Differences Of Cultures In The Light In The Forest

In the contemporary society, there are an increasing number of people paying great attention to child’s behavior. At the same time, a hot debate has also appeared, revolving around this topic. Some people believe that child’s behavior is a reflection of their home life. However, in the story “Burn Yours Maps”, was written by Robyn Joy Leff, he totally disagrees with this point. In his story, the protagonist, Wes wants to be a Mongolian and imagines his life as a nomad Mongolian. This idea from him doesn’t come from his family, neither from his mother nor father. None is Mongolian in Wes’s family, even his grandpa Firth was telling stories to Wes, but he never referred to Mongolian. It is clearly to see that Wes, himself wants to be a Mongolian without any reflection of his family. Leff uses two points of view and an emotional writing technique to support his arguments. The most important point is that the conflict between three main characters through the whole story. Wes’s father, Connor wants to prevent him to be a Mongolian and his mother, Allies kind of understands her son and tying to persuade Conner and protect Wes in her own way at the same time. Leff also uses conversation between Conner and Allies to express that Wes’s behavior is not reflection form them. In the end, Leff uses his unique emotion writhing technique to show that even Wes’s parents are not support him to be a Mongolian, he still insists his own idea to be what kind of person that he wants

The concepts of change and identity are problematic for the characters within Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony. Tayo’s hybridity represents all that the Laguna people fear. The coming of change and meshing of cultures has brought an impending threat of ruin to Native American traditions. Although they reject him for his mixed heritage, Tayo’s journey is not his own but a continuation of the storytelling tradition that embodies Native American culture. Through tradition he learns to use his white and Mexican heritage to identify himself without abandoning his Native American practices.

Everyone in the world has their own identity but some are still searching for it. Many base their identity on race, religion, culture and language because it’s easier to belong to a certain group. However, there are some people who struggle with finding where they belong. For instance, James McBride in The Color of Water wonders who he is through most his childhood and some of his adult life. Mcbride tries to find himself by learning about his mother's background. After evaluating his mom’s past,culture and race his own issues with himself were made clearer because now he finally knows where he came from.

Identities can be ripped away from people, but love can help people to regain it and realise who they truly are. In Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse the native children’s identities are taken from them, and not all of them find it again. Saul’s own identity as an Ojibway is taken by the residential school and the impact of unfavourable circumstances; but with the love and support of his family and friends, he finds it again. The residential school and other negative influences cause Saul to lose his identity, which is the offset for his quest to regain it with help from his friends and family.

This book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, is about a boy called Arnold Spirit aka Junior. He is a Native American that lives in an Indian Reservation. He isn't really satisfied with his life, since he's pretty poor, but he gets along. He doesn't really accept himself, since he has multiple medical problems, and he has been beaten up since he was little. When he starts to gain more friends in this new (American) school, he starts to like and accept himself more than before. In this book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" (by Sherman Alexie), the main theme is about Arnold trying to accept himself.

The Light in the Forest book was about an Indian boy, True Son being forced to return to his white parents that lived in Pennsylvania. True Son went back to his white parents and his younger brother, after being an Indian for eleven years in Ohio. With him was a white soldier, Del Hardy that spoke the Delaware language. Myra Butler, Harry Butler, and Gordie Butler were excited for his return. When he arrived home, his Aunt Kate disliked True Son and his customs. His Uncle Wilse made fun of his language and his people. Uncle Wilse hated True Son what he was, an Indian and slapped True Son. True Son got into a lot of conflicts with other whites because of his Indian mindset.

Leslie Marmon Silko’s novel, Ceremony, reveals how the crossing of cultures was feared, ridiculed, and shunned in various Native American tribes. The fear of change is a common and overwhelming fear everyone faces at some point in their life. The fear of the unknown, the fear of letting go, and the fear of forgetting all play a part in why people struggle with change. In Ceremony the crossing of cultures creates “half-breeds,” usually bringing disgrace to their family’s name. In Jodi Lundgren’s discourse, “Being a Half-breed”, is about how a girl who struggles with understanding what cultural group she fits into since she is a “half-breed.” Elizabeth Evasdaughter’s essay, “Leslie Marmon Silko’s “Ceremony”: Healing Ethnic Hatred by

This book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, is about a boy called Arnold Spirit aka Junior. He is a Native American that lives in an Indian Reservation. He isn't really satisfied with his life, since he's pretty poor, but he gets along. He doesn't really accept himself, since he has multiple medical problems, and he has been beaten up since he was little. When he starts to gain more friends in this new (American) school, he starts to like and accept himself more than before. In this book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" (by Sherman Alexie), the main theme is about Arnold trying to accept himself.

