Finding Comfort

The two poems “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Hargo, and “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada both present themes of nature and culture. In Yamada’s poem, a clash between American and Japanese cultures is brought into view when a perspective of nature is contrasted. Likewise in Hargo’s poem, a clash between American and Native American culture is seen when the theme of finding comfort in nature appears.

The poem by Mitsuye Yamada is about the speaker’s Papa telling an old Japanese legend of an old woman. The woman in the story went around town looking for a place to stay the night, but no one offered any shelter. As a result, she found rest at the top of a hill which overlooked the town, and by nighttime she was able to see a wonderful sight of nature at night. The old woman goes on to say, “Thank you people / of the village, / If it had not been for your / kindness / in refusing me a bed / for the night / these humble eyes would never / have seen this / memorable sight.” The fact that she thanks the people of the town and calls them kind just goes on to show how humble of a woman she really is. This poem really nails in the theme of how different cultures can find comfort in different ways. The child listening to the story of his Papa would probably be expecting a comfortable bed to stay the night. However, the old woman in the story was able to find comfort under the full moon in the night sky. The comforting moon that appears goes on to suggest that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The poem by Joy Hargo is recent poem about a Native American experiencing the foreign culture of Los Angeles. The speaker, who is Native American, is able to see both the beautiful and strange aspect of this American society. The speaker finds beauty in the nature in the city, such as the night sky and the feeling of the summer season. Similarly, the Native finds strangeness in the fact of how Americans are heavily obsessed with material possession and becoming famous. Despite the strangeness in the culture, the speaker is still able to “find(ing) gold in the trash of humans’ and to “collect the shine of anything beautiful.” Nature is the gold and beauty that the speaker finds comfort and is able to relate back to her own culture. Once again, the theme that beauty is in the eye of the beholder appears.

Becoming Americanized

The three literary works; "A Father" by Bharati Mukherjee, "The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles" by Joy Harjo, and "A Bedtime Story" by Mitsuye Yamada all share a common message and theme. All three works describe what its like for a foreigner to live in America, and how usually the younger generation becomes “Americanized” far quicker than the older generation. All three works also provide a strong contrast between American culture and other foreign cultures.

In "A Father", we are very clearly shown how younger generations adapt and assimilate to new cultures quicker and with more enthusiaism than do the older generations. This story benefits directly from Bhararti Mukherjee’s personal experiences with being an immigrant, therefore enabling her to bring a real-life feel to the story that draws the reader in. Throughout the story we are given stark contrasts between the father’s Indian culture, and our American culture. The father is a devout Hindu who prays each morning and follows “each wanton Hindu superstition”, and his daughter, belonging to the younger generation, writes-off her Indian culture and adopts a completely American lifestyle and set of beliefs. Symbols of both of their cultures are given as well, the father with his goddess, “Kali-Mata,” and the daughter with her red Mitsubishi. Babli, the daughter, has become the “American woman,” independent, out-going and not afraid of anything. Her father even says, “She was headstrong and independent and he was afraid of her.” The father has remained stable in his cultural traditions and beliefs, and has resisted assimilation. In essence, it’s the divide between the father and daughter’s preferred cultures that keeps them so separate and unable to relate with each other. Babli does not understand her father’s “old-world” customs and he does not understand her self-sufficient attitude that makes her turn a cold shoulder to her family. Both of them are so stuck in their ways that it prevents them from ever truly having a relationship. If both were to become more open-minded; Babli to her heritage, and the father to his new surroundings, perhaps a basis for a relationship could be formed.

"The Path to the Milky Way Leads Through Los Angeles", the poem by Joy Harjo contrasts the American culture with the Native American culture. In the poem, our setting is clearly Los Angeles as stated in the title, but it is also within a Native American community within the city. In lines 6-8 the speaker is acknowledging how, “The shimmer of the gods is easier to perceive…when those who remember us here in the…marketplace…say our names.” This Native American community is almost a microcosm within the city, an individual world that has it’s own cultural symbols and beliefs, but is also forced to interact with the outside influences of Los Angeles. The speaker juxtaposes his/her cultural symbols, such as the crow, with American symbols such as “star maps” and love hotlines. The speaker uses this juxtaposition to uncover the message in the poem. He/she speaks of the crow, a scavenger who finds bits of food in trash. He/she then says that they will be like the crow and search for the bits of treasure in American culture to find their purpose in Los Angeles, therefore giving meaning to why they are living there in the first place. The Milky Way illusion is also interesting because it has a double meaning. It relates to the fact that many people become famous “stars” in LA according to American culture, and it also relates to the Native American belief that land, water, and sky are all one, letting us understand that Los Angeles has become the land that has become their “path” to which it will bring them to the sky or (a.k.a) afterlife.

The third culture these literary works cover is the Japanese culture. In "A Bedtime Story", the divide between first generation immigrants and second generation immigrants is clearly shown. The poem’s story involves a father, representing the first generation, telling an ancient Japanese story to his daughter, representing the second generation. The father tells his story which is meant to be full of wisdom and guidance, and the girl simply doesn’t get it, replying, “That’s the end?” So clearly what has happened is that the girl who has become “Americanized” and is use to stories such as Cinderella and Snow White which all have a happy ending though provide no wisdom or guidance. So when her father tells her this story she does not react the way he expects. He expected her to understand that this was meant to be a story that could give her incite to her life, but all the girl is looking for is a happy ending. The clear difference in the way first and second generation immigrants have become divided along the lines of “this is the way it is” and “this is the way is use to be,” is exemplified in this poem. As immigrants remain in this country for more and more generations they begin to loose their culture if it is not kept alive in their home life. It’s a shame and a beauty that America has become a “melting pot” because while its enriching to have many unique cultures in one country, its also beautiful that we can all come together and create a unified culture as well.

Cultural Conflict

Another person’s culture is nearly impossible to fully understand without experiencing it firsthand. “A Father” by Bharati Mukherjee, “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada, and “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Harjo all demonstrate the idea of the importance and culture and how their own differently affects each individuals view of others.
In “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles”, Joy Harjo discusses how she thinks American culture is strange compared to her Native American roots. Even though she doesn’t discuss her heritage, she points out her own feeling of isolation even in the first line, “There are strangers above me, below me and all around me.” She gently pokes fun at the references to American culture, such as maps of stars’ homes, buying several different kinds of bottled water, and selling your soul to the music industry. While these things are commonplace in American culture, they are foreign and strange to her, like they would be to anyone else.
“A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada interestingly displays the idea of culture with a story within another story. This is significant because it is symbolic of the idea of a person with their own story and their own culture in something like America, which also has its own history and culture. In this story, a Japanese father tells his son a Japanese parable of a woman being turned away from shelter from the night. The woman ends up being happy because she witnesses a beautiful sight in nature. The Japanese culture is trying to teach the lesson of things happening for a reason and that those who encounter hardships are rewarded, however, upon hearing the end of the parable the child is annoyed with the end of the story, thinking that it is meant to entertain instead of convey a message, which would be more common in Japanese folklore opposed to American.
“A Father” by Bharati Mukherjee presents a much different idea of combating cultures than the two poems. Mr. Bhowmick is an Indian man from Ranchi who almost unwillingly moves to American out of request for his wife. He is intimidated by his wife and especially by his daughter because she is much more Americanized than he is. When he discovers that his daughter is pregnant, he is secretly happy because he comes to realize that there is a man in her life, leading him to think that she will be getting married. However, as she does not confess that she is pregnant, he begins to realize that she is not going to get married. When she tells her father almost maliciously about how she wanted a baby without a father, something that would be much more common in America, this is when he loses control because she is altogether turning her back on her culture and disgracing the family, as well as denying her father a real daughter.
All of these clashes in culture show that the only people who can truly understand a specific culture is those that are born directly into it, and those who aren’t are forced to struggle with the incredible differences.

