Throughout many different types of texts and paintings, authors are able show very personal experiences and insights to how culture is perceived around the world. Culture affects how people view the world and The way one looks at the world is heavily influenced by their cultural background and how they grew up. In the memoir, By Any Other Name, by Santha Rama Rau, she showed how her sister and her were put in a new school. The girl’s mother is a big part of their lives. With the mother’s direction the girls always seem to do what she says. The mom is very protective and likes to follow traditional Indian ways.
For example, the lunch the girls brought to school were thin wheat chapatis, and vegetable curry, and all the other kids had sandwiches. The two sisters have a hard time adjusting to the new environment at the school and never want to come back after the first week. The teacher at their school said, that all the Indian children had to sit in the back of the classroom when they took tests, because Indian children cheat. They got home and told their mother they never want to go back to school and their mother told them, “Of course not, darling” (Rau 39).
After the mother agreed with them that they didn’t have to return to school, an example was set for them. An example for how the girls might react to situations they are involved with in the future. The girls, Premila, and Santha, will see that when they get in a situation that they don’t like, they should give up. Instead of trying to adapt to new cultural ways, the girls just don’t wanted to be done. The mother didn’t help in that regard either. She just went along with what the girls wanted and didn’t try to help them find solutions to the problems.
In Frida Kahlo’s self portrait, On The Border of Mexico and the United States, you can see the invisible line that she has created to separate the two countries (Kahlo 29). On one side, Mexico is represented by the flowers in the ground and more natural elements. On the other side, the United States is shown as very industrial with lots of smoke in the air from factories. Then with Frida Kahlo standing in the middle you can see that with the other objects in the scene, she feels torn between the two. In Mexico she feels like an outcast, but in America she as if she doesn’t belong.
With her background and culture Frida is a mix between the two, but doesn’t feel fully devoted to one country over the other. With the way other people in society feel about their own culture and how they portray it, made Frida feel as if she really didn’t belong anywhere. Pico lyer’s essay, Where Worlds Collide, is another example of culture having a strong influence on the way people view the world. The main characters are coming from Asia to America. At the beginning of the essay, they all view America based on what they’ve seen on TV or in media.
They see the land of opportunity and a place where all cultures mix and vary. When they arrive here and actually see the separation and the lack of diversity, there’s a moment of shock. Their culture back in Asia led them to see the “Land of Opportunity” as something completely different than what it actually is like. “There are no military planes on the tarmac here, the newcomers notice, no khaki soldiers in fatigues, no instructions not to take photographs, as at home; but there are civilian restrictions every bit as strict as in many a police state. (lyer 51), lyer even goes as far as to compare the confusion they’re faced with to the restrictions placed on them back home.
Their cultural perspective had such a large influence while they were back in their home country, but once they got to America, they saw that it’s a lot different than what they thought it would be. The extent to which culture impacts how one views on the world and the other’s around them varies from person to person. A good example of this is Alice Walker’s short story, Everyday Use. Everyday use is a story of two sisters butting heads on who gets a family quilt.
The two sisters contrast each other. Dee, or Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, chose to embrace her African culture. She reflects it in the way she dresses, how she defines herself, the people she associates herself with, she even went as far as to change her name “Not ‘Dee,’ Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo”(Walker 61). Her sister, Maggie, on the other hand, is not so obvious about her African culture. Maggie doesn’t flaunt it around quite as much as Wangero does. Wangero takes pride in her African culture and background, because of this, she wants this family quilt that her mother had promised to Maggie.
Wangero wants to hang up the quilt and display it as decoration. Knowing that Maggie has it and is going to use it as a blanket instead of display it and keep it nice, doesn’t go over too well with Wangero. Wangero allows her culture to have a huge influence on the way she sees and acts in the world, whereas Maggie gives it very little influence. In the personal essay Ethnic Hash by Patricia J. Williams the culture of having many cultures and the difficulty of bringing them together is expressed. She is asked to bring a dish representing her “ethnicity”.
As she reflects on her ethnicity, she realizes you cannot define it; it’s just a part of you, “Do I even have an ethnicity? I wondered. It was like suddenly discovering you might not have a belly button. I tell you, I had to go to the dictionary” (Williams 11). Her culture is such a mixture of things she realizes that a person is not defined by just one part. Her views on the world would be accepting of the idea that America is a “melting pot”. She understands the difficulty of “fitting in” and belonging in a group.
The extent of influence that one’s culture plays apart in their worldviews depends on each situation and life. In Amy Tan’s novel excerpt Two kinds the story of conflicting views and lifestyles between a mother and daughter is explained. Throughout her childhood, Jing-mei’s mother pushes her into different activities to become famous in. Jing-mei feels resentment towards her mother, she feels she is never good enough, “You want me to be something I’m not! I sobbed. I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be! ” (Tan 24).
She grew up in the culture of always needing to be the best. As she gets older she adapts the mindset of you can only be who you are, “For unlike my mother, I did not believe could be anything I wanted to be, I could only be me” (Tan 24). Her childhood shapes her into accepting people for who they are, it teaches her you cannot be anyone but yourself. Jing-mei’s culture plays a big part in her views throughout the rest of her life. There are many other situations in life where personal culture influences the views of people.
Although there are times when it does not as well. An example of a time where it does not affect people’s views can be found in Robert Lake’s (Medicine Grizzlybear’s) Essay An Indian Father’s Plea. “Yesterday, for the third time in two weeks, he came home crying and said he wanted to have his hair cut. He said he doesn’t have any friends at school because they make fun of his long hair. “(Lake 78) is a quote that shows that culture does not always have an impact on people’s views and actions.
The kids that make fun of Mr. Lake’s son do it not because their cultural background is affecting their views, but because he is simply different. One could argue that this happens because he is part of a different culture, but this kind of bullying would happen to anyone who was significantly different from their classmates and refused to stand up for themselves. On the other hand culture can influence a person’s views. In Bharati Mukherjee’s essay Two Ways to Belong in America, she tells the story of her sister, Mira, and herself living in the United States. The quote “… We probably pitied one another.
She, for the lack of structure in my life, the erasure of Indianness, the absence of an unvarying daily core. I, for the narrowness of her perspective, her uninvolvement with the mythic depths or the superficial pop culture of this society. “(Mukherjee 70) this quote shows the ways that each of the sisters views have been affected by their respective cultures. Bharati Mukherjee views her sister as being austere and lacking freedom. Meanwhile her sister views her uninhibited and without structure. These two sisters are an example of how culture can differ from person to person.