The essay "The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl", by Elizabeth Wong, is the story of a Chinese girl who was born and raised in the U.S. but still had many Chinese customs expected of her. Throughout the story, the young Chinese writer talks about her struggle to fit in with the American culture. Although the girl works very hard in her American studies, she is forced to attend a Chinese school as well where she learns the Chinese customs of her ancestors. It is important to the girl to do well in the American culture. It is also important to her and her brother that their mom learn the culture as well. Her excellence in learning and using the American culture is so obvious that even the surrounding Chinese community members notice. "Even the people in my culture would cluck and say that I'd do well in life." As the girl works to be an “all-American girl” she is also being forced to learn the Chinese culture. In this story, the author is showing the difficulty of being able to adjust to new surroundings.
I cannot relate to the struggles that the young girl and her family faced daily. The culture shock that her mom went through, coming from a Chinese background to America, must have been a challenge. Also difficult would be the girl’s dilemma, since she was born and raised in the U.S. After reading this story, it seems that both the girl and the mom have good reasons for their attitudes toward the Chinese culture. Although I see the reasoning behind both of their attitudes, both of their actions seem extreme to me. The mom forcing the girl to go to a Chinese school, outside of her consent, seems to be hard on the girl. She did not enjoy learning the Chinese costumes or culture. Thus being forced to attend the Chinese school only seemed to make matters worse. As hard as it was for the girl, she could have been more understanding toward her mom. That is how she was raised, so that is how she knew to raise her own daughter. In this case, a compromise of the two different wills would have been beneficial to both the girl and the mom. This can be a life lesson to help us open our eyes to the struggles and needs of others. You may not know the reasoning behind their motives, but we can always be more understanding of those around us.
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I like where you went with this blog. I too can understand both sides but i was a little less sympathetic towards the girl. Her whole family came from China so how could she not expect to learn more about her culture. I honestly think the mom did the right thing but it does seem wrong to make her keep going if she disliked it that much.
ReplyDeleteI think the "life lesson" that you drew from this story is a really good one. While I was reading the story, I think I sided with the girl more. But when I read what you had to say about being more understanding of those around us, it made me stop and try to see the situation from the mother's point of view. And that really changed the whole story for me. So thanks for making me think deeper!
ReplyDeleteI think that we would want to side with the girl because, for one thing, she is the author and she is also around our age. However, the points you brought up made me put myself in the mother's shoes. She is so used to the Chinese culture she may be afraid the American culture will pollute her daughter. She is not familiar with America, so she has a right to feel that way.
ReplyDeleteYour blog does a better job of making people think than some of the others did. Good job at looking at different perspectives and seeking wisdom and understanding.
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