Memories of Montreal and Lend Me Your Light - Essay Example

1) Summary and notes Notes Memories of Montreal- and Richness Montreal is rich, in terms of cultural diversity and bustling small businesses. Author is poor, but rich inside. Jewish versus French businesspeople. Jewish works hard like French businesspeople, but the former goes home. Privacy is important to them. “Every family I knew then had a story of death and they were all mixed up in my mind.” It is depressing how the Holocaust produced numerous deaths enough for every family to be affected. Multicultural neighborhood has made the narrator a multilingual and multiculturallly aware and sensitive child. He feels sad for his son, because he can no longer experience his culture with such rawness the way he did. Lend Me Your Light The title has a strong symbolic meaning. “Light” refers to the light of being a true Indian. Mistry describes Indian culture that has strong social stratification, pastoral attitudes, and diverging sense of kinship. The stigmatization of the ghatis and their pariah label shows the importance of social status for Indians. Pariah groups are not treated as people. Their dehumanization is condoned or the norm in Indian society. There is a sharp difference between Percy and Jamshed. Percy is a man of his people. Jamshed is disgraced by his people and heritage. Summaries In Memories of Montreal- and Richness, Moses Milstein argues that he has had a richer childhood than his son, because he grew up from a culturally diverse community, and though it was hard to be a struggling Jew with a heavy past, the economic and Holocaust burden became easier because of their strong sense of community. He provides details of Jewish, French, and Chinese cultures through particular information about their jobs and livelihoods and how they treated their work or businesses. He also gives detailed descriptions of his simple joys as a child, which he appreciates fully now as an adult. Rohinton Mistry portrays Indian culture in Lend Me Your Light. Like Milstein, he uses the framework of childhood to express his experiences as an Indian. The title has a strong symbolic meaning. “Light” refers to the light of being a true Indian. Mistry describes Indian culture that has strong social stratification, pastoral attitudes, and diverging sense of kinship. Jamshed is from a rich family and his exposure to American values and symbols through American movies, music, and media, made him easily acculturated to the American identity. Percy starts out to be like Jamshed, but he ends up bringing the “light” of being a true Indian, since he is the one who helps disadvantaged communities in India. The narrator follows the same path as Jamshed, because he also becomes more Western in thinking and actions. He also leaves India like Jamshed. 2) First draft Culture is like a lamp post that helps give direction to a person’s identity. In Memories of Montreal- and Richness, Moses Milstein describes his childhood in a multicultural community. He remembers his Jewish history, beliefs, and practices that interact with other cultural groups, particularly French and Chinese. Rohinton Mistry portrays Indian culture in Lend Me Your Light. He illustrates the childhood of three characters: Percy, Jamshed, and the narrator. They are all Indians, but not all of them choose to be Indians. This essay will compare how the authors used detail to explore the importance of cultural identity. These authors used economic, family, and social details to express their cultural identities, using a tone of disappointment in their adult lives, because they have lost their abilities to strengthen their cultures. Economic factors and conditions influence cultural identities. Milstein describes businessmen and how they shape cultural attitudes and behaviors. Jewish businessmen are hard workers, but still prefer their privacy and have some family time: “Mr. Auerbach practically lived in his store, he did, in fact, go home at night” (Milstein). The French, on the contrary, lived inside their shops and whose daily activities and conversations can be easily heard: “[They] lived amidst their crowded displays of potato chips… cooking, sleeping…just behind the curtain in the back of the store” (Milstein). The narrator’s father and other Jewish immigrants work in a clothing plant as factory workers. Milstein differentiates the workers inside and outside the factories. Outside the factories, they are happy people, but as workers, “their faces were closed and dark and they worked feverishly at piecework...” Manual repetitive labor has turned them into machines. Mistry also explores the economic dimension of culture. He portrays this through differentiating the life of the upper and working class. The working class, such as the tiffin carriers, who are “glistening and stinking of sweat in the hot season,” while rich people like Jamshed eat his lunch at the “leather-upholstered luxury of the back seat” of his “air-conditioned family car” (Mistry). The rich then tend to develop weak connection with their Indianness, while the middle class like Percy, who experience how it is to eat in “crammed cavernous interior,” have higher chances of being connected to their cultural identity. Family details reflect cultural experiences, beliefs, and behaviors. Milstein