Identity struggle in Two Kinds and Home Fire: Comparative Analysis

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Migration does not only imply migrating from one country to another, but postulates the existence of harsh realities such as the fear of acceptance, conflicting cultural differences, and most importantly the struggle with identity, that tag along. The short story Two Kinds by American writer Amy Tan and the short novel Home Fire by Pakistani-British author Kamila Shamsie connects to the varying immigration issues, the existence of cultural divisions and cultural beliefs and failures of nationalism against immigrants of certain descent. Out of the four directions that exist in this world, East meets West after so many realizations and tragic encounters. Insisting on acceptance of domestic norms means asking immigrant groups to relinquish some intellectual attributes of their difference. It would be deceiving oneself sanctimoniously to believe that this happens without suffering or pain, but pure tolerance capability. It is the moral obligation of the host to attenuate this suffering and compensate for the agony: the greatest compensational reparation is an increased level of respect and equality.

Understanding and claiming ones identity has something to do with the international movement of people upon being a first generation immigrant and growing up in the immigrant destination society. Jing-Mei and her mother are the two different kinds of women because of their decidedly changing and revolving life experiences and backgrounds. The Chinese mother and the American-Chinese daughter are the two kinds of people with extremely different perspectives and expectations of life. The mother grew up in a Chinese society where huge expectations and limited choices existed. The daughter was raised in an American society with limited expectations and unlimitedly varying choices. The flow of life was different in its entirety for the mother as opposed to the life of her daughter in the individualistic land of America. In a civilization where individuality is valued, the daughter desired to be an individual, while her mother demanded something else. Thus, this tale strongly brings out the impact of conflicting immigrant cultural expectations with that of the classic American cultural identity.

Identity is a significant experience not only for the opportunity of belonging somewhere or to achieve a sense of belongingness, but to go far beyond whatever the society thinks of an identity. Opposing to the contradicting immigrant presuppositions and identity struggle in Two Kinds, in Home Fire, siblings Isma Pasha, Aneeka Pasha and Parvaiz Pasha are in different parts of the world due to their revolving circumstances. They travel through London in United Kingdom, Amherst and Massachusetts in the United States, Istanbul in Turkey, Raqqa City in Syria, and Karachi in Pakistan to claim their distinguishing identities. In the process of travelling between Eastern and Western countries, they undergo unbearable pain inflicted by their home country of Britain as a result of being a victim of the anti-Muslim community. The struggle is real and represents present-day issues of vulnerability and social precariousness that most of the western nations policies and inclinations inculcate in people of Muslim and Middle Eastern origin.

In conclusion, After all we all belong to the human race.

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