The Importance of Culture and Nature

“A Father”, “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles”, and “A Bedtime Story” all present the importance of culture and nature. All these stories show the many diverse cultures around the world while also tying in the appreciation of nature. These works show that nature is real, it is not a manufactured item that is sold on the market for a certain price; nature is priceless and we have to learn to appreciate our surrounding which God so graciously gave us.
In “A Father” the narrator shows the life of an Indian family that moved to America. With this great opportunity also came a culture shock compared to their lives back in India. Even though it is easy to become swayed by the American culture and daily habits, the father stays true to his strong religious beliefs and traditions. After his many daily rituals and his clear dedication to his culture, it becomes clear that he never wanted to leave India. The idea was his wife’s; even though he never wanted to move though, he was still able to adapt to the American culture which made him a worldlier human being. And if the American culture isn’t already a shock, he soon finds out that his daughter is pregnant and without a husband. The wife makes this clear by saying, “Your daughter is pregnant, yes,” she said, “any fool knows that. But ask her the name of the father. Go ask.” This quotation clearly shows that it is a shock even in the American culture, but the father is able to experience this and grow from the fast-paced American life-style.
“The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” is about the constant clash of cultures in society. Many immigrants and minorities who come to America find it very difficult to adapt to the culture shock of the American life-style. America is considered to be one big melting pot although many times for newcomers it can seem like one big tossed salad; all the pieces are together in one environment and yet each item has its own reason for not fitting in and becoming lost in the fast-paced American culture. This poem is very interesting because it presents the loneliness that a Native American woman feels when she is placed in Los Angeles, “the city named for angels” which “appears naked and stripped of anything resembling.” Her loneliness is a result of her nature loving culture of the Native Americans mixed in with the smog, fast-food loving culture, in which Los Angeles offers. Towards the end of the poem, the woman realizes that although she is not too satisfied with the American culture, she knows that she will always find beauty in nature and that ultimately will get her through the daily struggles.
“A Bedtime Story” is about a Japanese woman who finds herself in a small village with no place to stay. The village people refuse to give her a bed for the night so she is forced to sleep on a hilltop. As she is lying down, she sees the beautiful stars and glimmering full moon come into view and she is so thankful. The Japanese woman is given a great gift for the night; she is given the beautiful gift of nature at its best. The shining moon makes her realize that she would much rather sleep under the bright sky than in a dark room.
Altogether, these three works present the importance of culture and appreciation of nature. Without diversity our world would be one big robot with everyone doing the exact same routines which would take away from our freedom and personal expression. Although, more importantly we cannot live without nature; therefore we should appreciate the gifts which surround us and the true beauty which nature offers.

Blog 9

Although all three readings “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles,” “A Bedtime Story” and “A Father,” provide their readers with examples of numerous cultural differences; enough that one can say that cultural differences are universal whether in big cities or small families; there is a great connection between the message of Joy Harjo’s poem and that of Rudolfo Anaya’s short story, “B. Traven is Alive and Well in Cuernavaca.”
The message throughout Anaya’s story is not simply that B. Traven is in fact alive and well; rather it is that B. Traven lives in all of us because we can be alive and well if we simply “stopped and smelt the coffee” (and I don’t mean the instant kind). Everything one needs to live and “succeed” and “treasure” is right in front of one’s eyes, but unfortunately our motives of our needs, successes and treasures can sometimes get in the way of our real treasures. We spend more of our time and energy producing an elaborate means to our success that we are blind to the reality of its presence right in front of us. Life is success alone. Anaya creates the character Justino to represent what lies right in front of the narrator’s eyes: his story. The narrator continually looks and listens for stories to arise in everything he does, “I listened as I always listen, because one never knows when a word or phrase or an idea will be the seed from which a story sprout…” (p 61); however he doesn’t notice he is in fact embedded within an ongoing story because his motives shift his view of what is right in front of him. It is not until he stops his routine to have a conversation that his view shifts back to one that enables him to see the story. Anaya also adds a running commentary about “Americanos” and Mexicans and their clashing cultures, which could have been one cause to the narrator’s “can’t stop till I succeed” mentality. It is very possible that the narrator is suggesting that Americans treasure time and success and especially making the most of their time. There is a lack of sitting back and relaxing in American culture. Everything is rushing, “instant” and “on the go;” right down to our breakfasts and automatic car starters. This suggestion about Americans, whether it be true or not, is also suggested in the poem by Joy Harjo called “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles.”
As one reads Harjo’s poem, it is like one is walking along side her down the path that leads through Los Angeles; both reader and speaker simultaneously witness the culture of the “city named for angels.” The form of the poem, long staggering lines, even resembles different paths taken to get from one place to the next. The culture, according to Harjo, is almost related to something supernatural like a “starry road” and “minerals of planets” (14-15) found in hamburgers. She goes on to say that you can buy a map of the stars’ homes and choose from several different brands of water and even sell your soul for less than a song. All such things that make up the culture are again bizarre to her. She doesn’t find it understandable to “sell your soul for less than a song” (19); rather she would prefer to live and “collect the shine of anything beautiful” (28) that she can find. This resembles the suggestion of Anaya’s that Americans don’t realize what they have right in front of them because they are too busy filling up their time. In Los Angeles, their time is filled up with visiting stars’ homes and signing their lives away to record companies.
All of the works expose the existence of different cultures and many of their aspects. Some of these cultures clash or cause clashes within oneself. The texts also expose these clashes. Being American, I am exposed to others views of our culture through the stories and poetry; similarly, being a Loyola College student, I am exposed to our culture of Baltimore through the words of Jesuit Education.

Clash of Cultures

Cultures strongly impact our lives. Culture in America greatly differs from culture in India and elsewhere. These differences are presented in the works “A Father” by Bharati Mukherjee, “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada, and “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Harjo. All of these works present an outlook on American culture from a foreign perspective.

The short story “A Father” presents the lives of an Indian family that moved to America. Despite their move, the father in the story remains strongly religious and superstitious in his daily routine. He ritually awakes every morning for his prayer and hygienic needs that he was taught growing up in India. His religious idol is a black figure completely nude except for a small loin cloth and decapitated heads draped around it. Later in the story, it becomes apparent that he never truly wanted to leave India. However, due to his wife’s insistence to move he decided to relocate to Detroit. It is obvious that over time he has adjusted to American culture because he learns that his daughter is pregnant while unmarried. While both American and Indian cultures look upon a situation such as this as bad, American culture is much more tolerable. For example during the argument between his daughter and wife, he states that she would never have become impregnated if they had not moved to the United States. Until this argument occurred, he never mentioned his daughter’s pregnancy to her or his wife. Instead he handled the situation in a much more Americanized fashion.

Harjos’ poem “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” also deals with a conflict between cultures. The speaker in the story speaks about Los Angeles and the hypocrisy of the way the “The City of Angels” presents itself. She states “This city named for angels appears naked and stripped of anything resembling” (line 3). Due to her Native American roots, she is troubled with living in the city and feels closer to her tribal beliefs than to American culture. Her broken form and choppy sentence structuring contributes to the negativity she feels toward American culture. Additionally her tone changes to optimism towards the end of the poem when she speaks about her native culture.

Yamada’s “A Bedtime Story” speaks of a Chinese woman attempting to find shelter for an evening, but is refused everywhere she goes. Yamada uses no real rhythm or rhyme, but divides the poem up into three stanzas. The first stanza begins like a parent telling a child a story. The second and third stanzas are the actual story. After the refusal of shelter, the woman realizes that she is happy in nature, and that is where true beauty lies. The last stanza finishes with a light hearted tone as the woman enjoys the sight of the town she overlooks.

cultural discontinuity

Joy Harjo’s “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” and Bharati Mukherjee’s “A Father” all present themes of cultural discourse and discrepancy. By juxtaposing various cultures and lifestyles each author makes a statement about American culture that forces their, presumably American, readers to look at themselves in a highly critical, yet constructive, manner.

In “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles”, Harjo pinpoints the oddities of American culture by comparing it to the Milky Way and outer space. The poem, which is presented from the viewpoint of an American immigrant, aligns the narrator’s transition into American society with the reader’s hypothetical transition into outer space. Just as we would be shocked by the technological superiority of extraterrestrial life, the narrator is shocked by our vast intelligence. In saying that “we are all strange in this place of recent invention”, she creates a distinct parallel between the inventiveness of American society and outer space. Nonetheless, whereas we often view outer space as barren and devoid of all forms of life, the narrator mentions that “the city named for angels appears naked and stripped of anything”. This, undoubtedly, reveals the “self-centered” nature of American society wherein most Americans act primarily out of concern for their own well-being rather than the well-being of others. Such a reference to the seclusion of American society also pays reference to the growing tendency of Americans to remain indoors, fixated on televisions or computers, playing video games for hours upon hours. But yet, in contrast to this “emptiness” that seems to be created by societies inward fixation, the narrator criticizes the overdevelopment and population of the United States by highlighting her inability to see, hear, or taste “that starry road”. Additionally, she mocks American morality and materialism by citing how “you can still sell your soul for less than a song to a stranger who will sell it to someone else for a profit”. However, amid all of these masked criticisms lies a blatantly obvious interpretation of American society from the eyes of an immigrant. The words strange and stranger, for example, are used frequently to emphasize the narrator’s feelings of alienation; inevitably creating a clear and comical connection to the use of outer space in describing the abnormalities of American culture.

Leaving all references to extraterrestrial life aside, Mukherjee’s short story, “A Father”, presents a very similar criticism of American society. Like Harjo’s poem, the story looks at American culture through the eyes of immigrants. Mr. and Mrs. Bhowmick are native Indians who have come to America in search of employment and greater opportunity and their daughter, Babli, is a native born American (meaning that she was born within the boundaries of the United States). Babli, unlike her parents, who were accustomed to the traditional methods of Indian culture, has grown up in a strictly American society characterized by female empowerment, advanced technology, and entertainment media. Nevertheless, her understanding of her heritage is distinctly different from that of her parents. As her father notes, she is educated and accomplished with a high-paying job, yet unskilled in the tasks that he considers to be wholly “feminine”. Similarly, her views, which become clear in her use of in vitro fertilization, seem to be far more radical than any of her parents—the ultimate cause of conflict.

