There is often a time in Asian Americans’ lives when they experience a cultural disconnect: being too “White” for their Asian relatives, yet too “Asian” for their White peers. These feelings are true for Jay Reguero, the protagonist of Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay. Throughout the novel, Jay, a Filipino-American, struggles with feeling like an outsider in the Philippines because he cannot speak his mother tongue and has spent his entire life in the U.S. During his time in the Philippines, he attempts to connect with his culture but he is constantly reminded of how little he knows and understands about the Philippines. Therefore, this novel is about Jay’s struggle with his cultural identity and his feelings of guilt from not connecting …show more content…
Jay’s struggles begin after his cousin in the Philippines, Jun, dies under suspicious circumstances. Jay wants to discover what truly happened to his cousin, but he cannot do that in America, so he travels to the Philippines to get answers. While in the Philippines, Jay is reminded of his shortcomings as an Asian American when his uncle, Tito Maning, points out Jay’s inability to speak Tagalog. Tito Maning tells Jay that if he does not “know [his] mother tongue, [he] cannot know [his] mother. And if [he does] not know [his] mother, [he does] not understand who [he is]” (Ribay 96). Tito Maning’s words perfectly encapsulate Jay’s situation; Jay cannot speak Tagalog and it is causing him to question himself and his identity. Jay later attempts to improve his Tagalog but it “doesn’t feel right” because Jay’s mouth “feels too heavy, too thick, too slow to produce the right syllables with such ease” (Ribay 176-177). Jay gets frustrated at his parents for not teaching him Tagalog when he was younger, when “the struggle would have seemed more like a fun game than an identity crisis” (Ribay 177). Since Jay did not learn Tagalog at a young age, the words are like an alien language to him. He cannot connect with his culture and is left feeling like he failed as an Asian. Thus, making Jay’s struggle with his identity a key part of the novel and a large motivator for his
The Killer Angels, a book written by Michael Shaara that explains the crucial Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War, along with the perspectives and lives of both the leaders of North and South. The bloodiest battle of the Civil War is explained through the eyes of the leaders of Union and Confederates in a way that is breathtaking and exhilarating. Even though South was determined and bold; The North was able to wear the confederates down because of their leaders who had a strategic plan and clear concept of war to take in prisoners and win for the sake of freedom. The essential concept of war for the Unions meant to free the prisoner slaves and restore the balance and freedom to the country they had fought from the British.
Have you ever thought about how difficult it might be to go into a different country knowing absolutely nothing, not even language, and something horrific happened to you or anyone in your family? Don’t you think you would feel so powerless, so helpless, so clueless? This happens commonly and it has never had any attention brought to it, at least not until 1998. Anne Fadiman wrote a book entitled, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. This demonstrated a collision of two complete opposite cultures, but they both have the same goal to help the child get better.
Year of Wonders is set in Eyam, an actual village which was located in Derbyshire, England. Also known as the "plague village" for an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in 1665 and 1666, the story of Year of Wonders is based off of this event. At the beginning of the book, Anna Frith is introduced to the readers as a house maid, mother of two young sons, and the narrator. Although she isn't a historical figure, through her eyes, the readers get to get an insight on what it was like living in the midst of a plague. As the story starts out, Anna is faced with the struggle of watching her friends (Anys and Mem) being accused by mobs of being witches because they are midwives who deliver newborns and use charms and herbs to heal the sick.
In the novel All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, There is a thematic question that reappears throughout the book. The question that is posed by the author is: How do German and European education systems differ from America’s, what subjects and practices are valued there, and which is most positively affecting the students? Question first appeared in the novel when one of the main characters, an orphan named Werner, takes an interest and repairing radios in his neighborhood. During one of these jobs, a wealthy man named Herr Seidler tells Werner About an opportunity to go to school. he says, “‘Smart beyond your years.
The First Stone You can’t make everyone happy. Sometimes the decision of the judges only satisfy some people. In the novel The First Stone, by Don Aker, a young teen by the name Chad “Reef” Kennedy finds himself in a tough situation and his sentencing is being in rehab and doing community service. Reef is responsible for putting Leeza a young girl, in the hospital because of his actions. Since he is in rehab, many people wished he went to jail.
