Generations vs. Two Kinds

“I hate you! I hope you die!” were the words that escaped my mouth at the age of sixteen; words which concluded the argument I was having with my mother for the previous 2 hours about why I wasn’t allowed to go out like other “normal” teenagers. The relationship between a mother (especially a traditional mother) and a daughter (especially an American-born, teenage daughter) can be at times complex, volatile and unconditional. Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds” [Interactions] and Joyce Maynard’s “Generations” [Interactions] reflect upon two very different mother/daughter relationships and yet still convey the unconditional love that a mother has for her child and vice versa.
In “Generations”, Maynard describes her grandmother as being possessive of her mother which made her mother furious and resentful of her grandmother although she felt guilty because...