Jing-mei starts out being excited and confident about her mother's plans for her. She believes that if she and her mother found the right kind of prodigy for Jing-mei, then Jing-mei would one day become a perfect child. As she begins losing hope, however, Jing-mei's character starts to change. Tired of constantly failing her mother's high expectations, she decides to set her own expectations, and she becomes willful, disobedient, and vocal. Ironically, her motivation throughout the story stays the same; she wants her mother to love and accept her. She knows she'll never be the type of girl her mother wants, so she resists her mother's wishes. Yet by doing the opposite of what her mother wants, Jing-mei still cannot feel that acceptance that she really wants.
