Very often children argue and ask what they want to be when they grow up; while parents require them to be what they want them to be. The short story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan shows the life of a Chinese girl who is in her adolescence and the influence of her cultural mother on her growth. After losing her family, her children and everything she had in China, the mother tries to win them back through her daughter. Because America is a place with endless opportunities available to anyone who pursues them, Ni Kan's mother wants her daughter's life to be full of dreams and hopes that she didn't have. In the story the author develops the conflict between a mother and her daughter to show that some mothers and daughters are in conflict with each other because they have very different ideas about culture, hard work and being a prodigy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay There is a huge cultural diversity in the world and people have their own cultures that are very special to them. With time, Ni Kan grew up and her mother began to feel some differences in her daughter. Ni Kan's mother experienced Chinese culture when she was young, so as an immigrant she wanted her daughter to also be like other Chinese children. She had high expectations for her daughter in achieving the American dream and she didn't even care how they would affect her. Parents usually want their children to be what they want, but that's not the right thing, they should let their children make their own decisions when they grow up. At first Ni Kan's mother wanted it to be like “Shirley Temple”. She used to watch Shirley's old films on TV and every time she saw her she would hit Ni Kan and say "Ni Kan - you look". After having this whole idea about Shirley Temple, Ni Kan's mother wanted to give Shirley the exact same haircut. Ultimately, the person who gave her haircut was a student who was in training and she "emerged with a patchy mass of black, frizzy hair." “You look like a Chinese nigger,” Ni Kan's mother said as if she had done it on purpose to herself. Ni Kan listened to his mother at first, but when his mother keeps posting silly expectations he started to hate her. Finally, Ni Kan thought to himself, “I no longer had to follow what my mother said. I was not his slave. This wasn't China,” and she began to become a stubborn little girl. Eventually their conflict became aggressive and the mother told Ni Kan that "only one kind of daughter can live in this house, the obedient daughter", after which Ni Kan shouted at the mother that she wished she were not her daughter. Through the above quotes and descriptions, we can clarify that the different ideas about culture between mother and daughter have become one of the reasons for their conflicts. Besides cultural issues, the mother wanting Ni Kan to work hard and getting tired of it is another point where conflicts between mother and daughter begin. To make her son a genius boy like the boys she saw on TV, Ni Kan's mother began to test her by giving her hard work. Ni Kan's mother watched TV programs and read many magazines, and then wanted her daughter to memorize the names of the capitals of different countries after seeing a nine-year-old boy with extraordinary talents. One day, while reading a magazine, his mother asked Ni Kan: “What is the capital of Finland? When the mother asked Ni Kan the previous question, the only thing she knew was the capital of California, because “Sacramento” was the name of the street they lived on before. Her mother continued to challenge her with many different tests that were very difficult for children her age, and the tests.