Cultural Context In 'Who's Irish'

Cultural context in “who’s Irish.”
Culture is the characteristic and knowledge of a particular group of people; national identity has been the main reason as to why countries exist and disparities between individual countries exist too. Immigrants over a long period of time have moved to the United States to work, develop businesses or enjoy freedom. The United States of America has been known for a long time to be a great country that welcomes any individual regardless of race, color or gender. The immigrants on the other hand get culture shock since they are used to their culture that is different from their home country. The immigrants also undergo different life experiences during their transition to the American culture. One iconic American-Chinese writer, Gish Jen, wrote and interesting story, “who’s Irish” which clearly describes the life experiences of most immigrants. The short story, “who’s Irish” centers around an immigrant mother having conflict with her daughter, …show more content…
In the past, interracial marriages were not encouraged; it is recently that a law was passed which allowed people to fall in love regardless of their cultural or race difference. As much as that was a success, there are quite a few individuals who still stick to the old ways of life. Literature researcher, Rachel Lee, claims that Jens work is simultaneously a literature of travel. Lee further emphasizes on the problems the locals and immigrants face when two cultures try to blend in. An imbalance is created which if not tamed leads to a lot of extended family chaos and eventually family breakups. Twenty five percent of divorces in the United States are between interracial couples (Lee, 1999). Moreover, this leads to the short story “who’s Irish” Natalie was scared to support her mother in fear of breaking up with her husband which in turn led her to making her mother to move out of her