Drawing on this idea of viewpoints, the mother and father seems to swap viewpoints various points throughout the story. Initially, the father is complaining of his wife’s progressive ideas, but when it comes to addressing their daughter’s pregnancy it seems that he becomes the more progressive thinker. Hence, this constant transition between modern and traditional thinking plays an important role in the interpretation of the piece because it strongly emphasizes the impact of American society on outside cultures. It calls attention to “Americanization” and conformity and highlights the eccentricity of American culture in comparison to other cultures.

Hence, in comparing American culture to other, more traditional, cultures we Americans are forced to look at ourselves in an entirely different light. But yet, whereas some would expect these pieces to have a negative impact on our opinion of American culture, they simply force us to appreciate our differences.

Societal Values

“A Father,” “A Bedtime Story,” and “The Path to the Milky Way Leads Through Los Angeles” all share a certain view of American culture. They do not necessarily shun American culture, but each depicts something wrong with it. In Bharati Mukherjee’s “A Father,” the issue raised is that of sex and pregnancy, and the American view of what is acceptable versus the Hindi view. Joy Harjo’s “The Path to the Milky Way Leads Through Los Angeles” is about materialism and superficiality of American society. “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada deals with the differences between Japanese and Americans, and the things that each values.

The short story “A Father” is about a Hindu family who is now living in America. The daughter is a feminist, and she ends up getting pregnant. She is proud of it because she is Americanized, but in the Hindu culture, this type of things is forbidden. The father blames it on the wife, but inadvertently on America, shouting, “It’s your fault, you made us come to the States.” He makes it seem as though all of America did something terrible to her, when it was her choice, and it was really only one boy. However, it was not America, but her own parents that caused her to make the decision she did. She sees their marriage as a match of bloodlines, not a match of love, which is what a marriage should really be about. Because she received such a horrible image of marriage from her own parents, the American in her decided to take initiative and to things her way, much to their dismay.

“A Bedtime Story” is a poem about a Japanese legend told to a little girl as a bedtime story. In the story, a woman is looking for a place to spend the night, but cannot find one so ends up sleeping outside under the stars. She becomes appreciative of nature, and thanks those people who had previously slammed doors in her face, for allowing her to experience the outdoors. This is a beautifully poetic story, but the little girl to whom it is being told doesn’t get it, and replies with “That’s the end?” The poem is implying that Americans lose their sense of nature. This little girl, most likely Japanese-American, does not understand the beauty in nature because she has been Americanized. This is very true, that compared to other countries we show little respect for nature, and rarely take the time to enjoy it. This is a very clear example of the materialism of our country.

Finally, “The Path to the Milky Way Leads Through Los Angeles” is somewhat complicated to keep track of. The narrator seems lost in her own environment, and alone in a place full of people, namely, Los Angeles. She mentions how different it is from Okmulgee, a city in Oklahoma, which most likely is much more rural than Los Angeles. She talks about the stars and how you can barely see them because of the city lights. She ends by saying, “I collect the shine of anything beautiful I can find.” What I think she is saying here is that the things people consider beautiful in Los Angeles are not really the beautiful things of the earth. She says “we can but a map here of the stars’ homes, dial a tone for dangerous love, choose from several brands of water or a hiss of oxygen for gentle rejuvenation.” People in cities revel in these things, when really all you need is a starry night or a beautiful sunset to see true beauty.

Open-mindedness

"A Father," “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles,” and “A Bedtime Story” highlight the importance of taking the time to appreciate something new or of being open-minded. These works also explore the dangers of narrow-mindedness and how it can cause a person to miss out on life.
"A Father" by Mitsuye Yamada brings up open-mindedness when it comes to a culture clash between the old-fashioned values of the Hindu culture and the fast-paced lifestyle of mainstream America. At first, Mr. Bhowmick is disappointed when he discovers his only daughter, Babli, is pregnant with an illegitimate child, which will be a source of shame in the Hindu tradition. He soon reveals his open-mindedness when he contemplates the other options besides his first thought of abortion. He even pictures a “chubby baby boy on the rug, crawling to his granddaddy” (page 662) and defends his daughter and says “Babli’s pregnant, so what?” (page 665) to his wife. However, after finding out Babli did not even get pregnant by natural means, Mr. Bhowmick explodes and attacks Babli. Mr. Bhowmick could be open-minded to a point, but he could not tolerate his daughter’s slander of “matching bloodlines” and of the traditional arranged marriages.
“The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Harjo cautions the readers to avoid the obstacles keeping them from seeing what truly matters in life. Sometimes people can get so caught up in the superficial matters of life that they forget to really live and miss out on the beauty of life. Even though it is hard to “see that starry road from the perspective of the crossing of boulevards” (lines 13 & 14), humans must open their eyes like the crow in line 21 and “find gold in the trash” (line 23). Without this open-minded perspective, people can easily get caught up in the superficiality of it all as their vision is blurred by “the whine of civilization” (line 14).
In “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada, a father tells a child an old Japanese legend, yet the child does not appreciate it. The child’s perception of what makes a good story is probably warped by his expectation for a fast-paced and action-packed contemporary children’s novel. The child is narrow-minded and refuses to open his eyes to see the beauty in the story his father has told and only asks, “That’s the end?” when his father is finished. This poem really reminded me, as a reader, of the importance of the simple lessons in life. Sometimes it is the simple things in life that really mean the most, and we just have to open our eyes to see them.
The bedtime story itself that the father tells has a similar theme, as the woman’s eyes are opened to an amazing sight of a full moon. The woman never would have seen this “memorable sight” (line 39) if it had not been for the “kindness” (line 34) of the people who refused to help her. This allowed her to see the beauty she would have otherwise missed.
These three works each remind the reader of the importance of appreciating beauty and having an accepting attitude. Narrow-mindedness only puts limits on how we view life and its beauty and on how we live and relate to others.

Blog 9

Joy Harjo’s “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles,” Mitsuye Yamada’a “A Bedtime Story,” and Bharati Mukherjee’s “A Father” illustrate similar ideas relating to joy in the natural world. “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” is a poem about finding a diamond in the rough. “A Bedtime Story” depicts beauty in tough times. “A Father” is about looking for joy in the wrong places. . “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” portrays the ideals celebrated in America that are not valued by the author.
Harjo’s poem describes the beauty of nature through phrases such as “dark sky on the path to the Milky Way,” “it’s perpetually summer here, and beautiful,” and “starry road.” However, Harjo however couples these depictions of beauty with illustrations of the pollution and wrong ideals found in America. The poem describes the “whine of civilization,” “the city named for angels appears naked and stripped,” and “the minerals of planets in hamburgers.” Similar to Barbara Hamby’s “Ode to America,” Harjo points out everything unsophisticated she sees in the idolized celebrity world of Los Angeles. Similarly, Harjo says in the last line, “But like a crow I collect the shine of anything beautiful I can find.” I interpreted this as finding beauty underneath all of the disgust and filth that humanity as compiled throughout centuries. Despite the “trash of humans” the crow is able to dig to find something precious.
“A Bedtime Story” also shows a natural view of beauty. The story in the poem describes an old frustrated woman who cannot find a place to stay in the town. When she stops to catch her breath after repeated rejection, the old woman sees a splendid sight when the clouds in the night sky break to show a full moon and countless stars. The speaker shouts at the conclusion of the story “That’s the end?” Like Harjo, Yamada shows the impatience and little sophistication with which America could be viewed. The author here makes a cultural distinction between American and Japanese by saying that the American child is not appreciative of the beauty of the natural world.
“A Father” also shows cultural distinction between the Hindu father and his also Indian but Americanized wife and daughter. Throughout the story, the father describes his wife’s nagging and daughter’s dismissal of his superstitions. He continues to practice his religion despite his family’s choice of agnosticism. When he notices that his daughter is pregnant, Mr. Bhowmick is happy and excited to perhaps have a grandson. HE imagines the situations in which his daughter would introduce him to the father. He also thinks about how his daughter might abort the baby. He is so full of emotions ranging from happiness for his daughter to disappointment in the public eye. At the end of the story, Mr. Bhowmick is told that the baby was created in a lab, and unnaturally placed into his daughter. Mr. Bhowmick is so distressed that he hits his daughter with a rolling pin. THE author is depicting the different ideals of the different worlds in which he and his daughter grew up. When he grew up, something like this would never occur where he was from. However, in America, his daughter is very capable of this freedom. The father is shamed by the actions of his daughter. This story is also an example of looking for joy in the wrong places. The daughter wants to be happy so she is artificially inseminated so that she can experience the joy of motherhood. Instead of looking for happiness in a natural way, she goes against what her father and mother’s values to do something that was unnatural and something that should be reserved for different situations.

