21; is a story in which a mother believes that her daughter could be the absolute best at something… as long as she put her mind to it. Unfortunately for the mother, she and her daughter did not see eye to eye in this. The mother in this story is a Chinese immigrant who left basically everything to start her life over in the USA. She has always had the belief that anyone can become anything they wanted in the US as long as they put their mind to it. She would sit in front of the TV or read a magazine and see all these child prodigies. Whether it be Shirley Temple on the “Ed Sullivan show” or a three-year-old boy who could name all the capitals in the United States and even the capitals of some European countries, the mother had her mind set that that could be her daughter. Her daughter, has the opposite belief. She believes that there is no conceivable way that she could become one of these prodigies. Her mother tests her intelligence as well as her musical ability, but it all is to no avail. After seeing a piano recital on the “Ed Sullivan Show,” her mother made up her mind that her daughter was going to be a world-renowned pianist. Her mother signed her up for lessons with an old man in their apartment building. Since her daughter believed that it was impossible for her to become to prodigy in piano, she didn’t try anything close to her maximum ability. Then, during a musical showcase, her daughter tried to perform a song. It was a disgrace. There were mistakes left and right. It broke her mother’s heart to see that her daughter wasn’t great at something. Soon after the disaster at the recital, Nikan had a fight with her mother about the whole piano situation. The fight got to the point that Nikan said to her mother “Then I wish I weren’t your daughter. I wish you weren’t my mother.” (Tan 34) Her mother was in complete shock over what she had just heard. The event...
