The activity of civil rights activists was one of the indicative marks of the 20th century, which was largely reflected in the literature. A bias against such themes as culture and conflict appeared, and it is portrayed in Two Kinds and Everyday Use. Both of the stories focuses on culture as the foundation of one’s life, but the perspectives from which the authors consider culture are different.
In Two Kinds, Amy Tan describes cultural transition on the example of Chinese apprehension of the Western culture in such areas as modernization and education. However, the conflicting morals appear, when Jing-Mei’s mother hopes that her daughter would succeed in the new cultural context of American life, but the girl resist her and understands that none of her behaviors are pleasant for the mother (Tan). The difference in expectations and inability to listen to each other leads to a conflict that is driven by cultural attitudes.
On the contrary to the above story, Everyday Use by Alice Walker presents another perspective on cultural impact. Dee rejects the mainstream cultural pretext and strives to follow the unaccepted heritage. This ethnic and social conflict is associated with family traditions that are considered to be negative due to oppression from another nation (Walker). The setting of both stories is the US between 1920s and 1970s, and both of them describe young daughters, who struggle to identify themselves.
To conclude, the topic of cultural conflict is the main similarity of Two Kinds and Everyday Use. They explain two different ways that can affect people, making them to oppose families and society in general. Even though both of the stories have the same setting and timespan, they reflect the social and cultural context of the 20th century and help in understanding the associated problems.
Works Cited
Tan, Amy. “Two Kinds.” Radnor Township School District, n.d. Web.
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Aiken County Public School , n.d. Web.