My Dadima Wear Sari Summary

From a young age, our interactions with our parents play an instrumental role in how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. The short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid exhibits the relationship between an Antiguan mother and her daughter in a patriarchal society where the list of rules and regulations for women is exhaustive and almost never-ending. By analyzing the unique and often tense dynamic between the mother and daughter, “Girl” showcases the direct influence mothers have on their children, and how traditional and patriarchal customs can influence that relationship. The main themes are represented by the subjects the mother spends the most time on as well as the overall tone of the piece and how it relates to the mother-daughter

In "Museum Indians", Susan Powers describes her mother from her childhood perspective.Power uses vivid imagery, similes, and metaphors, to convey details about her mother.These details help readers to understand some of her culture and why she wants to be like her mother, and why she feels like she is only "half" of her

Throughout the course of the book, A Long Way Home, Saroo Brierley, the author, encounters a series of traumatic experiences that lead to bittersweet moments. Unlike a normal child’s infancy, Saroo was physically and mentally consuming. Through his experience, we are able to get a glimpse of the many struggles and hardships young children live in India daily. His petrifying experiences of living on the streets, Liluah, and Nava Jeevan finally lead to his safe haven of being taken by the Brierley’s.

A daughter who uses her mother's gifts in contrast to a daughter who preserves them, is far more valuable just like in “Everyday use” by Alice Walker because heritage values can be preserved. From here on, Walker utilizes a prideful tone which later shifts into an authoritative tone by illustrating a proud mother who becomes defensive because of her modern daughter’s opposing views.

This shines light upon her Native American roots and how it can be an inspiration for her Century Quilt, each square representing her family’s racial diversity and mixed roots. It is quite difficult to learn of all the harsh animosity they were enduring, such as Meema and her yellow sisters whose “grandfather’s white family nodding at them when they met” (24-27). The hostility is clear as the white relatives only register their presence; no “hello” or warm embrace as if they didn’t acknowledge them as true family. However, with descriptive imagery, the speaker’s sense of pride for having the best of both worlds is still present as she understands Meema’s past experiences and embraces her family’s complexity wholeheartedly; animosity and all.

“Clothes” is written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. It is a short story about an Indian-American woman, Sumita, who is about to embark on a new chapter of her life, marriage. Sumita, throughout the story, is nervous and confused about what is to come next in her life. The story begins in the women’s lake with Sumita and her friends, Deepali and Radha. The groups of friends are preparing Sumita for her big day, meeting her soon to be husband for the first time.

Although the daughter’s shame in her mother is evident, she is also prideful of her as well. The strong love that the mother and daughter share is pervasive throughout the story. The story is being told by the daughter after she is all grown up. The fact that Jones uses such vivid detail on the mother’s preparation for her daughters first day of school shows that the daughter loved her mom and all that she did for her. The daughter recalls that her mother spent a lot of time preparing her when she says, “My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, plaiting and replaiting so that now my scalp tingles.” (Jones) She also remembers that her “pale green slip and underwear are new, the underwear having come three to a plastic package with a little girl on the front who appears to be dancing.” (Jones) The daughter having remembered details like these illustrate that she has an immense love and takes pride

This short story is about a young Indian woman named Sumita, her impending arranged marriage and subsequent trip to America, which is symbolized by the color and type of her clothes. The author utilizes color symbolism to express the emotional changes that Sumita is going through and how she uses colors to keep her grounded with her Indian beliefs during her transition from girl to bride-to-be to an Indian-American to widow. There are many examples of colors that represent established Indian beliefs and religion are mentioned throughout the story.

There can be great comfort in understanding one’s heritage especially when it involves the deep love and devotion of a strong mother. The poem combines family and love with the quilt to show the memories that she has shared threw the generations that have had the quilt. In the poem “my mother pieced quilts” by Teresa Paloma Acosta and the short story “ Everyday use” by Alice Walker, both author’s use imagery and figurative language to establish a quilt as a symbol for family, love and memories to illustrate their themes.

