Two Kinds By Amy Tan Essay

Ever went to bed and woke up in a totally different world? Or maybe a new dimension? Sometimes the world has a way of making us feel that way. I think that when a person goes to a new world everything is new, the way they are, the way they look at their culture even their perspective on life. "Two kinds" by Amy Tan, shows when two different worlds collide it can be a big mess. It can change the way you view things maybe things you never thought about before. The story refers to a girl and a mother conflicting about culture and the way one another was raised. In the story the little girl's mom could conflicts with her daughter mainly because of how she was raised and how things were for her growing up. "I didn't have to do what my mother said anymore. I wasn't her slave. This wasn't China. I had listened to her before and look what happened. She was the stupid one”. Jing-mei mother wants her to live the American dream, something she never got to do. Jing-mei wants something different for her. She wasn't raised like her mother she was raised in America and it causes conflict between her mother and her. The world changed how Jing-mei viewed her culture. In the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker there are two young ladies, Maggie and Dee who are sisters. Maggie is so accepting of her culture but Dee on the other hand moved away and was introduced to a new world which caused her to change the way she saw her culture drastically. Dee changed a
lot about culture, she thought that it would be better to preserve their culture rather than to live it. For instance Dee was talking about how she wanted the dasher that they had at home just to keep it as a decoration, because it would last longer. Later on in the story she also talks about how she wanted these quilts that were being saved for when Maggie got married. Mama didn't want to give Dee the quilts so Dee said “ Maggie can't appreciate these quilts… she'd probably backward enough to put them in everyday use.” This shows that when Dee moved away she began to see her culture in a different way. Different places and people can change how you feel or see things about your culture, for Dee it might have made her want to preserve things so that they'd last longer. Longer for her to remember where she comes from. For example when they were talking about the quilts Maggie said “I can ‘member grandma Dee without the quilts.” Maggie is nothing like Dee, Maggie doesn't need anything to remember where she comes. She doesn't need anything to remember where she comes from because Maggie has never been introduced to a new world. Therefore Maggie has never been influenced by a new culture so she hasn't changed the way she sees her culture. The story of Frida Kahlo, by Hayden Herrera, is a great example of how culture affects the way you view others and the world.
For instance, in a portion of Frida Kahlo it says, "Where's the circus?"... Frida Kahlo did not mind a bit.” This scene took place in New York where the culture is completely different from Mexico, where Frida is from. You can tell New Yorkers view Mexican culture as silly or strange by the way they describe Frida Kahlo. This is because they are not accustom to the Mexican
culture. In the story “Legal Alíen”, by Pat Mora, is about lady who tells how is the life of a Mexicano here in the United States and the things that happen to be here, all you have to do is not knowing english and not being able to speak and how difficult it is for people they still look at you as if you were an Alíen because you did not know english, but also that she was going crazy because of the way they looked at her and said you speak spanish but you are not like us, you are different from everyone making her feel bad, advice would be that when they come here to the United States i do not know how bad they feel about not knowing english sooner or later they will learn it and that they will always have help from someone so do not feel sad because there are many Latinos who go through that and do not they have to be depressed because they can achieve it. In the story “An Indian Father’s Plea” is about a boy who’s life has changed forever. He was raised with the full knowledge of his culture, he knew it very well. But his world went upside down ever since he has moved out into the new city with different people. In this story he was bullied and discriminated for who he was. In Wind Wolf’s mind, he thought he can fit in with the other kids by leaving his own culture. In the text it states that he did this, “ Now he refuses to sing his native songs, play with his indian artifacts…” In his school people were also making fun of what he looked like. Wind Wolf had long hair, in his culture it meant that he was a man, but he didn't like how people where bullying him for it. But his classmates were not the only people discriminating him. In the text it states that the teacher placed Wind Wolf as a different type of kid. “He is only 5 years old in kindergarten, and I can’t understand why you labeled him as a slow learner.” This was the letter Wind Wolf’s father was writing to the school. I think that it’s not right to make fun or discriminate a person because of what they look like. Everyone is human, we all should be treated equally. Maybe people have different cultures, beliefs, opinions, and even look different, but that shouldn't be an excuse to bully that person. We don’t want to look like bad people to one’s person culture. Together we can end bullying and racism, but it all starts with you. If you are willing to stand up for others that are being bullied. Everyone doesn't deserve to be discriminated, but they do deserve to be welcome and loved for who they are. Sometimes the world is not what it seems, life is unexpected. Life can put you down but you have the choice to get back up. We see the world very differently because everyone was born with a different culture and belief. Always respect other who have different beliefs on the inside we never know if we're hurting them or not. We all need to be individual human beings, there's no need to need to be like other.