American Dreamer
Form the reading it is clear that Mukherjee was a person determined to succeed in life. This is clear having received a master’s degree in English and the ancient English culture and further pursued her interest in literature to a Ph. D. degree level in the United States. It is also evident that from her learning process that she became very proficient in fiction, an aspect which led to her being honored with the 1988 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Her determination led to her success.
Further, in India, fathers had the responsibility of choosing bridegrooms for their daughters and that one could not marry a person from a different caste and class. That woman did not provide for their families because that was the duty of men. It is also noticeable that during the early 1960s most inhabitants professed Christian faith. It is also clear that the population had become more diverse over the years due to increased immigrants.
Conversely, unlike America a person who was born in India in1950s had his or her fate sealed by virtue of the caste system therefore everyone knew where they fitted in. The sorry state of affairs in India is depicted by the fact that Mukherjee lived in a crowded house and further that her first coeducation experience was in the Iowa University. A person who married a person not belonging to their class lost their rights within their caste.
Despite having achieved her dreams, Mukherjee still had an urge to go back to India but she could not as she would be considered an outcast. I further learn that Canada opposed cultural synthesis and had a discriminatory aspect towards persons not perceived as Canadians. From the appraisal of the material it is imperative to note that America recognized human rights regardless of their origin and further that the rights were entrenched in the constitution.
Consequently, people may gain an American citizenship by virtue of having been an economic refugee, asylum seeker, a voluntary immigrant or by birth. However, politicians exploit the issue arbitrarily to advance their own selfish interests. Mukherjee’s opinion is that people should give the subject a national outlook in a bid to progress the ideals as opposed to pitting communities against others.
With regard to the foregoing, the most important paragraph is the second paragraph where the writer states the she is a ‘naturalized U.S. citizen.’ The fact that she does not refer herself as an Asian-American as many would put it is impressive. It shows that she is beyond the parochial race view of the ‘us’ against ‘them’ argument and solely focuses on neo-nationalism.
References
Mukherjee, B. (1997). American Dreamer. Mother Jones Magazine.
