Where Worlds Collide 'And The Hunger Of Memory'

Culture is the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of particular people. The way that individuals are shaped by their environments as well as social situations influences the way in which one can view the world around them. Culture influences a person’s perspective of others in the way they see other people, treat other cultures, and view one’s own cultures as shown in the passages, “Where Worlds Collide”, “The Hunger of Memory”, and “An Indian Father’s Plea”. The passage, “Where Worlds Collide”, written by Pico Iyer, expresses the thoughts that travelers experience when they arrive at Los Angeles International Airport. The author describes the unfamiliar environment from the perspective of overwhelmed immigrants as, “...they seek they come out, dazed, disoriented,
In the story, the author is getting pulled in various directions. Rodriguez wants to stay true to his Mexican culture for his parents' sake claiming they, “...grow distant, apart, no longer speak,” but also wants to belong in American culture where his education has driven him to a position not many Mexicans get to or have to opportunity to be (Rodriguez 105). This story confronts the idea that anyone can succeed as long as they are willing to sacrifice their cultural identity in the process. The author’s persona in “An Indian Father’s Plea”, written by Robert Lake, is an angry Indian father who is upset with the treatment of his child in school. He claims the teacher has, “already labeled him a “slow learner”’ because his son is Indian (Lake 109). This plays on the major controversial topic of racial or cultural profiling. The narrator speaks in a very intelligent tone, which only proves to his argument that you can be culturally diverse and intellectual. “An Indian Father’s Plea” is a prime example of why you cannot judge a book by its