The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Anne Fadiman

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

This misunderstanding had great influence on the lack of comfortability that the Hmong felt in America. They were surrounded by people who didn’t not understand them or their culture, but they could not leave because America was the only country that was willing to grant them asylum. When the Hmong were finally able to settle and begin forming a new life with government aid, American ideals still continued to be against them. The Hmong received financial welfare from the government, making them “prime meat for predators” (191). America has a very individualistic culture, and many people believe that you can not be successful in life without hardwork. These ideals caused Americans to become angry that Hmong immigrants were receiving help form the government, when natural born American citizens were not. Americans felt that there is shame to be felt when accepting any kind of welfare, but for the Hmong, the financial assistance was the only thing they had when trying to rebuild their lives in America. This caused the Hmong to be confused because they come from a very unified culture, and they felt no shame in receiving

Hmong culture was very important to older Hmong people because it was all they left of their home country. Therefore, Hmong parents viewed assimilation as a threat to their Hmong culture and heritage (207). Fadamin emphasizes that the Hmong goal when coming to America was not to assimilate, but to find a space for their clans to live peacefully. This was important to older generations, but for the younger generations who did not had not been surrounded by Hmong culture as long, they did not think assimilation was a betrayal to their native culture. Since the younger generations were able to more easily assimilate, that made them the more important members of their families. Hmong children were going to school and learning the way American children did, meaning that they had a better understanding of the way society functioned, causing them to be the most likely member of their family to get a job. Having a job meant that they were the providers for the family, but this was very different from the way Hmong families lived while in their native country. The Hmong experienced many difficult situations in America, but “of all the stresses in the Hmong community role loss…may be the most corrosive to the ego” (206). In American society, having an education is one of the most powerful things someone can have, and being literate is something that is highly valued in society. Unfortunately for older Hmong people, they could not get an education, and learning English was an