appreciating nature and culture

The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles by Joy Harjo ,A Bedtime Story by Mitsuye Yamada, and A Father by Bharati Mukherjee all deal with humans incapability to connect with each other and with nature. The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles by Joy Harjo ,A Bedtime Story by Mitsuye Yamada both deal with the need to appreciate and better understand nature, while A Father by Bharati Mukherjee deals with the need to appreciate and understand all cultures and purposes.
The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles by Joy Harjo tells of a person questioning why it is we are here on earth, and what is truly important in life. The poem begins by introducing the idea that we are all strangers, and that we are all connected and apart of the planet Earth. “There are strangers above me, below me and all around me and we are all/ strange in this place of recent invention.”(Lines 1-2) These lines demonstrate how the speaker feels while not only are we all strangers to each other, we are also strangers to the world, and the things we have created are foreign in it. The speaker then goes on to describe Los Angeles. “Yet, it’s perpetually summer here, and beautiful. The shimmer of gods is easier/ to perceive at sunrise or dusk,/when those who remember us here in the illusion of the marketplace/ turn toward the changing of the sun and say our names.”(Lines 6-9) By saying that God is most visible at sunrise or dusk, the speaker is saying that God is most visible in nature, and nature’s beauty. The diction of the word “illusions” shows that while people are working in a marketplace, it doesn’t really matter in the greater view of the world and God. What matters is looking at the beauty of nature, recognizing it, and saying “our names.” The tone of the speaker is that of longing and reminiscence.
The tone changes at line 10. “We matter to somebody.” This line shows that throughout the first 9 lines the speaker had been asking himself whether or not we do in fact matter to someone. He is able to realize this by looking at the beauty of the city he lives in, and by attempting to look at the “bigger picture”. “We must matter to the strange god who imagines us as we revolve together in/ the dark sky on the path to the Milky Way,” (Lines 11-12) These lines demonstrate that the speaker realizes that just being a part of the universe brings purpose. For the rest of the poem up until the final three lines, the speaker shows frustration for a lack of appreciation and observation by humans. The speaker cannot understand how you can not appreciate our place in the universe, or our place among other planets, yet we can eat hamburgers and obsess over other people’s lives, especially celebrities. The speaker expresses that unlike most people, he rather learn the beauties of humanity than find fame. “I’d rather understand how to sing from a crow/ who was never good at singing or much of anything/ but finding gold in the trash of humans.” (Lines 21-23) The speaker rather be able to see beauty where most never look, than to see the obvious beauties of life. The tone changes once again in lines 24-28. The speaker returns to the question presented earlier of why we are here. “So what are we doing here I ask the crow parading on the ledge of falling that/ hangs over this precarious city?/ Crow just laughs and says wait, wait and see and I am waiting and not seeing/ anything, not just yet./ But like crow I collect the shrine of anything beautiful I can find.” The speaker realizes that he is not supposed to understand why he is here, but to learn to appreciate his life while he is, and to look for all of god’s wonders and beauty, even when it appears there is none. In the poem there is no apparent rhyme scheme or stanza pattern. Throughout the poem certain lines are indented, creating an emphasis on the words within them. For example line 4 is indented, merely containing the word “resembling”. This creates an emphasis on the fact that there is nothing that resembles Angels. The lack of rhyme scheme shows the speakers confusion, and difficulty in finding a connection and purpose. Overall the poem is one of doubt and realization. One must appreciate the beauties of the world in order to appreciate and understand life.
A Bedtime Story by Mitsuye Yamada, similarly to The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles tells of the necessity of appreciating natural beauty. The speaker introduces the story by saying “Once upon a time,”(line 1). This immediately gave me the impression that I was going to be reading a story about mystical creatures, or of princesses and knights. The speaker goes on to tell the story of an old woman traveling through villages in Japan, trying to find a place to sleep. “Each door opened/ a sliver/ in answer to her knock/ then closed.” (Lines 9-12) Each sentence in the poem is short and when read aloud takes a deep breath to read the whole way through. This short, up tempo pace coincides with the old woman’s physical state. “She wearily climbed a hill/ found a clearing/ and there lay down to rest/ a few moments to catch/ her breath.” (Lines 15-19) The third stanza introduces the idea of nature’s beauty. “Suddenly the clouds opened/ and a full moon came into view/ over the town.”(Lines 23-25). As nature is introduced the length of the lines become longer, to show how natures beauty is timeless and not rushed. The woman looks up at the sky, and despite the fact that she has no where to sleep “called out/ Thank you people/ of the village,/ If it had not been for your/kindness/ in refusing me a bed/ for the night/ these humble eyes would never/ have seen this/ memorable sight.” (Lines 30-39) In these lines, the tone switches to one of sarcasm as the woman thanks the people of the village. The woman realizes that even when things are bad, you can still find beauty in nature, similar to how the Crow is able to find gold in the trash of humans. At the end of the story, the speaker asks her father “That’s the end?”. As a reader, at first you almost ask the same question. How could a once upon a time story merely contain a woman sleeping on a hill and looking at the moon. Upon examining the story however, you are able to obtain many important lessons. While the kindness and beauty of people may not always be present, there is always beauty in nature. Everything happens for a reason.
The short story A Father by Bharati Mukherjee’s speaks of a different lack of connection. In this story the lack of connection is not between humans and nature, but of the different cultures humans have created. The story begins by a couple living in India. The father, stuck on tradition is perfectly content living in India, while the mother, far more ambitious and accustomed to American society wishes to go to America. The father agrees, and the family moves to America. Mr. Bhownick is constantly confronted by the differences he sees in his family. His wife constantly tries to hurry him in his prayers and strays from Indian tradition. His daughter, Babli, also raised in America is accustomed to American society more than Indian culture as well. Babli soon decides she wishes to have a baby, and becomes pregnant through in-vitro fertilization. Mr. Bhownick yells at his wife“Shut up! Babli’s pregnant, so what? It’s your fault, you made us come to the States” The father assumes that his daughter’s pregnancy was a direct result of the culture and location of their family. Unable to deal with the reality of his daughter’s pregnancy, he strikes her in her stomach with a rolling pin, possibly killing the child.Mr. Bhownick was too caught up in societal differences to recognize the beauty and joy of his family. Unable to look past tradition, Mr. Bhownick not only killed a grandchild, but killed his relationship with his wife and daughter. As humans we are all a part of nature. No matter where we live, what our culture is, or what we may think our differences are, we are all connected. As it said in The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles by Joy Harjo, “There are strangers above me, below me and all around me and we are all/ strange in this place of recent invention.”(Lines 1-2) While Mr.Bhownick may have had a hard time realizing it, no matter where your culture lies, we are all a part of the same life, and the same destiny.
I have often found myself on long car rides day dreaming about the universe. They say that the universe ends, but as humans we are incapable of contemplating the concept of nothingness. What do you picture when you think of nothing? Do you picture a black space? But alas, that is not nothing, because black and space are something. To think that as I sit here writing this paper, the world is spinning around the sun, and that our solar system is spinning around in the Milky Way is a concept almost to frightening to think of for more than a few moments. Both of the poems reminded me to always be aware that we are a very small piece of a much larger puzzle. I was also reminded of how soothing and amazing nature can truly be. I am always amazed by how time makes you appreciate moments. Every summer my family and I would go to my summer house in Block Island. Every clear night me, my dad, and my two younger brothers would lie outside on the porch and look at the stars. I remember looking up at the night sky and feeling so small, and feeling so close to God. When looking at something so beautiful how could God not exist? We would talk about our dreams, or goals, and memories. With every shooting star we would clutch my dad tight, secretly terrified, yet mesmerized. It didn’t matter whether or not my dad had been screaming at my brothers just moments before, or if my mom had been nagging my dad to clean the dishes, all that mattered was that we made our way out onto that porch to lie down and look at the stars .Nature has way of provoking you to dream big. I realize that it was nature that brought my family to that porch every night. Without the stars, some of the greatest memories I have would not exist. As a student at a Jesuit college we are encouraged to find ways to make our own personal connections with religion and God. One of the way the Jesuit’s themselves would connect with God was through nature, by eliminating all unnecessarily materialistic items from their lives. When left with nature, you are left with your thoughts. It is important not only to respect nature, but to appreciate and observe it.

