Goff 1
Savannah Goff
Composition II
Broadbent
October 6th, 2016
Essay II
Mother-daughter relationships
A mother and daughter relationship is the most important relationship a
child will come across. As a mother watches her daughter grow into a mature adult,
it can be tricky because the mother has been there and experience that aspect of life.
A mother’s dream is a better life or to be a better role model for their daughter then
they once had. In Amy Tan’s Two Kinds and Alice Walker’s Everyday Use, they show
different cultures with different parenting methods. Even though the two mothers
act differently, they are both motivated by the same thing, to be a good parent.
However, they show how a child should respect the wishes a mother has, and how a
mother should react to the respect or disrespect a daughter gives in return in their
own, opposite, ways.
In Two Kinds, the mother is always demanding respect from her daughter.
When June does not want to learn to play the piano anymore, the mother, feeling
disrespected, requires: “Only two kinds of daughters, those who are obedient and
those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house.
Obedient daughter!” (Tan 1123). June’s mother is aggressively setting her rules for
the respect she believes June should be showing towards her mother. Apparently,
she does not care to know what June thinks about this or does she even have a
choice in this matter. Her mother’s only goal is having a prodigy and out beating
whom June calls Auntie Lindo.
Goff 2
This is opposite with Mama and Dee. In Everyday Use, there is a different
approach to gaining respect. Instead of Mama demanding respect from Dee, Mama
seems to wish for her daughter’s respect. Mama narrates, in the story, a dream of
which she and Dee are reunited. “She pins on my dress a large orchid, even though
she has told me once that she thinks orchids are tacky flowers” (Walker 1126). This
quote represents that Mama wishes that Dee would take Mama as she was, and her
pinning the orchid on her dress is a way of showing this. Dee being well dressed,
beautiful, and educated makes Mama feel less worthy and hopes that her daughter
will one day respect her. Mama has Dee high on a pedestal; Mama has such high
hopes for her daughter’s visit.
June’s mother does not care for June’s wants, for some reason her mother
