What Does the American Dream Mean to an Immigrant Essay Example for Free

What Does the American Dream Mean to an Immigrant EssayIn Amy Tans Two Kinds, the differences amidst the mother and daughter showcase the different perceptions of the American dream and how expectations of p arents can disrupt their childs self-actualization. Jing-Meis mother believes that her daughter could accomplish her goals hardly because of how Shirley Temple showed how she was a natural phenomenon on TV or how the little Chinese girl playing the piano illustrated her mastery of the instrument. Jing-Mei declares, My mother believed you could be anything you treasured to be in America. (305) Media can rightfully sway some people into thinking they can be movie star or a sports star it usually only displays how well a mortal can perform what he or she is good in, not the diligence and endeavors it took to get to that point. Parents expectations can in any case get in the way of their childs self-actualization. With the influence of the media, parents expectations can truly prevent children from choosing their deliver destiny.Undoubtedly, many immigrants fill in over to the United States to seek better lives not only for their selves, but also for their families. Lots of people founder different approaches of what the American Dream actually means. To some, it is finding happiness in life. To others, it may be becoming successful and evolving into a wealthy person. There are endless amounts of visualizations of what it means. nevertheless to the mother in the story, I believe she presumes that it means her daughter maturing into a prodigy in something the likes of acting or music and being able to take offset in activities her mother couldnt. At first, the mother convinces Jing-Mei that she really can be a prodigyIn fact, in the beginning, I was on the nose as excited as my mother, maybe even more so. I pictured this prodigy part of me as many different images, trying each one on for size. I was a prim ballerina girl standing by the curtai ns, waiting to hear the right music that would send me locomote on my tiptoes. I was like the Christ child lifted out of the straw manger, crying with Blessed indignity. I was Cinderella stepping from her pumpkin carriage with sparkly cartoon music filling the air. (306) but soon subsequently all of her mothers overwhelming tests and stories, Jing-Mei comes to the realization that she does not corroborate the intellect nor the dedication needed to flex a youth prodigy. She states, I pretended to be world-weary. And I was. I got so bored I started counting the bellows of the foghorns out on the bay while my mother drilled me in other areas. (307) The mother had the wrong idea of Jing-Mei like some foreigners do when they think they can come to America and have a quick rise to fame and riches without hard work and dedication.Likewise, a wizard of mine named Tony Nguyen, similar to the mother in the story, traveled over from Asia with his family to pursue better lives. They c ame from the slums of Vietnam and his parents wanted him to become a successful person. Like Jing-Mei, Tonys parents wished for him to be successful in life and try to become a doctor, engineer, or surgeon. But he also did not want to follow any of the locomote paths his parents mentioned. He wanted to chase his own dreams and achieve his own legacy, so he decided to flow SCAD and major in film. Tony never took into account that his parents set those goals for him because they wanted him to be something they never had the opportunity to be. He did not realize the sacrifices and hardships his parents experienced to give him a more prominent life, much like Jing-Mei.Indeed, Jing-Meis mother really pushes for her daughter to become a mastermind even when Jing-Mei clearly proves she didnt have the work ethic for it. Jing-Mei even shouts, Why dont you like me the way I am? Im not a paladin Her mother then slaps her and bellows, Who ask you be genius? (308) But was her mother wrong for pushing her? Jing-Mei came off as ungrateful and ignorant to me, especially when she said, so I wish I wasnt your daughter. I wish you werent my mother, and I wish Id never been born (312) She shouldve acknowledged that her mother was only trying to offer her opportunities she could not have at her age. But then again, the idea that parents expectations can prevent a child from becoming who they truly are comes into play. Maybe if the mother wouldve backed off some and let Jing-Mei decide what she wanted to do with her life then circumstances wouldve gone a lot better between them.Nevertheless, the way Jing-Meis mother was hard on her all boils down to culture. In America, individualism is valued much great than other countries. Places like India and Japan are much stricter on education than the US. Many parents in those countries have the same expectations of their children, such as becoming a doctor or an engineer. Parents in the United States are usually less strict and arent set on their children having one goal in life. But how should parents go about introducing their offspring to career passageways? Parents should open their childrens eyes to assortments of activities to truly broaden their horizons and let them figure out what they want to be rather than setting for them one distinctive motive and tell them what they will be in life.In conclusion, what the media portrays can manipulate what the American Dream means to some. In the story, Jing-Meis mother envisions her daughter becoming a true child prodigy after ceremony television shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show and Shirley Temple. The way her mother wants her to be a superstar truly holds Jing-Mei back from fulfilling her individual potential and finding out who she really is. Her mother thinks that just because she saw girls Jing-Meis age on television, her daughter will be able to mimic them effortlessly. Jing-Meis mother wanted to accomplish her own dreams through her daughter, but she sho uldve actualized that what the media demonstrates isnt for everyone.