One of the important aspects of this class is to understand female experience. Stealing Buddha's Dinner is a memoir about a young girl growing up in two different cultures, Vietnamese and American. Because of her circumstance, Bich not only challenged gender roles in the standard American culture, but also in her own.
Bich had to learn how to grow up in two different worlds. And luckily she had Rosa to be a strong role model for her. Rosa was Mexican, living in America, married to an Asian man. not to mention her level of education, as well as her "take-charge" nature. Rosa helped develop Bich's independence.
Rosa taught Bich that not only was adaptation possible, but self identity was still possible along the way. She made sure that Bich experienced the culture within her home, as well as out of it. She also encouraged Bich to study and take her education seriously, even though a women's education didn't seem to have as much importance to society.
Bich also grew up on the lower spectrum of the economy. This story is told through the food that she eats, and has a large impact on her. I believe this experience helped develop her in that she can appreciate others situations better, as well as act as a model for anyone who reads her book and learns about her experiences.
Overall I feel that the novel acts as just a small chapter of defining life experiences for Bich. The memoir is anti-climactic, but I believe that this aspect is important. It shows that life is raw, and sometimes the opposite of how you hope it could be. We see this when she meets her mother.
Life doesn't always have a climax and resolution, sometimes you spend your whole life figuring out who you are.
Bich had to learn how to grow up in two different worlds. And luckily she had Rosa to be a strong role model for her. Rosa was Mexican, living in America, married to an Asian man. not to mention her level of education, as well as her "take-charge" nature. Rosa helped develop Bich's independence.
Rosa taught Bich that not only was adaptation possible, but self identity was still possible along the way. She made sure that Bich experienced the culture within her home, as well as out of it. She also encouraged Bich to study and take her education seriously, even though a women's education didn't seem to have as much importance to society.
Bich also grew up on the lower spectrum of the economy. This story is told through the food that she eats, and has a large impact on her. I believe this experience helped develop her in that she can appreciate others situations better, as well as act as a model for anyone who reads her book and learns about her experiences.
Overall I feel that the novel acts as just a small chapter of defining life experiences for Bich. The memoir is anti-climactic, but I believe that this aspect is important. It shows that life is raw, and sometimes the opposite of how you hope it could be. We see this when she meets her mother.
Life doesn't always have a climax and resolution, sometimes you spend your whole life figuring out who you are.
You raise a great point at the end--that figuring out our identity can be a life-long project. A memoir is a "slice of life," so that may help us understand why we don't get the answers that maybe we wanted. From reading her twitter account, do you think she has more answers now?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dr. J. I never thought about the memoir the way you described in the last sentence, and I really agree with it. Not every story has that happy ending.
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