Passive Voice/
Transitive Verbs
Abstract Subjects
Linking Verbs
Part of an old paper I wrote for
multicultural lit…
The concept of otherness
has been a huge theme throughout the second half of the semester. The actual
dictionary.com definition for “otherness” is the state or fact of being
different or distinct. These characters feel like the other, because they are
comparing themselves to other people and feel that if they are of a different
race, gender, class, religion, ethnic group or sexuality then they are very
different and distinct in that social environment. If being different is based on this, then everyone must
be considered an “other”, it just depends on where you go. Specifically, in the
text that we have read in this half of the semester, race and culture seem to
be the prominent traits of otherness. In the Bluest
Eye, for
example, the little African American girls
wanted to be blonde haired and blue eyed so they could finally call themselves beautiful. In Sherman Alexie’s short
stories, he was treated differently by the white people because he was Native
American, and in The Woman Warrior, the
main characters were treated differently in America because of their Chinese
culture. These people were regarded as “other” because they had a different skin color or come
from a different culture than white Americans. The characters from the short
stories, Woman Warrior, and the Bluest Eye were mainly treated with
disrespect and not treated like everyone else mostly because of things out of
their control.
………
In the Woman Warrior Chinese culture is
explained, and Chinese American culture is exemplified. When the main
character’s aunt gets pregnant out of wedlock, she gets persecuted and
definitely treated like the other, buy the people in her Chinese village.
When they finally move to America, I think that the Chinese Americans actually
treat the white people as others, and seclude them from their lives.
Even though the main character is educated, she feels like she’s not good
enough, and feels like an “other” in that scenario also.
In
conclusion, all of these stories exemplify the definition of otherness, by being different.
I think that our society in general,
treat “others” like an untouchable creature that they’re scared of, but in all
actuality they are the same as everyone else.
In our society, most people want to be individualistic and different, so then why
do we treat someone who is that way so harshly, and judge them so severely? The
way our country constructs the other is not in a positive light, and I think
that creates barriers between different cultures, because no one is open to
anything different. All in all I think that our country is a melting pot for
different cultures, it’s just an underestimated, impervious pot.
“Otherness” has been a
reoccurring theme in the novels that we read for the second half of the
semester. The characters feel like others because they compare themselves to other
people and find that they are different. In the Bluest Eye, Sherman Alexie’s short stories, and The Woman Warrior, race and culture were
the reason the characters were regarded as “other”. These characters were
treated with disrespect because of their race and culture—things that they
couldn’t control.
In the Woman Warrior Chinese culture is
explained, and Chinese American culture is exemplified. The Chinese culture is
very strict, and when a woman gets pregnant out of wedlock, she was
disrespected and persecuted by the people in her village. The Chinese Americans
treated the Caucasians as others. The main character is educated, but feels
like she’s not good enough—so she’s an “other” also.
These stories
exemplify “otherness” by being different. Society epitomizes individuality, but
when someone different comes along, they are judged harshly. American society constructs
the “other” in a negative light, which creates barriers between different
cultures. Our country is a melting pot for different cultures; it’s just an
underestimated, impervious pot.