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Who's Irish By Gish Jen Analysis

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Who's Irish By Gish Jen Analysis
Sachi Shah
Who’s Right? Me or Mom Gish Jen’s “Who’s Irish?” shows a cultural and generational gap between the narrator and her daughter. Each culture is different around the world, and poses some differences, yet are similar in many ways. People, around the world, live as the way they should according to their societies. What is the definition of family in this day and age? A group who are blood related. Family is a set of individuals who take care of each other, and live under one roof. Jen presents a story of a mixed culture, and the differences between the narrator and her family. The narrator of the story differs from her son-in-law and his family. She has different beliefs from her Irish in laws. Besides the cultural differences, there …show more content…
Sophie is labeled as the “wild child” by her grandmother. The narrator attributes all the good qualities of Sophie to her Chinese side, and the bad qualities to her Irish side. “But Sophie is wild, Sophie is not like my daughter Natalie, or like me.” (Jen, 614) Sophie is not what the narrator expects her be, she is not the typical Chinese child. The criticism towards Sophie does not only come from the narrator, but from the Shea family as well. “She never go in the sun, still she is that color she says.” (Jen, 616) The Shea family believes that Sophie is much darker than she should be, and expected her to be a mix of both cultures. Despite the differences that both cultures have, the families both seem to get along pretty well; however there are quite some animosity between the narrator and her …show more content…
Every family has its fair share of problems whether it be cultural or generational. Many families could just solve their problems and be fine with it, but many families cannot cope with work pressures, financial inconsistencies, divorce, maybe even the children of the household. But there is one thing that a family compromises of, and that is hope. In today’s modern era, family has a completely different meaning to it than past generations. Family can consist of anyone, blood related or not. Family now, is not the typical husband, wife and children, it much more different than that. Even if family does not carry the same meaning as it did in the past, that does not mean values are not carried throughout
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