For millions of immigrants, America was seen as a land of opportunity where everyone could become anything they wanted to be. A family that firmly believes in the American dream finds itself in Amy Tan's short story, "Two Kinds." The story centers on the daughter of a Chinese immigrant who desperately wants her daughter to succeed. In the story, the author shows the difficult lives that immigrants face when settling into a new culture. In this short story, the theme shows the protagonist's conflict with her mother over the type of girl her mother wants her to be. The author establishes the theme of the difficulty of mother-daughter relationships through characterization, setting, and symbolism. Primarily, Tan establishes the theme of the story through characterization. The protagonist, Jing-mei, struggles to meet the high expectations her mother has set for her. After seeing so much disappointment on her mother's face, Jine-mei "looks at herself in the mirror above the bathroom sink and when [she] only saw [her] face looking back – and that it would always be this ordinary face – she started to cry” (Tan 2). This puts Jing-mei and her mother in conflict with Jing-mei, who ends up yelling at her mother that "[she] wishes she was dead." "Like them" (Tan 8). As she grows older, Jing-mei becomes a little more level-headed; she then understands that her mother only wants the best for her. Through diction and language, the author creates a character who is immature at first but learns respect as he grows up. Besides characterization, Tan uses setting to illustrate the theme of the short story. The story takes place in San Francisco after the mother flees there "in 1949 after losing everything in China: ...... middle of paper ...... children the things they need for succeed. Works Cited APT. “About APT Staff.” Dallas Staffing-Dallas Employment Agency-Temporary and Temporary Staffing Services. APTE. Internet. October 22, 2011. .Becerra, Cynthia. “Two kinds.” Masterplots II: Short story series, revised edition; (January 2004). Literary Resource Center. Internet. October 21, 2011Kever, Jeannie. “For the first time, Latinos outnumber poor white children.” Houston Chronicle (TX) September 29, 2011: Texas Reference Center. EBSCO. Internet. October 22, 2011. OED. "Immigration." Def. 1. Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. Print. Rand Texas. “Population and Demography.” 1999/2000: Immigration statistics by state. Internet. October 27, 2011.Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas. "About Us." Workforce Solutions for Greater Dallas. Internet. October 22. 2011. .