'Laughter' By Sandra Cisneros: Summary

Immigrants must blend in with American culture rather than holding on to their own culture and revive it within their new found communities. Many immigrants feel that it isn’t fair to rid of their culture. Opposing views claim that new cultures would interfere with everyday American life. Yet the argument still remains: Is it right for immigrants to be forced to adjust to American culture? In Self Portrait Along the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States, 1932, a woman, Frida Kahlo painted herself in between the border between Mexico and the United States, with one side of her likely representing her culture, Mexican, and the other side representing American culture. Frida Kahlo’s culture is definitely from Mexico because she is carrying a flag with the colors of Mexico on it. The Mexican side of the border has a Columbian temple, whereas the United States has industrialized buildings. Both cultures are extremely different. Frida is frowning and is presumably upset because she is leaving behind her beloved culture to learn a new one. As well as her self-portrait, Frida Kahlo’s biography, “Frida Kahlo Biography”, also sheds light on her opinion of leaving behind her culture in Mexico to learn American culture. It is stated that Frida is very patriotic

Information such as Nenny and the speaker were probably born in a different culture. A major theme in this story is the speaker and Nenny both see a house that reminds them of Mexico, probably not just because of the physical structure of the house. “Nenny says: Yes, that’s Mexico all right. That’s what I was thinking exactly” (“Laughter”). Nenny and the speaker probably miss the different culture that they grew up in. The text, “Laughter”, by Sandra Cisneros, shows that Nenny and the speaker most likely didn’t want to change their culture when they moved, but they were forced to do