mentions the family of the Jewish tailor. Their home is filled with sadness: “like the tape measure he wore around his neck” (Milstein). This sadness, however, is not just tied to their poverty but to their past. They are survivors of the Holocaust. When Milstein says “I don't remember the details” of what happened to the tailor’s family, it indicates how each Jewish family has been touched by the tragedy of the Krieg. Mistry, furthermore, uses details about family life to portray his Indian heritage. For instance, he mentions how Percy changed his playtime activities because of Jamshed. Before, Percy plays with his younger brother at the compound. He soon prefers Jamshed’s company at the latter’s house in Malabar Hill. During this time, the narrator admits the existence of the eldest-younger brother gap. He says: “Percy did not confide in me very much in those days” (Mistry). This gap demonstrates the high position of the eldest son in the family that the Indian culture respects. Their mother condones Percy’s rude behavior too, because of this cultural belief. The narrator says that his Mummy “would proudly observe” and say that “[Percy] has a temper just like his Grandpa’s” (Mistry). The narrator feels this lower status when he describes how Jamshed and Percy treated him before: “I was merely the kid brother, and nobody expected me to do much else but listen” (Mistry). Clearly, family attitudes and behaviors reflect cultural customs and beliefs too. Social conditions and factors shape cultural identities. Religion is a dominant factor in Memories of Montreal. Milstein mentions foods that are eaten during the Jewish Passover, such as “emergency box of matzohs, or kosher Coca Cola.” These details show how people respect their traditions by eating only what is allowed during these religious events. Milstein also argues that he had a better childhood than his son, because he had the advantage of living in a multicultural society in Montreal. He says: “We were educated in Yiddish, spoke to each other in English and lived in a French neighbourhood.” His son, on the contrary, lives in a West Vancouver's Hollyburn Mountain, where cherry blossoms fall on him in silence. This sharply contrasts with his noisy childhood, where families are friends and he feels “safe and happy on the streets as in my own home.” And so the narrator blames himself too because his son can no longer experience his culture with such rawness and richness the way he did. His son will not see chickens being dressed in the market and know how a meat cutter is revered for his skills. He will lose his “insider” identity, where he does not know something that his father knew secretly before, such as the secret about the large bakery, Richstones. His son will miss out in knowing how it is to be poor and yet have a rich life inside. The title Lend Me Your Light has a strong symbolic meaning to Indian culture. The “light” refers to the light of being a true Indian. Mistry describes Indian culture that has strong social stratification, pastoral attitudes, and diverging sense of kinship. India has a socially stratified culture with ghatis treated as pariah. Pastoral attitudes are also prevalent in how “automobiles were prohibited in Matheran” (Mistry). Jamshed is from a rich family and his exposure to American values and symbols through American movies, music, and media, made him easily acculturated to the American identity. Percy started out to be like Jamshed, but he ends up bringing the “light” of being a true Indian, since he is the one who helps disadvantaged communities in India. The narrator ends up like Jamshed, who becomes more Western in thinking and actions than Indian. Mistry feels disappointed that he has become un-Indian. Thus, social conditions also describe cultural structures and beliefs. Mistry and Milstein use details to describe their cultures and their attitudes toward it. They both use childhood memories to explore the economic, family, and social dimensions of their culture. Their stories have a longing and self-critical tone. Milstein wishes he can give the same cultural richness to his son, while Mistry admires Percy for being a compassionate Indian. Mistry and Milstein feel sad that they have lost something when they gained economic wealth- the chance to strengthen their cultures for themselves and their children. 3) Final draft Culture is like a lamp post that helps give direction to a person’s identity. In Memories of Montreal- and Richness, Moses Milstein describes his childhood in a multicultural community. He remembers his Jewish history, beliefs, and practices that interact with other ethnic minorities. Rohinton Mistry portrays Indian culture in Lend Me Your Light. He illustrates the childhood of three characters: Percy, Jamshed, and the narrator. They are all Indians, but not all of them choose to be Indians. This essay will compare how these authors use detail to explore the importance of cultural identity. These authors used economic, family, and social details to express their cultural identities, using a tone of disappointment in their adult lives, because they have lost their abilities to strengthen their cultures. Economic factors and conditions influence cultural identities. Milstein describes businessmen and their cultural attitudes and behaviors. Jewish businessmen