Compare Champion of the World (Angelou) and Fish Cheeks (Tan) - Essay Example

Maya Angelou has the historical issue of racism before her that baffles satisfactory solution and she articulates discrimination suffered by the African Americans and as such she uses narration to depict her sense of isolation from the dominant culture. Amy Tan employs the method of description to highlight the issue of generation gap and the discrimination which relates to the fascination of the young and not to the ground realities related to the Chinese versus American cultures. Both the authors articulate the issues about those who feel like aliens in principally white America.

Angelou encounters and holds her differences as a child. Tan is chagrined of her culture until later in life when realization dawns on her that her exclusivity is an issue for celebration. It is not to be pitied or condemned. Angelou’s skin color made her dissimilar from the rest of the principal culture. As a young African American girl living in pre-civil rights era, Angelou dealt with discrimination without intermission and it was part of everyday lives of the black people. Rape, abuse and lynching took place in the ordinary course and yet they were full of pride for their culture.

Some of them were outstanding like Joe Louis, a black boxer, who challenged a white man in a heavyweight boxing competition of the world. The contest was watched by one and all of the Black Americans. Maya Angelou describes the bout-eve scenario thus: “The last inch of space was filled, yet people continued to wedge themselves along the walls of the store” (p.112). This indicates that the Black Americans, who were isolated from the mainstream society, were thrilled to find their man getting space and recognition and he was being watched on the television by millions.

Their isolated spirit was beginning to get recognition by the society. When he wins the contest, the reaction of Angelou is obvious. She is inflated with pride and her original conviction about the greatness of the