In 2003, the nonfiction author Jon Krakauer published his book Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. Motivated to expand the typically Islam-focused understanding of religious extremism that dominated the U.S. after 9/11, Under the Banner of Heaven addresses fundamentalism and the violence that often accompanies it in a totally different context – the Mormon faith. Krakauer tells in parallel the history of Joseph Smith and the founding of his church, and of the modern-day extremist offshoots that embrace Mormon beliefs but do not belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). By juxtaposing the brutal double murder committed by the fundamentalist Lafferty brothers in 1984 with the 1857 Mountain Meadows massacre
The term “melting pot” has been used since the early 1900s, and it means a place where people, ideas, theories, cultures, etc. are mixed together. Although this may seem like a harmless thing, the idea that one must give up part of their culture to obtain parts of a new one undermines the importance of cultures in one’s life. In chapter 14 “The Melting Pot” of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman shows the challenges and hardships that Hmong immigrants faced when immigrating to America to show the power that an environment has on a person’s connection to their culture, and the impact that people have on the culture of the society they are entering Fadamin provides examples of the action of Americans towards to Hmong people
In conclusion, every character faces conflict with the truth of identity differently because of the various positions the characters are in and the contrasting ways identity is shown or not shown throughout the book. Identity has an important theme by being a constant topic that readers have to go over when evaluating the characters and their emotions. It plays a significant role in The Scarlet Letter and molds the irony of the plot creating the great
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, brings light to the good in the world, even in the midst of one of the world’s most destructive wars: World War II. This novel follows the storylines of two characters: Marie-Laure LeBlanc, and Werner Pfennig. Marie-Laure and her father, Daniel LeBlanc, live in Paris, where Daniel is the locksmith for the National Museum of Natural History. Because she is rapidly losing her sight, Marie-Laure’s father crafted intricate and precise models of their neighborhood for her to memorize by touch. When the war moves into France, the museum is forced to smuggle their most valuable assets to safety.
Jay’s relationships within his family are very open and optimistic compared to Jun’s. On page 317, Jay thinks “when I give real answers, he listens without judgment” (Ribay). The brief thought portrays a ton about their relationship. Jay can be open with his dad without expecting repercussions and he is not scared to open up to him. The openness of Jay to his father indirectly characterizes that they have somewhat of a positive bond.
Jay is experiencing self-doubt within himself at this point in his hero’s journey. He endures his own hardship as he questions his decision in coming to the Philippines. Jay wishes that he did not choose to go to the Philippines and just accept that “Jun [is] dead” as he continues on with his life in America. Jay goes through his struggles but still continues to move forward in the
Like the narrator’s father, he notices the family’s cultural identity is slowly dying. His wife, a native Malaysian, is adopting a new identity as a “sales clerk at [Woodworks]” (340) in Canada. In marriage, a couple is supposed to share the responsibility to raise their children and support each other. However, she may have given up on the teaching responsibility from the moment the language “never came easily to [the daughter]” (340). Ultimately, the father is solely responsible handing down his family’s cultural and social roots to his children.
A common questioning of a higher power beyond the physical realm lingers in society: Who and what is God?. However, many of these theological questions cannot be answered until we, of course, die. Due to human’s innate curiosity to understand the forces beyond their own, especially in terms of religion, humans find their own reasons to believe in God in the process of discovery. Religion is a sense of belief and worship to praise a higher power (God), and it provides a guide for human beings to have the opportunity to come together and live as one image of God’s children. “Imagine There’s No Heaven” is an article in which Salman Rushdie, the author, presents an atheistic view where religion is pointless, and a higher being is non-existent.
Jay never fully understood or appreciated his Filipino heritage. It is only until his trip to the Philippines and his journey to uncover his cousin’s
The difference in language leads to miscommunication but the overlying consequence of it is lack of understanding and empathy for one another which leads to conflict. “Language takes on a metonymic relation to culture in Tan's portrayal of the gap between the mothers and daughters in The Joy Luck Club.” (Hamilton). The language barriers between the daughters and the mothers create the cultural barriers. Language barriers emphasize and directly influences cultural barriers.