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Summary Of Two Ways To Belong In America By Bharati Mukherjee

451 Words2 Pages

The entire essay consists of compare and contrast. Mira, the sister, claims to feel “used” by America because she’s given it her most precious work while still clinging onto Indian citizenship. On the other hand, Bharati feels welcomed in America since it offered her so many opportunities she did not have in India. The two contrasting stories are effective in the way that they depict the emotional struggle immigrants and/or expatriates go through. It is evident that Bharati was able to merge so well into American because she is open minded while Mira struggled because she was reserved and kept tied to India traditions. The essay compares the different experiences immigrants go through when leaving their native countries. “She, for the …show more content…

“This is such an unfair way to treat a person who was invited to stay and work here because of her talent.” (Page 274) Bharati embraced the idea of becoming a citizen. “She is happier to live in America as expatriate Indian than as an immigrant American. I need to feel like a part of the community I have adopted...” (Page 275) Bharati Mukherjee illustrates an example of adapting to a conventional American culture and its effects on a person's identity in the essay "Two Ways to Belong in America." She begins the story by providing some background information about herself and her sister inevitably leading up to the debate over the "two sides”. Mukherjee and her sister had grown up in Calcutta, India with the same family, held the same values, possessed the same future goals and "were almost identical in appearance and attitude" (453). As a result of their experiences in America, their choice of lifestyles, the Mukherjee sisters now have very different views, future plans and different opinions on many topics. While her sister held her heritage and culture very close, Mukherjee adapted to the American culture in which she lived. While Mira states that she feels "some kind of irrational attachment to India that I don't to America (455)," Mukherjee, claims that, "America spoke to me-I married it"

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