The introduction to the novel definitely lets us truly know the characters. From what I know it seems like Ashima and Ashoke come from typical Bengali households and they definitely aren’t like the typical American family for sure, their lifestyles as partners are made very clear by Ashima when she talks about how the lady outside is talking sweetly to her husband and she recounts how that display of affection isn’t accepted except for in Bollywood movies. From the start of the novel we also learn a very traumatic accident occured to Ashoke involving a train. Though he is injured and has spent most of his life with family the talk with the man about traveling the world and doing more than just reading in a way puts him on the route to decide to migrate outside of the world he’s only known. It makes me kind of curious as to what is going to happen as a result of their departure from their native land, it seems that Ashoke sees it as a way to explore the world but Ashima feels alone without her family and the only world she’s ever known.

While reading this I came across a line that I think stood out to me the most. It states, “What are the criteria for fitting into a nation that is so ethically diverse?” (Pg. 147) These words screamed out at me because I believe this is the root of the problem with immigration, society is so fixated with creating a standard way of doing things and viewing things that it looks to exclude certain individuals if they seem somehow outside what looks normal, or threatens the standing lifestyle that the rest of the assimilated society knows and values. One example of this was the “Yellow Peril” which justified the mistreatment of Chinese immigrants by portraying them as threats to the economy, this I feel is what is going on now in today’s time with the Mexican community as well. I make this comparison just to support the claim I made before about how society makes expectations and tries to exclude those who don’t seem to fit into the image. I think in terms of portrayal of culture, many different ethnic groups do one of two things, they either show the reality and try to be inclusive of their culture as a whole or only shine light on the topics that they choose to highlight. As we talked about in class I now see the connection with colorism, trying to depict a skin tone range that may not be inclusive but is what they feel the audience would agree with or support. After reading this I do very much agree with the statement that even after about two centuries of Asian American immigrants residing here they are still seen and outsiders, they are often picked on or seen differently, not as Americans but as Asians and I guess its because America can’t accept a race that does not directly follow American norms.

I am a native New York resident and I have lived in a couple of places since I was born. My parents had me while living in the Bronx and at two years old my mom met my dad (stepdad I call dad) and we lived in Manhattan for a short time before moving to the Bronx for about 13 years and now we have moved to Brooklyn a few months ago. I don’t exactly know how to answer where you from that’s the summary. My mom grew up in a small town in Mexico called Santa Ursula in Puebla up until she was 12 and immigrated here to the U.S after losing her mother and in search for a better life. My biological dad is Dominican and his family is from Santo Domingo and Santiago and though he didn’t live there for long, he grew a strong sense of identity from being born there. I very much enjoy the surprise people display when discovering I’m both nationalities. On a different note college has been very interesting and enjoyable, though I have on occasion missed the reminders about things like high school its good having freedom and having to be more responsible. Thus far the college experience is not at all what I expected but in a good way its changing my habits, procrastination for me is huge but its not impossible but it will take some fighting distractions.