The narrator's mother sees America as the land of opportunity. The first sentence of the story states this right away." My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America." America has always been lauded as the land of opportunity and this proved to be enticing to immigrants from many other countries. Jing-mei notes that her mother had lost everything in China: "her mother and father, her home, her first husband, and...
The narrator's mother sees America as the land of opportunity. The first sentence of the story states this right away." My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America." America has always been lauded as the land of opportunity and this proved to be enticing to immigrants from many other countries. Jing-mei notes that her mother had lost everything in China: "her mother and father, her home, her first husband, and two daughters, twin baby girls." So, one can certainly sympathize with the mother and understand how the "land of opportunity" would be a welcome change after suffering such loss.
But the mother is convinced in realizing that opportunity for her daughter. She is convinced that Jing-mei can become a child prodigy. When Jing-mei becomes a successful chess player, her mother lives vicariously through her. Jing-mei becomes caught in an identity struggle. Her mother pressures her to become successful to the point that Jing-mei feels like she is being controlled. Her mother uses the strict discipline that she's learned from her Chinese culture in order to force Jing-mei to succeed. Jing-mei wants some freedom and this is a result of her American cultural influence. Her mother doesn't quite understand this. She simply wants her daughter to be successful. Coming from such tragedy and actually seeing her daughter succeed makes the mother more convinced that America is in fact the land of opportunity. This is why she continued to push Jing-mei.
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