are hard workers, but still prefer their privacy and have some family time: “Mr. Auerbach practically lived in his store, he did, in fact, go home at night” (Milstein). The French, on the contrary, live inside their shops: “[They] lived amidst their crowded displays of potato chips… cooking, sleeping… just behind the curtain in the back of the store” (Milstein). The narrator’s father and other Jewish immigrants work in a clothing plant as factory workers. Milstein differentiates the workers inside and outside the factories. Outside the factories, they are happy people, but as workers, “their faces were closed and dark and they worked feverishly at piecework...” Manual repetitive labor has turned them into machines. Mistry also explores the economic dimension of culture. He portrays this through differentiating the life of the upper and working class. The working class, such as the tiffin carriers, are “glistening and stinking of sweat in the hot season,” while rich people like Jamshed eat his lunch at the “leather-upholstered luxury of the back seat” of his “air-conditioned family car” (Mistry). The rich then tend to develop weak connection with their Indianness, while the middle class like Percy, who experience how it is to eat in “crammed cavernous interior,” have higher chances of being connected to their cultural identity. Family details reflect cultural experiences, beliefs, and behaviors. Milstein mentions the family of the Jewish tailor. Their home is filled with sadness: “like the tape measure he wore around his neck” (Milstein). This sadness, however, is not just tied to their poverty but to their past, as survivors of the Holocaust. When Milstein says “I don't remember the details” of what happened to the tailor’s family, it indicates how the Holocaust has devastated too many families that it becomes impossible to remember them. Mistry uses details too about family life to portray his Indian heritage. For instance, he mentions how Percy changed his playtime activities because of Jamshed. During this time, the narrator likewise admits the existence of the eldest-younger brother gap. He says: “Percy did not confide in me very much in those days” (Mistry). This gap demonstrates the high position of the eldest son in the family that the Indian culture respects. Their mother condones Percy’s rude behavior too, because of this cultural belief. The narrator says that his Mummy “would proudly observe” and say that “[Percy] has a temper just like his Grandpa’s” (Mistry). Clearly, family attitudes and behaviors reflect cultural customs and beliefs too. Cultural identities are present in social conditions too. Religion is a dominant factor in Memories of Montreal. Milstein mentions foods that are eaten during the Jewish Passover, such as “emergency box of matzohs, or kosher Coca Cola.” These details show how people respect their traditions by eating only what is allowed during these religious events. Milstein also argues that he had a better childhood than his son, because he had the advantage of living in a multicultural society in Montreal. He says: “We were educated in Yiddish, spoke to each other in English and lived in a French neighbourhood.” His son, on the contrary, lives in a West Vancouver's Hollyburn Mountain, where cherry blossoms fall on him in silence. This sharply contrasts with the author’s noisy childhood, where he feels “safe and happy on the streets as in [his] own home.” The narrator blames himself, because his son can no longer experience his culture with such rawness and richness the way he did. His son will not see chickens being bloodily dressed in the market. His son will miss out in knowing how it is to be poor and yet have a rich life inside. The title Lend Me Your Light has a strong symbolic meaning to Indian culture. The “light” refers to the light of being a true Indian. Mistry describes Indian culture that has strong social stratification, pastoral attitudes, and diverging sense of kinship. India has a socially stratified culture with ghatis treated as pariah. Pastoral attitudes are also prevalent in how “automobiles were prohibited in Matheran” (Mistry). Jamshed is from a rich family and his exposure to American values through American movies, music, and media, made him easily acculturated to the American identity. Percy starts out like Jamshed, but he ends up bringing the “light” of being a true Indian, since he is the one who helps disadvantaged communities in India. The narrator ends up like Jamshed, who becomes more Western in thinking and actions. Mistry feels disappointed that he has become un-Indian. Thus, social conditions also describe cultural structures and beliefs. Mistry and Milstein use details to describe their cultures and their attitudes toward it. They both use childhood memories to explore the economic, family, and social dimensions of their culture. Their stories have a longing and self-critical tone. Milstein wishes he can give the same cultural richness to his son, while Mistry admires Percy for being a compassionate Indian. Mistry and Milstein feel sad that they have lost something when they gained economic wealth- the chance to strengthen their cultures for themselves and their children. Works Cited Milstein, Moses. Memories of Montreal- and Richness. Mistry, Rohinton. Lend Me Your Light. Read More