Analyzing Jhumpa Lahiri's My Two Lives

In this constantly changing society, one’s background is everlasting. As people grow older and make their own decisions, they find themselves faced with the perplexity of escaping their past lifestyle and customs, but they will ultimately carry them throughout their life. Jhumpa Lahiri’s “My Two Lives,” the excerpt from Alan Ehrenhalt’s The Lost City, and N. Scott Momaday’s “The Way to Rainy Mountain” take different approaches to develop the plot, but they are all connected by a universal theme: the eternal presence of ancestry.
Lahiri’s “My Two Lives” is her story about the issues she had while trying to maintain her Indian traditions for her parents but her want to adapt to American ways as well. She uses her own experiences to portray a compelling story about culture. Jhumpa Lahiri is an Indian-American, and as a child, she faced many obstacles due to trying to live two lives with separate cultures. Her
Ehrenhalt uses interviews and statements made by those who used to be residents of the community to develop a surprising definition of Bronzeville. Bronzeville was a neighborhood in Chicago during a time period where blacks were far from receiving fair treatment and opportunities. Outsiders viewed the area as nothing more than a poor, black community, but they were not aware of how morally rich the people actually were. The residents recall how Bronzeville highly impacted their life, and many even claim to miss it. Although many had overcome the disgrace placed upon them and became very successful individuals, they lacked the closeness and hope that lived within the people of Bronzeville. The people in the community had went separate ways and had new houses and families of their own; however, one thing would never change among those individuals, Bronzeville will always be home, and the cultural values will live on