Cultural Identity in Brave We Are and A Good Fall - Essay Example

 Cultural Identity Culture, which defines the mode of conduct, work, thinking, or general existence of a particular context, is the basis of cultural identity. Cultural identity on its own is the recognition of a group or individual as belonging to a particular culture that is guided by its own unique theories and identifiers. Different cultures have different identities, which means that a potential confusion might arise in case one loses or moves to a new cultural ground. What are the effects, and do we all have different or similar inborn cultures within us? This essay will evaluate the similarities in two literature reviews; “Brave We are” and “A Good Fall”and discuss how they both succeed in equal measures in revealing how we exist differently in varying cultures, and prove that culture is nurtured, and not an inborn quality. In “Brave We Are”, the story shows that culture is nurtured and not inborn in that the narrator who is born in Lahore immigrates to the United States where she finds that in order to survive, she has to adapt the American ways. In addition, her own children born in the U.S. exhibit purely American behaviour. In “A Good Fall” the main character lives in America as an illegal immigrant after he is expelled from a Chinese temple. He finds that in order to survive in the U.S. on his own, he has to live as per their cultures. “Brave We Are” is a story by Tahira Naqvi in which a mother who is a Pakistani immigrant to the United States, is struggling to bring up her family in the foreign western setting. She encounters many challenges in that she strives to maintain her initial culture while at the same time observing the new culture so as not to fall out with the American society. The occurrences appear in her encounters with both her family and the outside world. One of the major scenes in her story is her youngest son, Kasim, insisting on knowing the meaning of the word “hybrid”, which she tries to give a concealing definition, saying it means a combination of different things. Her wit, however, does not solve the issue because her overly curious son asks more complex questions that leave the mother wondering whether she should open up to her son, who according to her is too young to know of mixed relationships. She writes, “The note of restive insistence in his voice compels me to tear my gaze from the water… flushed, his face reminds me he’s just a child” (Naqvi 928). In the conversation that follows, Kasim utters phrases of knowledge that his mother is shocked to hear, wondering whether her education level allows for such to be known to a boy of his age. Kasim enquires as to whether humans “crossbreed” drawing the argument in his mother’s explanation that animals can cross-breed. This shows that here in Connecticut, such knowledge is taught to children of Kasim’s age, whereas in Lahore, it is reserved for an older age. A different scenario follows when her elder son, Haider, seems to understand English so well, but turns down his mother’s suggestion that he learns Urdu Haider is hesitant to even attempt it, terming it as a hard-to-learn language, as compared to English. The variation deepens when Naqvi explains how her sons were amazed at her showing interest in an American song, terming it as their type of music. This is evident as she writes, “Both Haider and my youngest son were amused when I showed interest in the song. What do I know about their music, their kind of music?” (930). This indicates that cultural identity is not innate but rather, forms itself depending on the environment that one is in. This is because Naqvi herself, having been brought up in Lahore, does not find it as difficult to learn Urdu. In addition, although she is the mother of the two sons, they regard her as different from them in terms of musical culture, simply because she is a Pakistani-born. Naqvi, as the story portrays, tries to acquire multiple cultures by learning to do things both the American way, such as including cheese in her spaghetti, and also retaining her imported culture from Lahore such as teaching her children the Urdu poems. Although she somehow seems to succeed, a part of her wants to remain loyal to her Pakistani side, and some American cultures won’t just seem okay for her. For her, it is important in that learning new cultures guarantees her a comfortable stay in America, while at the same time retaining her authentic Pakistani identity. Adding oregano to her spaghetti mixture with coriander and cumin while it hotmight resembles a case where somebody moves to another different environment where cultures are different, and although they had a nature of their own, they will be forced to adapt to the new world so as to survive in it. It goes, “Without meaning I throw in some oregano into the boiling Spaghetti. I shouldn’t have done that…” (932). It signifies that while people might feel like retaining their ideal cultures after finding themselves in different environs, pressure (cultural frictions) from their current environment will always “force” them to adapt to it, and live with it. Concisely, multiple cultures cannot co-exist; one has to give way to the other. In the story, her son Kasim is a friend to a girl, Mary, who is half English and Half Pakistani, who, according to him, is called a hybrid, “Well, then she’s hybrid too, isn’t she?” (932). From what his mother explains, Kasim knows that she is different from him in that she is a mixture of the two, resulting in (hybrid) black hair and blue eyes. Whether they remain together or separate, that is uncertainbecause we do not learn about what decision the young boy makes after his mother agrees with Mary being a hybrid, but from Naqvi’s representation of things, the story advocates for their staying together. In “A Good Fall”, Ha Jin the author gives an insight into the lives of Chinese immigrants who move to the United States hoping for better returns. They, however, end up in a maze when they lose their sense of security and belonging, having landed in a world of cultures totally different from theirs. In focus is Ganchin, a monk fired from a temple where he taught martial arts, owing to his deteriorating health as a result of an illness that renders him unable to teach anymore. He hooks up with an American friend, Cindy, who insists on him to dump his Chinese ways in order to survive in the harshness that engulfs him. Jin (224) states, “Why not return to this earthly life?”