Two Ways To Belong In America, By Bharati Mukherjee

691 Words3 Pages
Does a culture greatly influence how a person views the world? I think it does. Culture greatly influences the way a person views the world because everything you see will always reflect the culture you lived in. Whether you like it or not, culture will always have an impact on how you view things. Although, that’s not the case for everyone. Sometimes it can change as you go or as you learn it better. One piece of evidence that proves culture does influence how a person views the world is a short story called, “Two Ways To Belong In America” by Bharati Mukherjee. Bharati has a sister named Mira and how they view things is different. In the story, Bharati states “She is here to maintain an identity, not to transform it” (71). She’s stating that Mira’s view of things will not change but will be maintained even if she’s in America. Her Indian culture will stay in her and that will reflect how she will view the world. In the story “By Any Other Name” by Santha Rama Rau, she states “We had our test today and she made me and the other Indians sit at the back of the room” (39). She also states “She said because Indians cheat” (39). This proves that a culture does influence how you view the world because the teacher viewed them as cheaters…show more content…
It doesn’t have to influence the way a person views the world. Sometimes it’s just up to you on how you view it. How you view the world can also change as time goes on and learn them better. In the story “Two Ways To Belong In America” by Bharati Mukherjee, she states “America spoke to me-I married it- I embraced the demotion from expatriate aristocrat to immigrant nobody, surrendering those thousands of years of “pure culture,” the saris, the delightfully accented English. This quote explains that culture doesn’t have to affect how you view the world because it can change. Bharati grew up in India, went to America and adapted to
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