Martin is an average teen that lives with his parents and his younger sister Cheryl when his life is interrupted when his Lakota Grandpa comes to visit. Grandpa tells the story of his culture and life as an Indian, but Martin was afraid that his grandfather might not live up to the expectations he implemented into the minds of his friends. Sadly his grandfather was sick and tired, so he gave Martin the medicine bag as a passing gift to remember his family’s culture. In the end, Martin visited the Iowa sanctuary as a way to commemorate his grandfather and the medicine bag. The hardships of judging your family, culture and those around you are difficult to do unless experience, the description, and events experience by Martin explain these events and the meaning of the discovery changed him for the better. In the story, “The Medicine Bag”, the remarkable events during Grandpa’s visit enlightened Martin of the importance of family culture and the acceptance of others.

Then some people can think how is possible that a mother and a daughter can have so different cultures, and the answer is very simple, our society makes us. Although we can be taught in our houses, we are more likely to follow the fashion than the traditions. Therefore, the event that ends this period of time was the Thanksgiving’s dinner in Deborah and Kaku’s house where she felt so out of place when she said, “I was furious with my mother for making a scene before we left the house and forcing me to wear a shalwar kameez” (6). This is just another evidence of how little smart was the behavior of her mother towards her.

Traditions and old teachings are essential to Native American culture; however growing up in the modern west creates a distance and ignorance about one’s identity. In the beginning, the narrator is in the hospital while as his father lies on his death bed, when he than encounters fellow Native Americans. One of these men talks about an elderly Indian Scholar who paradoxically discussed identity, “She had taken nostalgia as her false idol-her thin blanket-and it was murdering her” (6). The nostalgia represents the old Native American ways. The woman can’t seem to let go of the past, which in turn creates confusion for the man to why she can’t let it go because she was lecturing “…separate indigenous literary identity which was ironic considering that she was speaking English in a room full of white professors”(6). The man’s ignorance with the elderly woman’s message creates a further cultural identity struggle. Once more in the hospital, the narrator talks to another Native American man who similarly feels a divide with his culture. “The Indian world is filled with charlatan, men and women who pretend…”

Her parents, first-generation immigrants from Puerto Rico, try to guide her and give her advice, but ultimately the difference in cultures could not be reconciled. What was acceptable and expected in Puerto Rico was not the same as in America, and it showed. Cofer’s mother, when giving Cofer clothing advice, did not realize how different American girls dressed compared to the Puerto Rican girls. The bright lipstick and more revealing clothes that Cofer was encouraged to wear on a day to day basis were not commonplace for American girls. Cofer also did not dress correctly when it came to formal events. Often not knowing what to wear, she would mix and match pieces of clothing and accessories until she found something she thought looked presentable. However, this still was not right. In fact, a friend of hers pointed out that you could always tell Puerto Rican girls apart from the rest of a group because they tended to “wear everything at once.”

Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” and Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” share a common theme of the expectations of ones heritage. For instance “Everyday Use” explores cultural norms of cultural practices. Dee and Mama argue over whether the family heirlooms should be preserved or used. While “Girl” focuses on the strict culture norms of what it means to be a respected women in her environment. The girls’ mother has a set of rules that her daughter must obey so she can be viewed positively. “Everyday Use” and “Girl” challenge the norm of their time. “Everyday Use” which was published in 1973 goes against thoughts held during the black power movement regarding cultural preservation. “Girl” which was published in 1978 argues that girls should not have to follow the social norm to be respected. Both stories challenge the commonly held beliefs of their time.

The short store “Clothes” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is about a young Indian woman, Sumita, and her cultural transition to America that is symbolized by her clothes and the color of her clothes. The traditional Indian attire for a woman is a sari and each one has its own purpose. Her clothes also indicate her progression from daughter, to wife, to woman.