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.