Culture Clash

My Grandma always tells me that I talk way to fast. I explain that she probably talked just as fast when she was younger, but she insists that its my generation that is in such a hurry we cannot even articulate ourselves slowly enough for anyone to hear. I always took this opinion as my Grandma’s aging and semi senile attribute. Talking to fast? I don’t even live in the city. The entire side of my Moms’ family is from Cresco Iowa. Cresco is literally in the middle of nowhere. Cresco is a conservative farming town where everyone is proud of their Irish farmer decent. I never saw a correlation between the traditions of my ancestors and those of my Moms side. However, after reading “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada, “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Harjo and “A Father” by Bharai Mukherjee I began to reflect on how possibly my heritages’ cultures has changed through the generations.
Yamada’s “A Bedtime Story” is a poem that illustrates a story that a father tells his child. There is no rhyme pattern and the rhythm is very choppy when reading aloud. There are slant rhymes such as “rest” (line 16) and “breath” (line 18) that are at the end of certain stanzas. Other than those however there is not a rhyme scheme. The tone changes a few times in the poem. The first stanza is an introduction to the bedtime story the child is about to receive, the middle stanzas explain the story, and the end has a playful tone. The middle stanzas read as though they are a bedtime story. It tells a Chinese tale about an old woman who tries to find a place to sleep in a town, and after being turned down she realizes that nature is where the real beauty lies. The end, however, is very humorous as the speaker states to the dad, “ ‘That’s the end? ‘ “ (Line 45). At first one cannot help but laugh. Upon further examining the poem though the reader realizes Yamanda is attempting to teach the reader another more important moral lesson. The speaker states that they lived in a, “home in Seattle” (line 41) showing that this family is Chinese American. The bedtime story was one past down from generation to generation but I doubt the story will be carried on after this speaker. The poem is trying to show how as a result of Americas’ constant need to industrialize and have the best, they forget and look down upon their own heritages. In the United States there is “The American Dream” to get rich, have nice things and have a family. Our culture is fast paced and we are not afraid to state that we are the best. We begin to miss the principle ideals that make up our ancestors’ and even our own history.
Harjos’ poem “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” is told from a Native American who is reflecting on her past history and the future. The title is very strange, and immediately one thinks about what it means. Our solar system is in the Milky Way galaxy so its impossible to actually get there. Los Angeles is not some sort of highway that leads to anything other than an ocean. There is no rhyme scheme and the rhythm is choppy, almost sounding like a rant when read aloud. It really sounds like there is a clear point to be made. Los Angeles when described has many important images and symbols associated to it. A ‘god” is referred to numerous times and because it is not capitalized one assumes the speaker is unsure of a true religion or higher power. This is further seen when Harjo writes, “We must matter to the strange god” (Line 11). Showing that the speaker does not feel a connection to this god at all. Through out the poem many strange elements are pointed out, such as “This city named for angels appears naked and stripped of anything resembling” (Line 3) and “Everyone knows you can’t buy love but you can still sell your soul for less than a song to a stranger who will sell it to someone else for a profit” (Lines 19-20). The speaker clearly has certain bitterness toward the industrial and commercial age in which we live in. There are also many references to Native American culture such as the crow introduced towards the end of the poem. The crow, resembling a homeless person, explains that there is meaning out of all of this and we just have to wait and see what that something is. Overall I think Harjo is trying to explain how humans today view their place in the world. We take on the role of god to such an extent that it isn’t clear if there is one or if we even need one. In trying to become closer to heaven we destroy the natural environment. Los Angeles is a city that represents falsehoods. Movies are made about false stories and false people in order to convey messages while gaining a profit. The “crow” or the Native American people were most likely closer to the ideal heaven and the natural state than what humans have created today. It also critiques on how we blend and sometimes murder cultures to form a strange one that doesn’t make any sense.
Intermixing of cultures and ages is more closely examined in “A Father” by Bharati Mukherjee. The story explains the difference of opinion and morals between an Indian family whose daughter is pregnant out of marriage. The narrator, Mr. Bhowmick, tires to understand how a multicultural family can coexist with such different understanding of the way “things should be”. Although his daughters’ generation understands having a child out of marriage is not a good thing it is non the less tolerable. He attempts to learn how to live in a new culture where the views of life are more liberal. He takes out his anger on his family and puts blame specifically on his wife. But ultimately the reader realizes there is no one person to blame. There is no one answer. As the world becomes smaller with the growing amount of communication, technology, and transportation cultures will clash.
One of the main concerns I had with Jesuit education was that it was going to clash with my way of life. I grew up going to Catholic Sunday School, but other than that I went to a public school with a more liberal outlook. But what I learned is Jesuit education is not about forcing certain ideas into people, but understanding how and why people are they way they are. It’s about learning the differences to hopefully embrace them. Although I speak too quickly to my Grandma, and that is in nowhere close to the seriousness of abortion, it shows me that on the smallest scale cultures clash. I grew up near a city and around people with different religious and racial backgrounds. My mother, growing up in Cresco, didn’t meet a Jewish person until she was 25 years old. Eventually cultures clash and traditions change. I don’t think there is an underlying answer found in all three pieces. But what I do realize is its important to remember and acknowledge the past. In Baltimore there is obviously a clash of cultures. However, I think if we stop trying to make quick fixes and really just actively try to understand one another better things could change for the better.

America

The two poems “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada and “The Path to the Milky Way leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Harjo along with the short story “A Father” by Bharati Mukherjee all point out problems with American culture and problems within it.

The poem “A Bedtime Story” by Yamada is basically just that, a bedtime story told by a father to a child. The story is about a girl who is looking for a place to sleep but is rejected by everyone of her town. This leads her to walk up a hill where she has a beautiful view of the town under the moonlight, at which point she thanks the village for not taking her in because she would have missed the view. The kid says, “That’s the end?”, implying he is not satisfied with an ending where the girl is happy with her view. In American culture now little things like a view are not appreciated as this kid does not appreciate it.

The next poem, “The Path to the Milky Way leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Harjo describes Los Angeles as “This city named for angels appears naked and stripped of anything/resembling the shaking of turtle shells”. This creates a very negative connotation about the city and portrays it as being evil and more devilish than its name would imply. It also talks about how everyone is strangers. The speaker says, “There are strangers above me, below me and all around me and we are all strange in this place of recent invention”. These lines suggest that Americans are mostly all strangers to each other as well as to their environment. It is not a good thing if Americans are strangers to their environment and this can be interpreted as Americans being ignorant of what is happening right in front of them.

The short story “A Father” by Bharati Mukherjee describes an Indian family who moved to America. The father of the family always liked India and had no desire to leave. His wife was opposite and very ambitious. She wanted to move to America, so the family did. In the story the daughter gets pregnant and when his wife is yelling at her the husband interjects, “Shut up! Babli’s pregnant, so what? It’s your fault, you made us come to the States”. This suggest that this sort of thing is common in the States and something like an illegitimate child would not happen in India or other places. The end of the story is particularly disturbing as the father struck the pregnant stomach with a rolling pin, probably killing the baby. This is the sort of story that is seen on the news a few times a month. This gives a very negative view of American culture, especially compared to India where the father thinks this would never have had happen.

Blog #9: Culture Clash

Both Mitsuye Yamada’s A Bedtime Story and Bharati Mukherjee’s A Father share the common theme of culture clash. These works portray the major differences between American ways of life and those of other countries through their traditions and beliefs. One of the main difficulties that foreigners have is keeping up with America’s fast paced lifestyles. Each work tells of the expectations that the foreigners have for America and the disappointment they face once they arrive. They are too busy focusing on their culture that they forget to see the good in ours.
A Bedtime Story portrays the differences between American and Japanese culture. The narrator of the poem is telling of an old Japanese legend that her father once told her. Just as any young child would have, the narrator had high expectations for the story she was about to hear only to discover her disappointment at the end. The old Japanese legend tells of an elderly woman who went knocking from door to door asking for a place to stay the night. Unfortunately, for her, she was turned down by every home. She then decided to give up and stay the night on a hilltop. It was on this hilltop that “the clouds opened and a full moon came into view over the town.” (Lines 23-25) The elderly woman yelled down to the village below “Thank you people/ of the village/ if it had not been for your/ kindness/…../these humble eyes would never/ have seen this/ memorable sight.” (Lines 31-39) From these lines the reader discovers that the elderly woman’s cultural expectations of the United States did not come about. However, if it was not for the American ways the woman would have never got the chance to see the beautiful moonlight. It is true that everything happens for a reason. Once the narrator’s papa ended the legend the narrator yelled, “That’s the end?” in disappointment. The narrator was looking for a strong ending to a good story, where what her papa was trying to get across was to appreciate nature and find the good in all things. That is the difference between America’s society today and the society of the past. The young narrator has a comfortable lifestyle living in a hilltop home and therefore did not think to read between the lines of the legend her father was telling to realize not everyone is as fortunate as her.
A Father shows the differences between American and Indian culture. Mr. Bhownick is from Ranchi in India and has not allowed himself to assimilate to the American way of living. He continues to follow his customs and beliefs. Mr. Bhownick’s wife yells at him every morning, “Hurry it up with the prayers.” He is slow paced and routinely has his ritual prayer and worship sessions everyday. Mrs. Bhownick is also from India but thoroughly enjoyed the American way of life. However, when she brought it to India she was shunned. In America, Mrs. Bhownick has a routine schedule everyday and allows herself to keep up with the fast paced way of life. Babli, the Bhownicks’ daughter was raised in America. Therefore, like her mother she follows the American way of life rather than the Indian lifestyle like her father. Mr. Bhownick did not allow himself to love his daughter and is very disappointed in her for looking past the Indian way of life and living the American one. Later in the reading, Mr. and Mrs. Bhownick discover that their daughter is pregnant. Babli was not married, she just wanted a baby. She got pregnant through in-vitro fertilization which was against the Indian culture. Her father refers to the baby as an illegitimate child and blames his wife and the American society for her pregnancy. Mr. Bhownick yells to his wife, “It’s your fault, you made us come to the states.” He believes that if they were in India this would have never happened. In the end Mr. Bhownick kills the baby by hitting his daughter’s stomach with a rolling pin. Mr. Bhownick is too busy focusing on the differences between his family and him that he overlooks the importance of his family that is right in front of him.
Just as Americans should learn to accept and appreciate other cultures, foreigners should learn to do the same. In order to learn and accept we must slow down, look past our differences, and appreciate what is there. Behind every culture there is beauty to be seen. In order to see it we must take the time to look.

