Discovering An Identity
A person’s identity is shaped by the experiences they have throughout their life and the customs and cultures they are exposed to while they are growing up and trying to discover who they are. An identity is made up of a person’s orientation, beliefs, customs, and culture; what people are exposed to as children shape what they believe and how they see themselves. If a child is raised in a home with one culture and live in a place that has a different culture, they can become confused about their identity. This can be seen in Geeta Kothari’s “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I,” when she explains how growing up with different cultures has affected the way she sees herself, and how it inhibits her knowledge of her …show more content…
Often times when a person’s family is not native to the place they are living, they are exposed to ways of life that are different than what they experience at home. In Kothari’s “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I,” Kothari uses food as a metaphor to compare the different cultures she sees as she is growing up. At school, Kothari sees all of her peers eating “tuna sandwiches” and asks her mom to fix that food for her lunch ( 947). While she is writing about food, the “tuna” Kothari is longing for is a metaphor for the American culture she is constantly surrounded by (Kothari 947). By being surrounded by multiple different cultures as she is growing up, Kothari doesn’t know who she is or how to identify herself. By trying to be part of both the cultures she sees, Kothari has lost herself and her identity. When a person is surrounded by many different ways of life, they try to conform to many different ideas of who they think they are. By being exposed to many ways of life, a person will see many different cultures, and when faced with many cultures, a person will become confused and unsure of their
A person’s identity is shaped by the experiences they have throughout their life and the customs and cultures they are exposed to while they are growing up and trying to discover who they are. An identity is made up of a person’s orientation, beliefs, customs, and culture; what people are exposed to as children shape what they believe and how they see themselves. If a child is raised in a home with one culture and live in a place that has a different culture, they can become confused about their identity. This can be seen in Geeta Kothari’s “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I,” when she explains how growing up with different cultures has affected the way she sees herself, and how it inhibits her knowledge of her …show more content…
Often times when a person’s family is not native to the place they are living, they are exposed to ways of life that are different than what they experience at home. In Kothari’s “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I,” Kothari uses food as a metaphor to compare the different cultures she sees as she is growing up. At school, Kothari sees all of her peers eating “tuna sandwiches” and asks her mom to fix that food for her lunch ( 947). While she is writing about food, the “tuna” Kothari is longing for is a metaphor for the American culture she is constantly surrounded by (Kothari 947). By being surrounded by multiple different cultures as she is growing up, Kothari doesn’t know who she is or how to identify herself. By trying to be part of both the cultures she sees, Kothari has lost herself and her identity. When a person is surrounded by many different ways of life, they try to conform to many different ideas of who they think they are. By being exposed to many ways of life, a person will see many different cultures, and when faced with many cultures, a person will become confused and unsure of their