Personal Narrative: My Personal Identity

“I find it hard to talk about myself. I am always tripped up by the eternal “who am I?” paradox. Sure, no one knows as much pure data about me as me. But when I talk about myself, all sorts of other factors -values, standards, my own limitations as an observer- make me, the narrator, select and eliminate things about me. I 've always been disturbed by the thought that I 'm not painting a very objective picture of myself.” (Sputnik sweetheart- Haruki Murakami, P 59) Like Haruki Murakami-a famous Japanese writer, with his above quote, I am also really confused when I think about myself and my personal identity. The question “Who am I?” has haunted me for a long time. As I grew up, the answer for this question seemed to be gradually manifest.

From my childhood, parents taught me to respect the elderly in the family and older relatives, especially grandparents, parents, older siblings and to be grateful to parents for the gift of birth, rearing and education. Being children in the family, parents’ wishes are duties that such our brothers will fulfill in the future. We are always expected to think of family first and do things not only for our sake but also for the family honor, harmony and welfare as well. Therefore, naturally, family is always considered the most valuable thing in our subconscious, we are supposed to love, care and company my parents for their old ages. In my view, these values have partly written up the fine tradition of Vietnamese nation and they are also absolutely suitable for ethical values from thousands ancient times of our ancestors. Being a traditional Vietnamese woman, apart from being proud of these ideologies I will join hands with Vietnam’s young generation to maintain them for following

Among received knowledge, perhaps American traditional beliefs and values affected my ideology significantly. Firstly, one cannot help but be impressed by their self-reliance and “can-do” spirit. Unlike Vietnam, where children are given a sheltered life, American likes to think they are natural – born and do – it – yourselves. Instead of waiting and offering services in installments, repairs, buildings and some things for their house, American always do believe their capability and find solutions and finish work themselves. Furthermore, they also hope to get both financial and emotional independence from their parents as early as possible. This thing is fully contrary to me, I cannot imagine a life without relying on family and friend for emotional and financial support. In the end, I find that there is a difference between two cultures and due to my avid interest in American above values I choose to follow cultural values of my country. However, I find the American like hard work because they believe that hard work necessarily brings great material. People are ready to pay a price for their material wealth by working hardly. Personally, I always highly appreciate this value because in our lives, many people achieve success not only going through many hardships, but also overcoming difficulties. And no anybody succeeds