Blog 9

Where we come from culturally has dramatic impacts on our view of the world around us. Our daily life is shaped around the norms of our own ethnic background and the teachings of ancestors. These teachings and cultural guidelines have aided the survival of our ancestors and are present for us to interpret and apply each and every day. The works of the three authors are centered on the theme of how culture shapes us. Bharati Mukherjee, Joy Harjo, and Mitsuye Yamada all present three different ethnic backgrounds and methods of telling their stories, yet allow the history of their people to greatly influence their viewpoint on the matters.

In “A Father”, Mr. Bhowmick is a man deeply influenced by his Indian roots. He wakes up early and prays to Kali-Mata everyday before breakfast and tries to live a life appeasing to the gods. He is extremely superstitious and is greatly affected by any possible circumstance or event that might be taken as an insult to his gods. But he was not always on edge. He lived a “lighthearted” and “almost fulfilled” life in India when he received a good job in Bombay. His wife, on the other hand, is much more Americanized. She pushed for him to obtain his visa and green card. It was her that nagged until he gave in to come to America, and continues to do so every day. She is an intelligent woman whose ambitions grew upon their arrival in the U.S. Every day their morning routine counteracts one another with him clinging to his roots while she wants to become more and more Americanized. Their daughter is a blend between the two of them. She is Indian in appearance but American in her attitude, profession, and thought processes. She is trying to find her place in society while mediating the turbulent marriage of her parents warring hearts. The story changes tone when the father learns that his daughter is pregnant. He reviews every possible scenario and weighs the two possible outcomes. Either she will disgrace her family name and keep the child or become a murderer and have the baby aborted. This proposes an interesting question. The ending of the story is twisted in that originally I thought that she would be the one making the decision leading to cultural shame based on a fling or one time sexual encounter but it turns out that she consciously made the decision to be artificially inseminated. With this she chose to outcast herself and it was too much for both parents to handle. While the father prevented his wife from harming the baby, he was not able to control his own emotions. He not only killed the unborn child, but also everything he worked his whole life for.

Joy Harjo’s poem explores this theme of culture from the opposite point of view. In “The Father”, the narrator was an immigrant who is felt a sense of “loneliness” in America. However, in this poem the narrator is a Native American who seems to be lost in a grandiose city filled with empty promise and a false sense of security. She is commenting that life in America has become focused on fame and fortune instead of searching out the beauty and wonder that gives life its true meaning. We have lost sight of what truly inspires people to do great things. In L.A., there are “strangers above me, below me, and all around me” (line 1). The author presents many cultural differences between American and Native American culture. One example involves the naming of L.A. the city of angels. These angels look nothing like the angels in “the songs of human voices on a summer night/ outside Okmulgee” (Lines 4-5). He says that in this city where only the stars have authority, “We must matter to somebody” (Line 10). Instead of selling out for these “stars”, the author proposes that we use everything that comes our way and our natural ability to find beauty and gold in our lives.

All three works, Joy Harjo’s “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles,” Mitsuye Yamada’s “A Bedtime Story,” and, Bharati Mukerijee’s, “A Father,” all present themes of relationships among people, families, different cultures, and also, of different social classes.

In, “The Path to the Milky Way,” the speaker says in the first line, “there are strangers above me, below me and all around me and we are all/ strange in this place of recent invention.” This opening statement tells us that we are all strangers to one another. If we all are strangers, then whom we matter to is a question asked by the speaker in lines 10-12. The speaker then suggests a sense of disunity in our culture if we are capable of selling our “souls for less/ than a song to a stranger who will sell it for a profit/ until you are owned by a company of strangers.”

The short story, “A Father,” talks about the disconnection in an Indian family living in the United States. This story presents us with conflicting ideas on culture, religion, education, and other pressing issues. We have a father who is so completely absorbed in his Indian heritage that he cannot accept his daughter’s chosen path of life. He despises his wife for forcing their move to America, for her cooking a week’s worth of meals on the weekends, and dislikes the fact that she is smarter than he. Then we are presented with his daughter—an all-American type—career driven, head strong, and open to American culture; and she is opened to independence and raising a child on her own. We are then presented with the mother—who at first seems to be all for the new American culture, when we are told of how she clashes with her Indian neighbors when she executes radical ideas (hiring women of lower castes,) and again when she makes the decision to move to America. However, we see her heritage shine through when we are told of the daughter’s pregnancy. Through this situation we are able to see that even within families, we have disunity. Because each of the family members have had different upbringings (in different countries, as well as different points of view due to gender,) their worldviews clash. This takes the concept of the first poem one step further to say that not only among strangers, but also among allies, we have a lack of trust, love, and reliance.

The last poem, “A Bedtime Story,” tells a story of an old woman who is able to experience the wonders of life and nature because everyone refused to give her shelter. I think that this poem is telling us two things. First, that one is not to expect much from strangers, but secondly, do not let rejection and hate make you miss out on really great moments in life.

Blog 9

Joy Harjo’s “The Path to the Miljy Way Leads through Los Angeles”, Mitsuye Yamada’s “A Bedtime Story”, and Bharati Mukherjee’s “A Father” all have similar themes of the clashing of cultural values between traditional and modern. Each author makes a statement about the American culture and gives readers a different perspective on our culture.
In Joy Harjo’s “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” we see the author’s view on American culture. She mocks a lot of our culture and has obvious negative feelings towards our values. When talking about Los Angeles she writes, “This city named for angels appears naked and stripped of anything/resembling the shaking of turtle shells…”(Lines 2-4) This bold observation the author makes shows how she views LA. She says American culture is lacking the values she sees necessary and filling the void with obsessions for fast food and celebrities. “You can’t buy love but you can sell your soul for less/than a song to a stranger.” (Lines 17-18) The author is saying we don’t have morals, our society is driven by money and status, and most people would sell their soul for a quick buck to satisfy the American dream. Harjo’s Native American heritage is shown when using nature in her poetry. In this poem she used a metaphor of a crow to compare American culture. Crows are known for being scavengers who pick through trash, which is not an ideal image in most American minds. The fact she used this animal to talk about our culture says a lot on how she feels. This poem offended me at first, but made me open my eyes and not take it so personal. The author is just noting what is different from her culture. If I was in a different cultural setting I would probably have the same tone. We do obsess about such irrelevant and unhealthy topics, like celebrity and fast food, and by doing so we lose some of our morals as a society. I see we should worry about such things like education and helping others. However there are many parts of our culture that should be celebrated.
Mitsuye Yamada’s “A Bedtime Story” is about a Japanese legend a father is telling his son. The tale is that an old woman was seeking shelter in a local town. After being rejected by everyone she decides to lay down up a hill. As she relaxed and caught her breath she saw a full moon over the town. To me this poem was about how fast paced our culture is, and how we are all so busily wrapped in our own lives we are “blinded”. The old woman was busily trying to find some shelter, but everyone was too involved in their own life that they didn’t want to or couldn’t help her; the whole while no one noticed the full moon. Then after the woman is rejected and she takes a moment to sit back rest and look away from her own situation, she is able to see the moon. The author used the moon metaphor to tell the readers that life is happening all around us whether we are watching or not. You have to stop being so self-involved and look around you to see it, and sometimes you may be forced to stop thinking about yourself like the woman in the story. The last line of the poem is the most significant to me. “That’s the end?” (Line 45) The child didn’t understand the father’s story which represents most people. We are all expecting something better. We never satisfy our desires. Like the child was expecting a better ending and didn’t understand the beauty of the story, we are expecting our life to keep getting better when we aren’t really grateful for what we have right now.
The final piece of writing Bharati Mukherjee’s “A Father” is about the complex relationship the Indian born family has with American culture. Mr. Bhowmick is the father who still has kept many of his traditional Indian customs. He still prays several times a day, he fears and respects many gods, and doesn’t really assimilate to the American culture. Meanwhile his daughter, Babli, has thrown herself into the American lifestyle and has pretty much thrown away all Indian culture. Mrs. Bhowmick seems more level and balanced between the two. The whole story it seems she has traded her Indian values for American, but in the end we see she still holds onto some beliefs. When she finds out her daughter has gotten pregnant after going to a sperm clinic she loses it; where for other Americans it is slightly more common for this to happen. The author made several references to American culture by mentioning Rolex, Slim Fast, Buick, and K-Mart. These are all things he thinks are American icons. It was interesting to see how differently he reacted to things than I did. For instance when he said his daughter was drinking Slim Fast for breakfast and then vomiting several minutes later, I immediately thought the daughter was bulimic because of my own experiences. He instantly thought the daughter was pregnant. I also liked how Mr. Bhowmick didn’t know if his neighbor had legs because he had never seen him outside of his car. This made me think of how many people these days who don’t even know their own neighbors. I also found it interesting how the author referred to the main character as Mr. Bhowmick. I felt by not referring to him by his first name the author was saying Americans don’t get friendly with their neighbors, and that they aren’t as welcoming to people as they should be; especially foreign ones. The story was mainly about an Indian father rooted in his traditional beliefs who was struggling with the fact his family has assimilated to the American traditions.
All three readings are about American culture. The authors give you their experience of the culture shock they went through. It was interesting to read other outsiders’ opinions on our culture, and really made readers open their eyes and be aware of our own culture as well as others.