. He has no means of returning home, and his visa is expired, meaning he resides in America illegally. This places him at the mercy of the authorities who if they find out about him are likely to subject him to the law where his likely sentence is deportation. These conditions lead him into depression as a result and attempts suicide by jumping off a storey building. He luckily survives after sympathizers rush him to hospital where during his stay opens up on his reasons of taking his life. His news of attempted suicide spread all over America, mostly in the North, and sympathizers begin sending in aid to help the poor man. This act attracts many advocates to his sue against the temple which turns him into an overnight celebrity after news agents write the story of his plight “… reported by numerous small newspapers; a charitable organization offered to pick up his medical bills; and even the owner of Teng’s Garden got famous for a week, having appeared twice on local TV” (239). He acquires a new personality that sees all his looming problems melt away, and even the American society being overly interested in him. This transforms him in that before the fame, he was destitute and residing in America illegally, in addition to surviving through inhumane means such as relying on Cindy to feed him with leftovers of foreign food with meat, in which case he was initially a vegetarian. His new status sees him granted asylum, he becomes rich from the publication of his story, escapes deportation as he acquires a new validation to stay, and it also allows him to marry anyone from the new world if he so wills. Ganchin, in the process, loses all his Chinese identities such as giving up on teaching martial arts, just so he fits into the new western cultural context. Then finally to gain permanent American citizenship, Cindy advises him to find an American lady to marry, assuring him that the money he gets from the suit will be sufficient to sustain him and more This is stated on page 240 as, “You know, youare rich, but not filthy rich like a millionaire who doesn’t have to work”. This portrays the meanness that the American society can give to an “unrecognizable” alien in that before he airs his story that spreads like bushfire, they did not care about him (“Book Review” n.p.). Moreover, Ganchin seemingly foreshadows that he cannot exist in two cultures at the same time, which leaves him with no alternative but to get depressed. In addition, in dumping his old ways, we see from him that every culture has its own ways of existence, which in order to survive in it; one has to comply fully with its ways after giving up on their native cultures. The two stories portray similarities in several aspects. One, we have the main characters originating from different parts of the world, then finding themselves in others, which results in cultural differences. They both originally belonged to Asia and end up in the United States. In “Brave We are”, the author discusses how different she finds the western cultures, and although she fights to keep some of her cultures alive, daily life pushes her into conforming fully to the American lifestyle. “A Good Fall” on its participants, two varying existences between the Chinese and Americans in that before his fall; Ganchin did not seem visible to any Americans. Contrary to them, the Chinese on getting the news of the monk’s tribulations quickly spread the news amongst themselves, from where help came in. In short, the Chinese practice communism more than the Americans who in this essay portray individualism. On matters of multiple cultures, both stories’ conclusions bow to the fact that it is impossible to exist in more than one culture since one will always override the other (Wooldridge, n.p.). As such, different cultures can only exist separately, but never merge. In conclusion, it is evident from evaluations that both stories’ theme is revealing the struggle and confusion that one might end up in an exposure to new cultures, of which the intensity of the suffering increases if they tend to resist the new cultures (Toibin, n.p.). Moreover, it is clear from the conduct of Naqvi’s sons that culture is learned from the daily interactions of humans, the same in Ganchin’s as we see him learn to eat western food, and showing his liking for it. Both books portray the characters of victims of circumstances, in this case, cultural variations. Works Cited “Book Review: A Good Fall/ Stories by Ha Jin”. The Cultural Observer, 2009. Web.14 February 2014. Jin, Ha.A Good Fall:Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010. Print. Tahira Naqvi. Dying In A Strange Country: Stories: Tsar Publications, 2001. Print. Toibin, Colm. “Exiles from Themselves”. The New York Times,2009. Web. 14 February 2014. Wooldridge, Frosty. “A Multicultural Society Is Not Logical Or Workable”, 2012. Web.14 February 2014. Read More