The Kitchen Gods Wife and The Bingo Palace :: comparison compare contrast essays

Mythology, Luck, and Fate in The Kitchen Gods Wife and The keno Palace In Amy Tans novel, The Kitchen Gods Wife, the author weaves Chinese mythology and beliefs through a womans struggle to explain and come to terms with her harrowing past, to her American daughter, Pearl. Aside from the horror invoked by Winnies tale of her life in Pre-Communist/Feudal China, the affair that struck me the most about this book was how often the themes of luck and fate crop up in the story. I often found that Winnie reminded me of the character Lipsha from Louise Erdrichs novel, The Bingo Palace in that both characters seemed to believe that their lives were controlled more by luck/fate than by their own will. While the similarities between the two books do exist, they ar very different stories dealing with two cultures far removed from each other in location, beliefs and ways of life. I decided that for this paper, it would be interesting to tactile property at how the ideas of mythology, luck and fate pertain to the culture of the Chinese and Native Americans in these two books. I would also like to look at how Asiatic Americans and Native Americans assimilate and change their cultural beliefs and practices into the larger culture of the United States. The Oxford Dictionary defines fate as 1 a power regarded as predetermining events unalterably. 2 a the future regarded as determined by such a power. b an individuals appointed lot. C the ultimate condition or end of a person or thing (that sealed our fate). The aspect of the story that especially stood out for me was the way in which Winnie chalked up everything that happened to her, good and bad, to the state of her luck at the time. It seems as if Winnie believed that she was fated to have bad luck from beginning of her life because of her suffer. She tells of her mother marrying into a family where she became the double hour wife which means she replaced the first second wife who had died. Replacing a dead wife was believed to put a woman into a bad-luck position, so perhaps Winnie believed she had inherited her bad luck from her mother and was doomed from birth. Winnie even attributes her horrible marriage to Wen Fu as a result of her bad luck.

perspective :: essays research papers

PerspectiveI understand perspective as being your own understanding as well as your own interpretation of anything you run down or witness. It is also your own insight and beliefs on the hidden nature of things. Perspective is the way you and only you analyze a situation. It can be shared out with others who share your same perspective, as well as being shared with others who restrain their own insight which provide be a total opposite of yours. In 1965 Malcolm X had made a statement you have to be careful, actually careful, introducing the truth to the Black piece who has never previously heard the truth about himself, his own kind, and the white human race The Black brother is so persuade that he may nonetheless be repelled when he first hears the truth.Reading Malcolm Xs statement as well as captivating many of the material Ive accumulated in class I strongly believe having a perspective is important, but having your own perspective is dismantle more important. When ha ving your own beliefs you wont be so gullible, as well as easily fooled on whats being done to you or somewhat you, Youll have a clear insight and wont be taken advantage of. Having your own outlook, you could deem changes that are more accommodative to you and others, rather than harming you and whats around you. In the past, when the Negroes were uneducated and didnt know any better they had no perspective and were easily fooled thinking everything was the way it was alleged(a) to be. For instance the white man took the Africans and had them believing in the Christianity religion. This was brainwashing the Africans to believe god has made them inferior to the white man. By having no perspective of there own they believed this perspective and remained a slave, thinking they was doing the right thing. Now having a clear thought, we dont let harmful things get passed us without attempting to make correction for the better. For example when the racialism was a huge issue, and we were severely mistreated by many whites as well as the Police Department in the late 60s and 70s, an organization by the name of the Black Panther Party was formed. They had fought for our rights as well as our right to be treated equal to others. Having a perspective we are now able to serve and make beneficial changes for others as well as ourselves.perspective essays explore papers PerspectiveI understand perspective as being your own understanding as well as your own interpretation of anything you read or witness. It is also your own insight and beliefs on the hidden nature of things. Perspective is the way you and only you analyze a situation. It can be shared with others who share your same perspective, as well as being shared with others who have their own insight which will be a total opposite of yours. In 1965 Malcolm X had made a statement you have to be careful, very careful, introducing the truth to the Black man who has never previously heard the truth about himself , his own kind, and the white man The Black brother is so brainwashed that he may even be repelled when he first hears the truth.Reading Malcolm Xs statement as well as absorbing many of the material Ive accumulated in class I strongly believe having a perspective is important, but having your own perspective is even more important. When having your own beliefs you wont be so gullible, as well as easily fooled on whats being done to you or around you, Youll have a clear insight and wont be taken advantage of. Having your own outlook, you could make changes that are more helpful to you and others, rather than harming you and whats around you. In the past, when the Negroes were uneducated and didnt know any better they had no perspective and were easily fooled thinking everything was the way it was supposed to be. For instance the white man took the Africans and had them believing in the Christianity religion. This was brainwashing the Africans to believe god has made them inferior to the white man. By having no perspective of there own they believed this perspective and remained a slave, thinking they was doing the right thing. Now having a clear thought, we dont let harmful things get passed us without attempting to make correction for the better. For example when the racism was a huge issue, and we were severely mistreated by many whites as well as the Police Department in the late 60s and 70s, an organization by the name of the Black Panther Party was formed. They had fought for our rights as well as our right to be treated equal to others. Having a perspective we are now able to serve and make beneficial changes for others as well as ourselves.