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.