Two Kinds

A constant amongst many new immigrants to the United States is their unshakeable determination and the faith that they can start a new life in their new home. The very same qualities that got them to America become the catalyst for their drive and success in the States. Suyuan came to America on her own in 1949 after losing her husband, her parents, and her twin daughters. Within the context of this story (taking into consideration that it is part of a linked collection, and may be addressed in another story in The Joy Luck Club), the reader does not know what happened to her family, but may guess their deaths were violent, sudden, unexpected, and at least in part motivated Suyuan’s departure from China. The reader learns that Suyuan was determined to move to the United States for quite some time, but nothing more concrete than that.

Suyuan takes the same determination she has applied to establishing herself in San Francisco into her resolve to turn her daughter into a prodigy. For Suyuan and many other first-generation immigrants, their resolution in the magic of the American Dream extends beyond themselves and into their progeny. Their personal sacrifice must reflect in their child’s victory; a successful child signifies a successful