Two Kinds- The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan: euphemism

In this chapter, Jing-Mei Woo is the narrator. She tells of her mother's obsession with Jing-Mei's becoming a prodigy of any sort. After putting Jing-Mei through countless tests, her mother decides to enroll her in piano lesson. Jing-Mei's piano teacher was deaf, so Jing-Mei found this as an easy way to escape having to actually play. Jing-Mei's mother figured Jing-Mei had progressed enough to perform in a local talent show. By the time the talent show came around, Jing-Mei was so upset with her mother that she just gave up practicing. The euphemism that Jing-Mei does is playing her unpracticed piece of music, which she knows will embarrass her mother. "But my mother's expression was what devestated me: a quiet black look that said she had lost everything" (Tan 140). This can relate to any teenager going through parent's disapproval.