The secret to understanding is the willingness to try. Since the existence of society, people have always strived to do their best. However, some people don't want the "best." Jing-mei, the protagonist of Amy Tan's short story "Two Kinds", is one of these people, believing that she can never achieve anything great. Jing-mei refused to hope that she could be someone special, leading her to stubbornly reject her mother until she finally understood what her mother was trying to do, demonstrating that the People will only be happy when they choose to do things of their own free will. When Jing-mei's mother pushed her to become a prodigy, she refused to try because she thought she couldn't and, as a result, became very stubborn. At first, Jing-mei believed that her mother was capable of becoming anything she wanted in America, the land of opportunity. However, after yelling at herself in the bathroom mirror for constantly raising her hopes too high and failing too miserably to meet expectations, Jing-mei changed her attitude. “I won’t let her change me,” I promised myself. I will not be what I am not” (Tan 477). Jing-mei began to believe that she was destined to be mediocre, never to be extraordinary. She convinced herself that she could only be herself, which was certainly not a miracle. Jing-mei became very determined, but towards the wrong goal, refusing to try. She participated half-heartedly in her mother's tests, and when she started playing the piano, she found a fault and never tried hard enough. After the recital fiasco, where Jing-mei failed miserably in her piano performance, she decided that "I no longer had to do what my mother said." I was not her slave... I had already listened to her and look what happened" (Tan 483), blaming the disaster...... middle of paper ...... your mother held Good. She realized that her mother only wanted one thing: for her to try. Jing-mei differed from her mother in one respect: “I didn't believe I could be everything I wanted to be” (Tan 484), which led her to stubbornly refuse. until she finally understood what her mother wanted for her: the best of herself. From the haircut accident to the magazine tests, Jing-mei had more or less tried to live up to her mother's expectations. However, since the piano fiasco, Jing-mei gave up, and soon after, her mother also lost hope in her daughter. It was only years later, after her mother's death, that Jing-mei realized her mother's intentions. Jing-mei was once a pleading child, stuck in the idea that "I could only be me" (Tan 484), but twenty years later she has become perfectly content, understanding that there is no limit to efforts and dreams..