    Many people see the world and others differently. Just like the two sisters in “Everyday Use”, the two sisters in “Two Ways to Belong in America”, and the father in the letter/short essay “An Indian Father's Plea”. All these people have different past and things they’re going through. The two sisters in “Two Ways To Belong In America” both have their different stories from their past, one likes America the other does not because they betrayed her. Next, the father from “An Indian Father’s Plea” sees America differently because the school was labeled his kid a “slow learner” which made him upset. In addition, the two sisters from “ Everyday Use” argue about a quilt in which they both view differently

Traditions and old teachings are essential to Native American culture; however growing up in the modern west creates a distance and ignorance about one’s identity. In the beginning, the narrator is in the hospital while as his father lies on his death bed, when he than encounters fellow Native Americans. One of these men talks about an elderly Indian Scholar who paradoxically discussed identity, “She had taken nostalgia as her false idol-her thin blanket-and it was murdering her” (6). The nostalgia represents the old Native American ways. The woman can’t seem to let go of the past, which in turn creates confusion for the man to why she can’t let it go because she was lecturing “…separate indigenous literary identity which was ironic considering that she was speaking English in a room full of white professors”(6). The man’s ignorance with the elderly woman’s message creates a further cultural identity struggle. Once more in the hospital, the narrator talks to another Native American man who similarly feels a divide with his culture. “The Indian world is filled with charlatan, men and women who pretend…”

True Son has a major identity crisis in which he wants to stay true to his Indian upbringing, yet is expected to act like the civilized white person he was born as. His internal struggle persists throughout the book accompanied by external struggles involving his white and Indian families. After he is raised by a loving Indian family for most of his life, he is taken from them and escorted to his white family by a group of white soldiers rescuing kidnapped white people. Along the journey, he thinks about all the horrible things he has heard about white people. He thinks in particular about them stealing Indian land and other instances involving Indians. This causes him to have desires to kill, Del, the white guard in charge of him. True Son

     Throughout Ceremony, the author, Leslie Silko, displays the internal struggle that the American Indians faced at that time in history. She displays this struggle between good and evil in several parts of the book. One is the myth explaining the origin of the white man.

Almost all teens experience some sort of an identity crisis. They struggle with finding a clearer sense of themselves. Arnold Spirit Jr., a 14-year-old reservation Indian, faces an identity crisis when he leaves his reservation to go to school in Reardan, a town inhibited by white people. To begin, Arnold moves between different settings, and when he does, there is a change in his identity. Moreover, there is a change in his character as he moves between cities. Finally, Arnold experiences an identity crisis as well as conflicts with his community. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the author uses literary elements to emphasize that one’s racial and ethnic identity changes depending on the social surrounding.

Cultural practices influence the way we perceive the world. Our Western world is more exposed to “different” things yet have a difficult time accepting Eastern cultures and how things beyond us work. A major issue that is affected by culture is sexuality. A subtopic of sexuality is, slut shaming. Slut shaming is, “the act of making any person feel guilty or inferior for certain sexual behaviors or desires that deviate from traditional or orthodox gender expectations,” (Your Dictionary). My outside source, “Teen girls’ sexual double standards and sexting: Gendered value in digital image exchange,” explains the prominent gender inequalities and sexual double standards. However, the issue of culture shaping thinking with slut shaming as the core issue at hand is asserting gender, religion, equality and parenting.

In the personal testimony “The good daughter”, author Caroline Hwang presents her identity as one of million americans who have a dual culture because of their family's heritage, trying to fulfill it by honoring it, but also struggling with the fact that they might feel as aliens in their own culture since they are in the middle of these two ones.