Crossings Culture - Two Ways to Belong in America by Bharati Mukherjee - Article Example

The paper "Crossings Culture - Two Ways to Belong in America by Bharati Mukherjee" is a delightful example of an article on sociology. Bharati Mukherjee illustrates how the adaptation of the American culture impacts an individual’s identity in the essay "Two Ways to Belong in America." The essay revolves around Mukherjee and her sister who grew up in Calcutta, India; held the same values as taught and nurtured to be the same family, held similar goals, and was almost identical in physical appearance and attitude. With their stay in America, their attitudes, lifestyles, future plans, and views on a myriad of topics are totally different. Mukherjee adopted the American culture and she says "America spoke to me-I married it" (455) while the sister Mira argues "some kind of irrational attachment to India that I don't to America (455). According to Mukherjee, Mira is a pleasant well-educated woman that has deliberately not adopted the American culture, despite the posed requirements on immigrants. She states that the sister is "professionally generous and creative, socially courteous and gracious, (455) but, "that's as far as her Americanization can go. She is here to maintain an identity, not to transform it. (455).

The importance of the essay is that, despite the fact that Mira felt to the American dream, she remained true to what she was and never lost the Indian background. The author presents struggles faced by immigrants in their quest for an American dream. The tone of the essay is reflective and sympathetic while the style adopted is an anecdote. Mukherjee reflects her life and compares it to the sisters through a persuasive voice intended to convince the people to vote against the decision by congress. The author also adopts pathos to achieve emotional appeal in the essay. From the essay, we learn that we can vehemently disagree over an issue but through a civilized discussion we learn to respect others' opinions even if we don’t accept them. I have also appreciated the impact of the community’s speech on social connections, culture, language, dialects, ethnicity, politics, and lifestyles. Read More