Human Oppressiveness in Two Kinds and AP Essay - 2357 Words

It was Emerson who said it best, â€Å"For nonconformity, the world whips you with its displeasure† (Porter 1155). With a detailed look of Amy Tan’s â€Å"Two Kinds† and John Updike’s â€Å"AP,† you will find that this quote is entirely applicable in the context of oppressiveness and in the likeness of â€Å"coming of age.† These two stories document the different perspectives of two characters’ growing up and how the role of the invisible hand of oppression guides developing adolescents into mature adults; without prejudice or even forethought. The characters in question are: Sammy, an AP store clerk whose time spent at work reveals how oppressed by society he is, and Jing-Mei, whose life and every move is dictated by the iron fist of her high-expectations†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"oppressive force†) as a whole. In the biographical essay â€Å"Amy Tan† by Karen Stein, she mentions how Tan’s parents pressured her to be both medical physician and pianist. She grew up around California, moving frequently. At fifteen, Amy’s father passed away. This was when her mother, Daisy, took her children to Switzerland and enrolled them in school there, only to return again to California in the late 1960’s. Despite her parent’s wishes, and her mother’s pressure; Tan eventually switched her life course when she changed her majors in college to English and Linguistics (2). As a now successful American novelist, Tan has wrote such stores as the popular Joy Luck Club, a collection of stories involving many Asian-American characters involved in a Mahjong club and the trials and tribulations they face as Old-world American immigrants. Tan, today, is considered and important voice among the groups of â€Å"hyphenated Americans.† (Stein 3) â€Å"Two Kinds,† i n fact, was one of the stories in the short series. As a reflection of her own past, â€Å"Two Kinds† itself was largely a piece of Tan’s history written in fictional form. John Updike, on the other hand, is a prolific American writer whose career began by writing about such political issues like the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. As a child of the Great Depression and enduring WWII, in similarity to Tan, Updike was no stranger to uncertainty and hardship (Greiner 195). While Tan and Updike’s style differ greatly,Show MoreRelatedCompare and Contrast the Marxist and Weberian Theories of Social Class. Why Do You Think Marx Emphasises Relations of Production in the Formation of Classes Whilst Weber Suggests the Market and Consumption Are the Important Factors?1750 Words   |  7 Pagesemphasises relations of production in the formation of classes whilst Weber suggests the market and consumption are the important factors? All human societies have been class based in some way, shape or form and, interpreting this in the most basic way, it can be said that in every known human society there has been a fundamental division between two broad social groups, the buorgeoisie that own and control the means of production, and the proletariat who own nothing but their ability to sell theirRead More The Modern Grotesque Hero in John Kennedy Tooles, A Confederacy of Dunces3939 Words   |  16 PagesDunces: ...the grotesque cannot be absolute in order to produce humor. While it can be strange, it must also contrast with some attempted unity to which we compare its divergence (284). Toole understands this rule of effective conflict, and he presents two disparate levels of grotesque in his A Confederacy of Dunces. A reader detects the incongruity that exists within Ignatius himself, while also identifying the more observable conflict between Ignatius and modern society. Although it is readily apparentRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 PagesCataloging-in-Publication Data Edmonds, Ennis Barrington. Rastafari : from outcasts to culture bearers / Ennis Barrington Edmonds. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-513376-5 1. Rastafari movement. 2. Jamaica—Religious life and customs. I. Title. BL2532.R37 E36 2002 299†².676—dc21 2002074897 v To Donnaree, my wife, and Donnisa, my daughter, the two persons around whom my life revolves; and to the ancestors whose struggles have enabled us to survive and thrive This