Similarities of Immigrants
Immigration has always been a massive part of American culture, whether it is legal or illegal. Approximately thirteen percent of the entire U.S. population are immigrants and of that thirteen percent, many are illegal. With immigration comes stories or accounts of how they came to be here and of their lives after; some are sad, some are scary, and some are painful to listen to. However, most citizens born in the United States only truly believe that there is one outcome to immigration: it is hard and people suffer. Which in most cases is true, but at the same time people need to realize that there are many diverse outcomes. Looking at “Niño” by David Mitchell and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan side by side sheds light …show more content…
Amy is the daughter of two Chinese immigrants who fled China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1940s. Growing up, Amy was always embarrassed of her mother’s English. She believed that her mother’s quality of English reflected the quality of what she had to say. Amy believed that because her mother spoke imperfect thoughts, that her logic was imperfect. People in restaurants, department stores, and banks could not take her mother seriously; therefore, Amy could not take her own mother seriously. Amy even recalls times when her mother had Amy call someone and pretend to be her mother because her mother knew how bad her own English was. Amy believes that growing up with her mother set limitations for how successful she could become later in life. Because her mother was an immigrant who spoke horrible English, Amy felt restricted. For many years of her life, she suppressed her culture and heritage and pretended that it did not exist. But she soon broke out of that shell and became a successful writer who embraces her culture and …show more content…
Most of the time, abuse is covered up so that no one around knows what a person is going through. Many of the reasons the abuse is hidden is out of shame, fear, or just because the person does not want anyone to pity them. These two stories both show the differences in abuse that one would not notice without reading the stories side by side. More and more recognition needs to be administered to the immigrants and how many hardships they endure before and after immigration to the United States. It is not well known about how many obstacles they face after coming to America. The stereotype that coming to America is extremely difficult is not wrong, but people need to realize that it is actually one of the hardest things anyone can do, whether it is legally or illegally.
However, both of the accounts end with happy endings. Mario was finally reunited with his mother and expresses his joy when he says, “Before me was my mother! That’s when I broke into tears, tears that became my struggles escaping my body. I hugged her tightly, saying, “Madre ya vine, madre te encontre, madre aqui estoy!” All the struggles, the pain, the hits, the bruises, the humiliations, were worth it. I had found once again my shield, my mother” (Mitchell). Amy also found peace with her mother’s broken English and learned to love and accept it and even started to write with it. She displays this when she
Immigration has always been a massive part of American culture, whether it is legal or illegal. Approximately thirteen percent of the entire U.S. population are immigrants and of that thirteen percent, many are illegal. With immigration comes stories or accounts of how they came to be here and of their lives after; some are sad, some are scary, and some are painful to listen to. However, most citizens born in the United States only truly believe that there is one outcome to immigration: it is hard and people suffer. Which in most cases is true, but at the same time people need to realize that there are many diverse outcomes. Looking at “Niño” by David Mitchell and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan side by side sheds light …show more content…
Amy is the daughter of two Chinese immigrants who fled China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1940s. Growing up, Amy was always embarrassed of her mother’s English. She believed that her mother’s quality of English reflected the quality of what she had to say. Amy believed that because her mother spoke imperfect thoughts, that her logic was imperfect. People in restaurants, department stores, and banks could not take her mother seriously; therefore, Amy could not take her own mother seriously. Amy even recalls times when her mother had Amy call someone and pretend to be her mother because her mother knew how bad her own English was. Amy believes that growing up with her mother set limitations for how successful she could become later in life. Because her mother was an immigrant who spoke horrible English, Amy felt restricted. For many years of her life, she suppressed her culture and heritage and pretended that it did not exist. But she soon broke out of that shell and became a successful writer who embraces her culture and …show more content…
Most of the time, abuse is covered up so that no one around knows what a person is going through. Many of the reasons the abuse is hidden is out of shame, fear, or just because the person does not want anyone to pity them. These two stories both show the differences in abuse that one would not notice without reading the stories side by side. More and more recognition needs to be administered to the immigrants and how many hardships they endure before and after immigration to the United States. It is not well known about how many obstacles they face after coming to America. The stereotype that coming to America is extremely difficult is not wrong, but people need to realize that it is actually one of the hardest things anyone can do, whether it is legally or illegally.
However, both of the accounts end with happy endings. Mario was finally reunited with his mother and expresses his joy when he says, “Before me was my mother! That’s when I broke into tears, tears that became my struggles escaping my body. I hugged her tightly, saying, “Madre ya vine, madre te encontre, madre aqui estoy!” All the struggles, the pain, the hits, the bruises, the humiliations, were worth it. I had found once again my shield, my mother” (Mitchell). Amy also found peace with her mother’s broken English and learned to love and accept it and even started to write with it. She displays this when she