The two authors share the same revelation that came later in life and made them write the two respective literature pieces. but, while Divakaruni is writing in a manner that presents things in the light of a lightly self mockery, although the topic remains as serious as possible, Liu describes what appears to be a crisis. Despite of his life achievements, he places himself among those who needs to find the contact with reality by going back to his roots, but is not capable to do it anymore. The second generation Chinese-American boy cannot be both Chinese and American, but at the end of his writing, he comes to realize that he could still have a chance of being something new, the expression of a new generation with immigrant parents, yellow skin and white on the inside, dedicated to his country, the United States, but also aware of his Chinese roots and willing to use them in his best interest, but also in that of the larger Asian community that expended exponentially in America during the last dozens of years. At a later point of his adult life, the Chinese-American discovered that he was a slave to his own drive to shed a stereotype only in order to become a subject to another one and wishes he found a way to escape this vicious circle.
On the other hand, the young Indian-Americans who are watching the Indian movie at a movie theatre in New Jersey, although in touch with their origin culture and country, are also slaves to a different kind of life commitment. The culture of their parents made them easy pray to the...
33 that she and her husband saved together (Albert 99). Her husband, a proprietor of a 7-11 in a dangerous neighborhood, has worked hard for the family to establish a foothold in American society, and to leave his dream behind her seems like a defeat and a betrayal of his memory, as well as betrayal of her new identity. When her husband dies, Sumita knows that to return to India will
Peter Singer and Chitra Divakaruni each offer a powerful commentary on world poverty. Both of their respective essays, "The Singer Solution to World Poverty" and "Live Free and Starve" demonstrate good writing skills and rhetoric are therefore worthy pieces for inclusion into any book club. However, of the two authors only Divakaruni has first-hand experience of poverty. Singer's argument, while more shocking and powerful than Divakaruni's, falls short because of
find me a quiet, pretty girl, he wrote, not brash, like Calcutta girls are nowadays, not with too many western ideas. Someone who would be relieved to have her husband make the major decisions. But she had to be smart, at least a year of college, someone he could introduce to his friends with pride (Divakaruni). This quotation shows how superficial and self-absorbed the narrator is. He does not desire an
Symbolism plays a major role in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's "Clothes," Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal," and in Colette's "The Hand." In "Clothes," the narrator is a woman in India from a traditional Bengali family. Her parents go through a lot of trouble to arrange a good marriage for her, to an Indian man who now lives in the United States. The husband-to-be flies all the way to India to meet the
Clothes Do Clothes Make the Woman? Clothes, Silence, and Rebirth in Chitra B. Divakaruni's short story entitled "Clothes" Chitra B. Divakaruni's short story entitled "Clothes" begins in India and ends in the Indian community of America. However, Divakaruni clearly hopes to impart in the readers' mind a more universal lesson than one confined to the central protagonist Sumita's immediate cultural context, despite the many details present in the tale that are particular
Asian Studies Segregation can breed empowerment, by creating self-defined and self-sustaining communities. Asian communities, for example, have been able to maintain identities that are separate from the white hegemony. Terms like Asian-American music, Asian-American literature, and Asian-American humor both promote and challenge social segregation in American society. Hawaiian band Sudden Rush uses the vehicle of music to convey a unique cultural identity, and to resist the appropriation of Hawaiian culture. For example,
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