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.