Identity and Culture in Presents from My Aunts in Pakistan

Dumont’s The Red & White is an excellent showcase of her abilities to instil a poignant and ever-relevant criticism in captivating and provoking prose. The Red & White addresses the pressure and problems associated with conforming to societal expectations. The poem articulates the staple items bleach and soup bones as symbols of the lifestyle expected of the archetypal Aboriginal family; bleach to clean with and soup bones to cook with, neither evoking luxury or success but quiet subsistence. ‘Mary’ seeks only to lead a perfectly respectable low income existence in The Red & White, Dumont revisits the trope of respectability as the saviour in another poem on female disempowerment; Squaw Poems.

This shines light upon her Native American roots and how it can be an inspiration for her Century Quilt, each square representing her family’s racial diversity and mixed roots. It is quite difficult to learn of all the harsh animosity they were enduring, such as Meema and her yellow sisters whose “grandfather’s white family nodding at them when they met” (24-27). The hostility is clear as the white relatives only register their presence; no “hello” or warm embrace as if they didn’t acknowledge them as true family. However, with descriptive imagery, the speaker’s sense of pride for having the best of both worlds is still present as she understands Meema’s past experiences and embraces her family’s complexity wholeheartedly; animosity and all.

I turned to see where it was coming from and realized my dress was on fire. Frozen with fear, I watched the yellow-white flames make a ragged brown line up the pink fabric of my skirt and climb my stomach” (Walls 9). Immediately, Jeannette’s mother rushes her to hospital and underwent a skin graft to ensure her survival. In today’s society, a young child cooking a hotdog is very scary and most parents will not allow it out of fear of what happened to Jeannette. The fact that her first memory is one that Jeannette feels fear and happens to be a memory that is on the other side of fear, danger, is important. Her life foreseen by her first memory is also filled with danger; yet, she does not have to view them as dangerous ones with fear. Due to the fact that these memories are from a perspective of fear leads her story to have a theme of fear.

Reciprocity is very important in Pakistani communities. As covered in A. Shaw’s ‘A Pakistani Community in Britain,’ the term lena-dena literally means ‘taking and giving’ and itself implies the obligation of exchange.

She selfishly praised quilts as "priceless" (91) whereas she thought the same piece was old fashioned and out of style when offered to her for college. By carrying the quilts she claims to carry the heritage, however, she shuns the lifestyle of her family, which is of course a part of her heritage.

She believes that because we are forced into this land, we are doomed to have a life which not happy. She also explains to her family in the play that all their problems will be solved if they go back to their country of origin and find out who they are there.

“ A dress down to the ground… yellows and oranges enough to throw back the light of the sun. Earrings gold, too…Bracelets dangling and making noises…” Her hair, “stands straight up like the wool on a sheep.” (183, Walker). This is how Mrs. Johnson describes her daughter‘s new appearance. Although Mrs. Johnson does not disapprove of Dee’s new African fashion she is not comfortable with it. Dee had taken on the task to flash her African roots while she failed to understand the true meaning of her heritage. Dee makes the mistake of believing that one’s heritage is something that one puts on to display. Mrs. Johnson does not display African fashion. Nonetheless she knows the true meaning of her heritage; something that Dee does not seem to understand. Through “Everyday use”, Walker conveys that culture and heritage are taught from one generation to the next and it is not suddenly acquired and definitely it is not something that one suddenly puts on.

Every individual, no matter who they are, will all face challenges that result from their backgrounds and cultures. Born in Calcutta, India and later moving to the United States, Amin Ahmad was an individual who discovered this harsh truth firsthand. In his essay, “I Belong Here,” Ahmad reflects on his experience of being treated differently from those around him based off his cultural background. He analyses the emotional barrier that forms between the journey of immigration and the continuous feeling of inferiority based solely on the desire to belong. The article is written to provide a different point of view; one focused on introducing to the world the challenges and emotions immigrants face after starting the journey towards a new life.

In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”, Walker juxtaposes two different daughters in their quest for a cultural identity. The narrator, their mother, talks about how each daughter is different; Dee went off to college and became well-educated, contrary to their impoverished and low status as black women in the south. Meanwhile, Maggie isn’t nearly as educated as Dee is, but is still literate. The entire story centers around Dee’s visit with her new Muslim significant other. The story’s climax is when Dee wants to take two special quilts back home, but those quilts are for Maggie. These precious quilts comprise their culture. Henceforth, Dee does not deserve to take the quilts with her because she has decided to take on a culture that varies significantly from her own and she is already used to getting what she wants.

Asghar starts the poem off by describing her aunt’s actions as she prepares what is most likely dinner for husband. She describes her actions using “rolls” and “pounds”. These specific words can be seen as a parallel to how one would describe the men in WWE. However, by using these specific masculine descriptors combined with the action of making her traditional native food, Asghar is able to create a parallel to her native culture and American culture. She is also able to show the reader that embracing a new culture does not mean you have to leave all semblances of your previous culture behind. She does this again when she discusses her aunt watching these men on TV with “kajaled” eyes. Kajal is the application of kohl, or eyeliner. This is customary in many

The short store “Clothes” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is about a young Indian woman, Sumita, and her cultural transition to America that is symbolized by her clothes and the color of her clothes. The traditional Indian attire for a woman is a sari and each one has its own purpose. Her clothes also indicate her progression from daughter, to wife, to woman.

Compares her culture and American culture, radical is different between an experience Thi has receive from her cousin on page 285. She does it because she wants the readers to understand the struggle of herself likewise her family has a difficult time to integrate with the local community and culture, this lead to many problems in her journey. Moreover, Bui discusses her emotional memory, such as obsessed on page 78. Similarly, she shows her emotive recollections, Thi as a girl when she first arrived at the new house, the fear she has experienced in new home in the United States is what she describes. That is the image she impossible to sleep with fearful face, because threatened is what she was has by prevents through a phone on the previous page, consequently is scary moment going to her memory. And another example connection to Thi journey and emotional memory of her is on page 293, it shows the image have most unexpectedly is her house was ablaze, then Thi and her family ran towards her house to the outside, while they just bring an unassuming brown folder had notarized with them. The picture

In Linda Pastan’s poem “Marks” a woman is speaking about how she feel underappreciated in her family after all the things she does for them. The poem is set up almost as a report card, the things she has to do as a housewife are her subjects, and the responses that she receives from her family are compared to the

The purpose of this essay is to critically reflect on the new ideas I have learnt throughout this semester, ideas that has changed the way I understand the experiences of the Aboriginal and Torres strait islander people. The essay will also link my understanding of how cultural identity can influence health equity, using the CATSINaM’s definition of cultural safety.

Imagine getting off the plane for the very first time after living the majority of your life in a Muslim country. The first sight you see is a couple being publicly affectionate. This is my grandmother’s very first encounter on Canadian soil. To any Western this is a social norm, but to an Arab woman it is a cultural shock, which is perceived as uncomfortable at the least. Although she is closed minded, it partially is not her fault, as I have lived with her in Tehran and Dubai –two Muslim cities located in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East. (PDA) Public display of affection is forbidden in these two countries. To me public affection is not just “…people making out and touching each other inappropriately…” it is the respect you have for