short story “A Pair of Tickets,” has June May crossing an ocean to visit her family that she has never met, where she connects with her Chinese heritage in a way she was never able to before. On her trip, she discovers the depth and importance of her culture through her family members. The main character, June May, is a woman of Chinese heritage, from San Francisco, California. Growing up in the United States, in a very American environment, June May feels as though she never truly understood what it meant to be Chinese. As she soon learns, however, June May realizes that through her own family she can connect with the heritage that bonds them all together.

Both stories investigate the difference between American and Chinese parenting styles from two women’s point of view – Hanna Rosin and Amy Chua.

The tale “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luch Wang depicts the story of three characters, Monkey, Jin, and Danny. They all have the problem of fitting into their new environments. Jin Wang has to deal with Asian stereotypes. Danny has to deal with embarrassment of his cousin. Lastly, Monkey has to deal with the fact that there is no position for him in the heavenly ranks. However, over time, these characters have to come together to fit in. Yet the question remains: what exactly about fitting in is the problem? Although Jin Wang takes the form of Danny to reject his Chinese roots, the embarrassment of Chin-Knee shows he cannot hide behind a false American identity, thereby delineating that race is the source of his problem.

In the “Two Kinds” story the author illustrates the struggle between her American cultural identity, and her mother’s Chinese culture, as like the characters in the story. The author shows what is the struggle and the conflict that cultural differences creates. The author also uses symbolism, to address the conflicts between the characters in the story.

“A Pair of Tickets” is a story about a middle-aged woman who is embarking on her first trip to China. The 36-year old woman named Jing-Mei never really embraced the idea of being Chinese. She notes that in middle school all of her friends talked about how they were more Chinese than she was. The bulk of the story takes place while Jing-Mei is en route to China, and along the way her father who is accompanying her on the trip tells her several stories about her recently deceased Chinese mother. As the story progresses, Jing-Mei begins to embrace her Chinese heritage, and realizes that although she was raised with an American way of thinking, it does not truly define who she is or has o be. The emotion the narrator in “A Pair of Tickets” had was brought forward instantly in the beginning of the story. In the second line alone, the narrator (Jing-Mei) says that she can feel the skin on her forehead tingling and

In “A Pair of Tickets” the author Amy Tan discusses about the life of her family. The author then discovers she has long lost twin sister who are back home in China, but what they didn’t know was the death of their mother had occured not long after she had given them up. In the text the author mentions “But today i realize i’ve never really known what it means to be Chinese” (120). The text suggest that she hardly knows her culture of where she came from and the traditions she was born into. As the book progresses the author approaches a difficult situation where she is meeting her twin sister for the first time and they expect to see their mom, but they had no idea that she had passed away (121). Tan is stuck in a situation where se is at

     The focus of our group project is on Chinese Americans. We studied various aspects of their lives and the preservation of their culture in America. The Chinese American population is continually growing. In fact, in 1990, they were the largest group of Asians in the United States (Min 58). But living in America and adjusting to a new way of life is not easy. Many Chinese Americans have faced and continue to face much conflict between their Chinese and American identities. But many times, as they adapt to this new life, they are also able to preserve their Chinese culture and identity through various ways. We studied these things through the viewing of a movie called Joy Luck Club,

In the short story, "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, a Chinese mother and daughter are at odds with each other. The mother pushes her daughter to become a prodigy, while the daughter (like most children with immigrant parents) seeks to find herself in a world that demands her Americanization. This is the theme of the story, conflicting values. In a society that values individuality, the daughter sought to be an individual, while her mother demanded she do what was suggested. This is a conflict within itself. The daughter must deal with an internal and external conflict. Internally, she struggles to find herself. Externally, she struggles with the burden of failing to meet her mother’s expectations. Being a first-generation Asian American,

“Confucius still lives in the hearts and minds of the most older Chinese, and the social values he taught remain the bedrock of mainstream Chinese society.” (De Mente, 33) To most Chinese parents, they are still very traditional, especially in raising their children. However, it may not be well receive and appreciate by their westernized children. Amy Tan, a famous American born Chinese writer, often discusses how she struggled to accept her mother’s strict parenting when she was young. Thus, their relationships were strained because they always argue.

In many novels, readers tend to relate situations with other novels. Various readers see the similarity and the contrast of the type of characters there are, the theme, and how the plot is comparable. Sister, from “Why I Live at the P.O.” by Eudora Welty, is being treated so cruelly by her whole family. She tends to move out of her home and live her life where nobody bothers her. Sister well knows that nobody tends to believe her nor give her attention. Jing , a character from “A Pair of Tickets” by Amy Tan, has a desire of finding her lost half-sisters. She wants to accomplish the last wish her mother wanted to do. Jing feels that is the last thing she could do for her half-sisters since she had lived with her mother for so long.

The short story, Two Kinds, presents the conflict of old and new values as a Chinese family struggle to establish themselves in the United States in 1989. Aspirations to attain the traditional American dream relates to a recently immigrated Chinese mother having high expectations for her daughter Amy. At the time of the story, China enforced the one child birth policy and Amy’s mom yearned for individual freedom. Ironically, Amy’s mom resented Amy’s personal struggle to assert her individuality and demanded that her daughter obey her strict rules. Amy’s mom metaphorically resembles China’s strict rules which causes Amy’s lost innocence. Obedience versus Identity a constant struggle for Amy’s innocence to withstand. For instance, “I did not

As an immigrant it can be hard to integrate into a new country. There are new rules that you need to follow, a new culture to fit into and a whole new life to begin. You have to choose between three different ways of integrating into the new country: firstly, you can fully let go of your old traditions and become a part of the new culture, secondly you can keep you own traditions and isolate yourself from the influence from the new country, or lastly, you can mix the two cultures and take the best parts of them. In the short story Where the gods fly written by Jean Kwork, religion and culture becomes a huge influence on the decisions a Chinese immigrant mother takes for her daughter, which I will analyse in the following essay. The essay will include a resume, it will deal with the story’s structure and the use of contrasts.