As immigrants in the beginning we all have different stories, but many times what threads us together is where we end up. Two girls with two different cultures, languages, foods and music found themselves mixed between their home culture and the American culture. Jhumpa Lahiri, was born in England to Indian parents who decided to migrate to the United States, at the time Lahiri was two years old. As of today she is a Pulitzer Prize recipient for her outstanding work in fiction. In the other hand Morales was born and raised in Puerto Rico and migrated to the United States at the age of thirteen years old. In today 's world she is recognize for her work as an author and for her work within the Latina feminist group. As expected growing up bicultural
…show more content…
As Lahiri was growing up inside the American cultured she felt the desired to be more like her Americans friends and less like her family. She would surround herself with the American culture by reading American literature, listening to American music and watching American television as she mentions these things are “Fundamental part of who I am” (1). As a kid when she would be around her friends Lahiri would hide her home culture to them she says, “I follow the customs of my parents, speaking Bengali and eating rice and dal with my fingers. These ordinary facts seemed part of a secret, utterly alien way of life, and I took pains to hide them from my American friends.” (1). Although as hard as she tried to be more like her Americans friends she couldn 't help but see the difference as she says, “Yet there was evidence I was not entirely American” (1). This affected her growing up because she wanted to feel like she belonged in her friend’s world, and even though she did not attend Sunday school or skate to perfection in her eyes she was American. Every time she was told she was not American she says she felt “gradually defiant” (1). Differently from Lahiri, Morales was the opposite always embracing her Puerto Rican side by being really passionate about her past life in Puerto Rico and in a way refusing to become American. Since the moment Morales arrived in Chicago …show more content…
But I agree with Lahiri when she says that as young immigrant kids we are expected to be two things at once. I enjoyed reading both authors and their experiences growing in America. In a way I got nostalgic when Morales says, “I am an immigrant, and I forgot to feel what it means to have left” because many times that 's exactly what I feel. Also, I was very happy to read female authors because I feel like we have read a lot from male authors but not enough from female authors.
Work cited
Lahiri, Jhumpa. "My Two Lives." Newsweek 5 Mar. 2006. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Morales, Rosario. "Getting Home Alive." firebrand books.
As Lahiri was growing up inside the American cultured she felt the desired to be more like her Americans friends and less like her family. She would surround herself with the American culture by reading American literature, listening to American music and watching American television as she mentions these things are “Fundamental part of who I am” (1). As a kid when she would be around her friends Lahiri would hide her home culture to them she says, “I follow the customs of my parents, speaking Bengali and eating rice and dal with my fingers. These ordinary facts seemed part of a secret, utterly alien way of life, and I took pains to hide them from my American friends.” (1). Although as hard as she tried to be more like her Americans friends she couldn 't help but see the difference as she says, “Yet there was evidence I was not entirely American” (1). This affected her growing up because she wanted to feel like she belonged in her friend’s world, and even though she did not attend Sunday school or skate to perfection in her eyes she was American. Every time she was told she was not American she says she felt “gradually defiant” (1). Differently from Lahiri, Morales was the opposite always embracing her Puerto Rican side by being really passionate about her past life in Puerto Rico and in a way refusing to become American. Since the moment Morales arrived in Chicago …show more content…
But I agree with Lahiri when she says that as young immigrant kids we are expected to be two things at once. I enjoyed reading both authors and their experiences growing in America. In a way I got nostalgic when Morales says, “I am an immigrant, and I forgot to feel what it means to have left” because many times that 's exactly what I feel. Also, I was very happy to read female authors because I feel like we have read a lot from male authors but not enough from female authors.
Work cited
Lahiri, Jhumpa. "My Two Lives." Newsweek 5 Mar. 2006. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Morales, Rosario. "Getting Home Alive." firebrand books.