Critical Review of T.R.Reid's Confucious Lives Next Door - Essay Example

This legitimization, the author asserts, necessitates the mainstream values that represent, strengthen, and create the representation of Asia countries. While it can be argued that cultural and social phenomena exclusively produce the hierarchy of Japan, in my view it is dubious whether highlighting the fact that the ethics of Confucius are the only crucial factor for social achievements of Asia because the adaptation of Western culture in Asia strongly have affected on Asian societies. In addition, to a certain degree, the traveler’s tale of Reid confronts the reader with the critical roles that Confucian ethical values play in constructing Japan.

At the same time, Reid, in my perspective, fails to elucidate the way in which Westerners—Americans in particular—can benefit from the East. Reid’s book begins with his reliving of his family’s voyage to Japan from America. The cultural contrast materializes from Reid’s description of his family’s traveling experience and continues throughout the book. Reid notices within the first few weeks of life in Asia, that even the landscaping within the lush paddy fields depicts a land much different than what Reid had been accustomed to in America.

The newness of the Orient was ever present even in the cuisine, as Reid and his family began trying new foods such as fried octopus and other Asian delicacies. As Reid and his family traveled to different parts of Asia, they took in the beauty of the new sights and aromas of the East. It did not take long for them to recognize the newness of Asia, as it contrasted greatly from the business and chaos of American city life. Reid and his family enjoyed the shopping districts where items which may have cost hundred of dollars in the states, could be purchased for mere pocket change.

Reid points out in his book that Asia heavily outranks the west not only in size but also in overall wealth. He