Cultural struggle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cultural struggle - Essay Example Buy writing Mother Tongue, Amy Tan draws the readers’ attention by giving a reflection of people’s perception that the type and quality of English spoken by an individual represents one’s state of mind. She â€Å"†¦believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect† (Tan). Through her statements, readers get to understand that Tan used to look down on her mother due to the quality of English she was using. Further reading Mother Tongue reveals that Amy’s mom is an uneducated woman from China and does not comprehend Standard English. She used to request Amy to make phone calls on her behalf. Amy says that â€Å"she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she †¦ a call to her brokers in New York. I had to get on the phone and say in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, ‘This is Mrs. Tan.’. The mother as ked Amy to contact the stockbroker and pretend to be her. She, therefore, went ahead to talk to the stockbrokers by paraphrasing her mother’s jumbled sentences into understandable and meaningful statements, to the stockbrokers.Similar captivating information can be derived from the essay Two Kinds, by Amy Tan. In Two Kinds Amy Tan demonstrates that humans carry traumas of their past into their future by dredging them up either intentionally or unconsciously. She uses a Chinese narrator to bring out constant struggles that people go through while trying to find out better understanding and way of existence.