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Everyday Use Culture Vs Heritage

Decent Essays
Gandhi, a revolutionist in India once said, “I do not want my house to be rounded and my windows to be closed to other cultures. I wish to become familiar with the culture of lands as much as possible, but I will not permit them to affect me or shake me from my status” (likesuccess.com). Culture does not alter they way one can see the world. The way one sees the world comes from the personal memories and choices one makes in their lifetime. Experiences can awaken and change the viewpoint of someone's traditional stance. This is due to experiences being more personal than heritage. Culture still has an impact, however, a minuscule one at most. One’s life is ever changing as, one is constantly creating new memories. If one’s life is always…show more content…
Typically parents try to push their culture into their children. In Everyday Use, the mother tries to push her daughter, Dee, to a simplistic and practical lifestyle. Dee rebuffs this and experiences an enlightening in African heritage and sees the world with a far different view than that of her mother. Another important idea from this story was Dee countering her mom and imposing her views of education upon her mother, “she washed is in a river of make-believe, burned is with a lot of knowledge we didn't necessarily need to know” (Walker 60). This shows Dee’s push of education and the rejection of this from the mom. Many people argue that culture is the absolute factor of how one views the world. While culture plays a part of forming a view, it is not the defining factor. In an Indian Father's Plea, the reader can see a shift in the viewpoint by the Indian child. The child originally has a viewpoint that is traditional of his culture, however, as he becomes assimilates to the world outside of his culture, his viewpoint shifts and he begins to call from memories and experiences to form his perception of the world. Culture is not the defining factor that determines how one experiences the world. There are many other factors to consider when weighing the what makes up one’s stance. Memories and experience allow a person to form these stances and develops one as a person and in
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