June's feelings about her mother change from the beginning to the end of the story because when she is young, she doesn't understand why her mother makes her "try" to discover her talent (she ends up taking piano lessons) and she denies to take her piano lessons seriously since she thinks that's not her life and her mother is forcing her to take them. At the end of the story, June explains that after her mother died she went back to her house and looked at the piano that was still there. When she starts playing, she realizes that the two different songs that she used to play when she was young were actually the same song (right hand and left hand). Her mother always told her that she wasn't "talented" at playing the piano just because she wasn't trying enough, she didn't put effort, she didn't pay attention. I believe at this moment June realizes her mother was right, although it's true that her mother was extremely severe.
Every time June and her mother interacted in the short story, it was a conversation where June's mother told her that she needed to be "talented" and June told her that she didn't want to. For example, in this case her mother is telling her that it's time for her piano lessons after the TV talented show where June didn't play so well:
"Four clock," she reminded me, as if it were any other day. I was stunned, as though she were asking me to go through the talent-show torture again. I planted myself more squarely in front of the TV.
"Turn off TV," she called from the kitchen five minutes later. I didn't budge. And then I decided, I didn't have to do what mother said anymore.
After that situation, June told her mother a very hurtful phrase about how she wished she was dead like the other kids her mother hadn't had. This phrase changed the relationship between them. Then, the years that followed are described and we can read about a conversation between them when June is thirty:
A few years ago she offered to give me the piano, for my thirtieth birthday. I had not played in all those years. I saw the offer as a sign of forgiveness, a tremendous burden removed. "Are you sure?" I asked shyly. "I mean, won't you and Dad miss it?" "No, this your piano," she said firmly. "Always your piano. You only one can play."
"Well, I probably can't play anymore," I said. "It's been years." "You pick up fast," my mother said, as if she knew this was certain. “You have natural talent. You could be a genius if you want to." "No, I couldn't." "You just not trying," my mother said. And she was neither angry nor sad. She said it as if announcing a fact that could never be disproved. "Take it," she said.
Her mother's posture is still the same but their feelings have change. The next thing that happens is what has already been described, June finds herself playing the piano after her mother dies.
Explanation:
To complete this exercise, you have to read the short story "Two kinds" written by Amy Tan and then answer the questions using examples from the story.
"Two kinds" is a short story about the relationship between June and her mother. June's mother comes from China and she thinks everyone can be talented and famous in the US and June doesn't feel the same as her mother because she has been born and rise in the US.
