Multicultural Items

Multicultural Items

Keri Ann Yellott

ENG/157 Multicultural Literature

March 11, 2013

David McCarthy

Multicultural Items

One beauty of society today is the wealth of different beliefs and cultures that surround him or her. It does not matter if he or she lives in his or her home country or in another country, he or she is still able to witness or experience a different culture than his or her own. He or she can also immerse himself or herself in different cultures through reading a story from an author who lives in his or her culture daily.

Concepts of Multiculturalism

Life in the United States is very different from other countries. The first concept that shows this is in the story by Jean Rhys’ “The Day They Burned the Books.” In this story the author tells the story of an abusive husband and the wife who takes the punishments as though she deserves them. Mrs. Sawyer believes it is her place to allow these treatments to happen. This form of behavior was a common occurrence in society when women were expected to be at the call of their husbands and do everything to please him as he was the sole supporter in the family. The behavior has diminished in many parts of the world as women have expanded their roles in society; although the behavior may still exist in different cultures it is not as prevalent in western society today. Another concept that shows the difference in life in the United States compared to other countries is in the story, “Dead Man’s Path,” by Chinua Achebe. This story shows the difference in how death is treated by society. American culture treats death as bodies being placed in the ground and does not necessarily have belief in ghosts or spirits. Society does not also believe that their ancestors come back from the grave to visit. The African village in the story tells that his or her ancestors visit him or her by way of a physical path through the school that connects the village to the burial site. Because the belief is...