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Papa's Parrot Analysis

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One Person’s Impact “It’s crazy how much one person can impact you.” by Unknown, but it clearly represents how Jing Mei, the Narrator, and Harry’s identities are shaped to be the people that they become. In the short stories “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, “The Bass the River and Sheila Mant” by W.D Wetherell, and “Papa’s Parrot” by Cynthia Rylant, the protagonists learn about their identities in significant moments of their lives. Foremost, Jing Mei’s identity is formed throughout her life by her mother and learns to give up. For example, when Jing Mei retorts that she is not a genius and never will be one, her mother interrupts Jing Mei’s rants and a heated argument commences. Jing Mei throws some harsh words at her mother, but nothing stops her in her tracks. Her mother continues to yell, “Who ask you to be genius? Only ask you be your best. For your sake. You think I want you to be genius?” (3). Jing Mei’s mother yells at her incessantly that Jing Mei hates piano, gives up on other challenges, and drops out of college. Jing Mei misunderstands her mom that instead of being a perfection, she just needs to try her best. Hence, Jing Mei’s identity is shaped by her mother to give up on the many challenges in her life. Furthermore, the Narrator’s identity is shaped by Sheila Mant because he realizes that he needs to prioritize his own wants and needs before others. For example, …show more content…

Foremost, Jing Mei gets into an argument with her mother telling her to be her best but she mistakes her mother for trying to be a prodigy. Furthermore, the narrator sacrifices his beloved fish for a girl who does not even show affection for him. Finally, Harry realizes that his father’s love for him had grown so much while he was at school, home, and even in the

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