blog # 9

In Joy Harjo’s poem “The Path to the Milky Way through Los Angeles” and in Mitsuye Yamada’s poem, “A Bedtime Story”, both deal with the theme of finding something beautiful amidst chaos and hard times.
In Joy Harjo’s “The Path to the Milky Way through Los Angeles”, deals with a girl from a small town of Oklahoma into the fast paced and intense city of Los Angeles. She is lost in the bustle of a large city and the impersonal feel of knowing no one in a strange city. Harjo writes, “This city for angles appears naked and stripped of anything/ resembling/ the shaking of turtle shells, the songs of human voices on a summer nigh/ outside, Okmulgee.” She came to this city expecting great things, like many people do coming to a big city from a small town. She was expecting greatness and grandeur but realized that it was anything but. Now she is able to find things that give her happiness that she would have never noticed before. She is able to find little things that are able to make her happy. In the last line of the poem Harjo writes, “But like crow I collect the shine of anything beautiful I can find.” She makes the best of her life, by finding the things that stand out to her. She is able to find beauty in a strange and to her seemingly unbeautiful place.
In Yamada’s poem “A Bedtime Story”, this idea of appreciating beauty in hard times and ugliness is explored. In this poem the speaker is on a long journey and looking for a place to stay. Everyone turns her down, and she is forced to take refuge on a hill. At this moment the clouds clear, and she is giving the glistening and powerful image of a full moon. Although she has been through so much and her hardships and fatigue are weighing on her shoulders, she is able to thank the people that turned her away. She is able to see the blessing in not finding a place to rest. If she had not been turned down she would have never experienced such a beautiful, and breathtaking sight.
Both these poems are able to illustrate this theme through beautiful imagery and personal experiences. They send the message to not dwell on the negative aspects of day-to-day life, but to find the beauty and appreciate what we have been given.

The Big Questions

The city of Los Angeles has a strong reputation of being equally thrilling and depressing. It is home to the celebrities, glamorous mansions, and high-end shopping, but it is also the setting for a great deal of crime, poverty, drug trafficking, and prostitution. Joy Harjo addresses this split personality beautifully in “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles,” pointing out its visual wonders and internal problems. The form of the poem—not stanzas, but long sentences with little punctuation—resembles the energy of the city. She notes that the city is a “place of recent invention,” which is true because L.A. is constantly changing, producing bigger and better things. Harjo uses striking imagery to depict the scenery of Southern California in line 6: “Yet, it’s perpetually summer here, and beautiful. The shimmer of gods is easier to perceive at sunrise or dusk.” It sounds as if the speaker admires the “city named for angels,” but she also shows uncertainty about her surroundings. She claims that you can “sell your soul for less than a song to a stranger who will sell it to someone else for a profit/until you’re owned by a company of strangers,” emphasizing the materialistic, phony nature of the city. The parts that jumped out at me most were, “We must matter to the strange god who imagines us as we revolve together in the dark sky on the path to the Milky Way” and “So what are we doing here I ask the crow…” She appears to be asking a very philosophical question: what are we, humans, doing here, on Earth? In the poem, she is seeing so many wonderful and terrible things at the same time and questioning what she is supposed to do with all of it and how we are all connected. The answer she is looking for is as simple as the last line, “collect the shine of anything beautiful I can find.”
As children, we enjoy hearing stories about princes and princesses living happily ever after in a magical kingdom. We find comfort in knowing the ending is a happily ever after situation. Mitsuye Yamada tells a much different kind of fairytale in “A Bedtime Story.” The poem even begins with the traditional “once upon a time,” but it does not unfold the way we might expect. The first two stanzas describing the poor old woman’s travels actually remind me of the beginning of Beauty and the Beast, when the old woman is turned away by the handsome prince. I thought there would be some lesson about not judging people by appearances, but I think the message of the poem is actually to appreciate nature and be grateful for what you have. The woman is so thankful to have seen the full moon that she actually thanks those who did not offer her shelter. I did not understand why this was such a “memorable sight” because we see full moons all the time, but perhaps it was a blue moon, or the moon is very significant to the Japanese, or she was simply amazed at nature’s wonders. The speaker—comfortable in her own Seattle home, a luxury the old woman did not have—voiced my exact thoughts when she asked, “that’s the end?” showing that she also expected a more traditional ending, in which the woman became wealthy somehow. The old woman did come across a fortune, but not what we typically consider to be fortune. The father probably tells this story to instill certain values in his daughter, to appreciate what is in front of you and be respectful of nature’s gifts and humbled by its power.
In Julia Alvarez’s “Queens, 1963,” we heard a foreigner’s perspective on adapting to American culture. This concept is also present in Bharati Mukhergee’s “A Father.” The story focuses on one man’s struggle to balance his traditional Indian faith with his new American life in Detroit. While I feel sympathy for the young girl in Alvarez’s poem, I feel none for Mr. Bhowmick. He is a paranoid, stubborn, and bitter man. Although I have never had to experience the difficulty of getting accustomed to a new country, I recognize that it is mainly a matter of maintaining your belief system. Everyone deals with that delicate balance on a daily basis. However, this story is an example of when beliefs go too far and actually harm another human being. Mr. Bhowmick probably experienced his fair share of racism as a new citizen of the United States, yet he has no problem being racist toward others when considering the father of his unborn grandchild. He disapproves of his wife and daughter for wanting to change experience a new culture, even though they showed no signs of disregarding their own heritage. To hit his pregnant daughter in the stomach because he does not agree with a decision she made is absolutely horrible—I actually cringed when I read the last sentence. It is very important that everyone is entitled to their own religion and customs, but the whole point of freedom of religion is freedom. There is no reason for a person to bring physical harm to someone who does not share their beliefs.
This week’s poems and story address several of the major themes we have been discussing all semester: living for the moment, nature, religion, and American city culture. They are all asking deep, philosophical questions. What is our purpose in life? How are we all connected to one another? What is my happy ending? How do I hold on to my morals in everyday life? We all want answers to these big questions, but the only way to receive them is just to be, to love, to laugh, and to have faith.

Blog 9

"The Path to the Milk Way Leads through Los Angeles" by Joy Harjo, "A Bedtime Story" by Mitsuye Yamada and "A Father" by Bharati Mukherijee all contain the central theme of how American culture can cause people from different cultures to forget the important values of their people. They get caught up in the fast paced nature of the United States and lose their culture along the way.
The descriptions and imagery Harjo uses in "The Path to the Mily Way Leads through Los Angeles" tells the reader that nature and the spirituality were important values in her Native American society. For example, she says, "the shimmer of gods is easier/ to perceive at sunrise or dusk,/ when those who remember us here in the illusion of the marketplace/ turn toward the changing of the sun and say our names." However, she explains that in the United States, superficial things like fame and instant grafification are important and valued. Americans don't value the beauty of nature; revolving together on the same planet. They are only interested in their own personal needs. The values of American society differ greatly from the culture Harjo was born and raised in.
The main point of "A Bedtime Story" is found in the last line of the poem. The narrator's reaction to the poem shows the difference between old Japanese culture and present American society. The legend told to the narrator has the overall theme of finding unexpected beauty in nature when all hope was lost. However, the narrator of the poem finds this message underwhelming. Like most Americans, the narrator is looking for a big climactic scene in the story, where the main character has an obvious revelation. However, in actuality, the main character's point is very subtle. The narrator finds it hard to believe that the old woman can find such joy from looking at the moon. In old Japanese society, this beauty was what was valued. In American culture, which moves so fast, people don't have time to sit and watch the beauty of nature.
Because the daughter in "A Father" assimilated so quickly to American culture, it created many tensions in the Bhowmick family, not just for the daughter. Mr. Bhowmick thought he was better off in his family because he wanted to hold onto the traditional values of the Indian culture. He disagreed with his wife and daughter for assimilating so quickly to American culture. However, when looked at closely, Mr. Bhowmick did indeed forget what was important to his old culture. He ended up killing his daughter's baby because it brought shame upon the family. In no culture is killing a defenseless life praised. Mr. Bhowmick got caught up in the fast paced life of American society and forgot what was important to him and his family.
All three pieces of literature focus on the differences between American culture and traditions from other countries. It seems as though the three authors are commenting on the values lost as a result of American influence.

Culture and Appreciation

Bharati Mukherjee’s “A Father,” Joy Harjo’s “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles,” and Mitsuye Yamada’s “A Bedtime Story” are each works in which the writer is exploring her own culture. These writers use the knowledge of their cultures to create unusual viewpoints on the challenges faced by the characters. In each of the works, the characters have certain expectations that are not met and through their own ways they learn that they must appreciate what they have.
Harjo’s “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles,” is a poem in which the narrator lives in a city where she feels as a stranger. The narrator (and writer) is Native American and her views and beliefs do not coincide with what she sees in Los Angeles. According to her tradition, a city named for the angels would resemble a city with “the shaking of turtle shells, the songs of human voices on a summer night outside Okmulgee.” Yet what he sees in Los Angeles “appears naked and stripped of anything” that would resemble what she imagined. The narrator is saying that although she is lost in this strange city with strange people, she must matter and everyone must matter to someone. With the first few lines the reader gets the feeling of separation and different cultures but with the next few lines, she creates a feeling of connection between her culture and the culture of Los Angeles. All the people including her are connected through “the strange God” to whom they must matter and that they are all on “the path to the Milky Way.” With his choice of words, he seems to be saying that with all of the things that go on in the city, people separate man and nature. For example he says that in the city “we cant easily see that starry road from the perspective of the crossing of boulevards,” but “ we can buy a map here of the stars’ homes.” We cant “hear it in the whine of civilization,” but we can “dial a tone for dangerous love,” and we cant “ taste the minerals of planets in hamburgers,” but we can “ choose from several brands of water or a hiss of oxygen for gentle rejuvenation.” He seems shocked by what the people of Los Angeles do. He says that people “know that you cant buy love,” but you can “still sell your soul.” The narrator is disappointed with what he sees in the city, compared to what he had imagined. He ends the poem on a note of hope, when he says that he is still waiting to see what it is that he doing in Los Angeles, and like the crow “collect the shine of anything beautiful I can find.” This poem is about being able to connect with people of a different culture and shows that there is always hope of being able to assimilate in a new land. It also show the reader that rather then comparing something to what we expected it to be like, we should enjoy and cherish what we are surrounded with.
Mitsuye Yamada’s “A Bedtime Story” is a poem in which the narrator has high expectations for the story her father tells her, and is humorously disappointed by its unadorned ending. The narrator tells the reader of the Japanese legend that was read to her by her father. In this legend an old woman looking for a place to sleep for the night goes from door to door in many villages. They all turn her down until she finally decides to lie outside to rest for a while. As she sits the moon comes into view, and she sits up and gives thanks to the village people because had they offered her a place to stay, she would not be able to see such a beautiful sight. The narrator expecting a grand ending to the story shouts “That’s the end?” This poem, like Harjo’s “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles,” is a poem about cultural expectations. The father pauses at the end of the story to allow his daughter to take in and understand the importance of it and the lesson to be learned from it. The legend tells the reader that we must appreciate what we have and that everything happens for a reason. But the narrator is disappointed and being a child she expected a grand story with vivid details and a colorful storyline, and fails to see the importance of what her father just related to her. When the narrator says “in the comfort of our hilltop home in Seattle overlooking the valley ,” she is telling the reader that living in a comfortable and safe environment she was unable to appreciate what she had. Because there are no names used, and the fact that the narrator uses a common legend to relate her point allows the poem to be applied to everyone’s life. So the narrator is urging us to see what we have with a different perspective and understand the importance of those things in our lives and appreciate them.
In Bharati Mukherjee’s “ A Father” the characters face a similar challenge of establishing their culture and beliefs within a different country and appreciating what they have. Mr. Bhowmick had wanted to stay in India while his wife urged him to apply for their green cards so they could move to America. The narrator describes his life in Bombay as fulfilling and lighthearted but in Detroit “he was a lonelier man.” Every morning he rises and makes a prayer to their God while his wife complains that his prayers have been getting too long. The wife wants to blend in with the culture of America and it becomes evident through not only the manner in which she treats her husband but her daily routine. Their daughter Babli is similar to Mrs. Bhowmick, which is evident through her father’s description of her in which he says she “ couldn’t comfort him. She wasn’t womanly or tender the way unmarried girls had been in the wistful days of his adolescence.” He seems unappreciative of the positive qualities of his daughter and wife and focuses of what makes them different from what his culture expects of them. He never expected his daughter to get pregnant and is forced to choose between “public shame for the family, and murder.” Unable to deal with the thought of shaming his family by having a daughter that is pregnant and unmarried, he kills the baby. This story shows that being unable to see the importance of what you have and appreciating it has disastrous effects.

Blog 9

In the literary works “A Father” by Bharati Mukerijee, “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Harjo, and “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada they all have to do with cultures and the differences between these cultures and American society. American society is face paced and doesn’t give time to see the beauty in nature while in other cultures this beauty is appreciated

In the short story “A Father”, by Bharati Mukherijee it showed some of the differences between the American and Indian cultures. In the story it was about an Indian family who moved to the United States for the opportunities it has to offer. The daughter assimilated better to American culture. This is shown in the story how she is very fast paced and tells her father, “Why don’t you break down and buy her a microwave over?”. The microwave oven is faster than a stove and this resembles American culture. The father takes his time in life and doesn’t like to rush around. This is shown when he takes his time with his prayers and doesn’t let his family rush him. Later in the story the father finds out that his daughter has become pregnant. In Indian culture it is shameful to the family if their daughter has an illegitimate child. When it is finally out in the open that their daughter is pregnant the father first blames American society by saying to his wife, “It’s your fault, you made us come to the States.” This is implying that if they were still in India their child would not have gotten pregnant. The daughter also tells them the baby doesn’t even have a father, she just wanted a baby. In American culture this is acceptable while in India this is shameful for the family.

The poem “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Harjo, is about how American culture is so fast paced and people don’t looking around and notice the beautiful things that surround us. This is shown in line 23, “but finding gold in the trash of humans”. This shows that one mans trash can be another mans treasure. In line 13-15 where it says, “We can’t easily see that starry road from the perspective of the crossing of / boulevards can’t hear it in the whine of civilization or taste the minerals of / planets in hamburgers”. It shows how we are too caught up in our own lives we can’t take a few seconds to look around and see all the beautiful aspects of life that are available to us. In the poem “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada, it also goes along with the theme of American culture. The Japanese woman in the story thanks the village for giving her the chance to see a “memorable sight.” Even though the village didn’t let her stay in their houses she still thanked them and called them kind. In line 45 the child who was being told the story responded with, “That’s that end?”. This shows how Americans don’t appreciate the same things as other cultures and don’t appreciate the simple things that life has to offer. Also an American wouldn’t thank the village for the sight they would be very angered at how inconsiderate the village was for not letting them sleep there.

In all these literary works the author is trying to tell the reader to stop and look around at the beauty of nature. They are trying to tell us to stop rushing around and enjoy what life has to offer. The most beautiful things in life are right in front of our faces we just have to look around and notice them.

Blog 9: Reading Analysis

The short story “A Father” by Bharati Mukherjee and the two poems “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada and “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Harjo all bring up the concept of contrasting cultures. The story and the poems show what can happen when cultures are mixed primarily with the culture of the United States. Since the customs and traditions from varying countries contrast so much from that of the customs and traditions of the United States, the stories successfully create conflict and generate a problem worth reading about.

To begin with, in the short story “A Father” by Bharati Mukherjee the culture of the United States is compared to that of India. An Indian family who had moved to America undergoes a life changing experience that is hard to handle because of their new surrounding culture. The couple’s daughter becomes pregnant and the father finds out almost immediately without the knowledge of his daughter. However, because of her strict parents, she chooses to not tell them until it is physically clear that she is pregnant. The story ends with the daughter being hit by the father because he is furious at her for wanting to have the baby without any father at all. The Indian culture that he was brought up in had taught him that it was wrong to have a child before marriage, and because of this he becomes far to strict on his daughter who is now living in a completely different culture whether he likes it or not.

The two poems also show a strong sense of culture throughout the story. First, “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada is a poem comparing Japanese story to the culture present in the United States. In this poem a story is being told to a child in the United States and it ends with the child saying “That’s the end?” This shows how the way children are being brought up today in America is leading them away from what is truly important in our everyday lives. Then, in “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” Joy Harjo is attempting to show how in American culture, we are becoming far to caught up in material goods and things that are not truly important to lead a happy life. Today in the United States, people are becoming far to concerned with what type of clothes they wear, how big their house is, how much money they have, etc.

The culture that is present in the United States today is heading down a dangerous path. While America is one of the most successful countries, the culture and attitude of the citizens is heading in the wrong direction. We are becoming far to concerned for things that do not truly give us happiness. “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada, “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Harjo and “A Fahter” by Bharati Mukherjee all contrast various cultures to show what is wrong with the United States in today’s world.