Two Ways To Belong In America, By Khaled Hosseini

One may not understand how they see the world, but there are numerous sources that authenticate the fact that culture affects the way the world and people in it are viewed by oneself. A few examples of credible sources are: “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, “Two Ways to Belong in America” by Bharati Mukherjee, “An Indian Father’s Plea” by Robert Lake, and “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. These stories are all very different from one another yet they all have one thing in common, a way of putting a view of the world into words. There are also many real life events that validate the effects of culture on people’s outlooks.

In “Everyday Use” we are able to see the different ways physical appearance, education, and surroundings influence the cultural aspects of one's view of the world around them. Dee is considered to be a thin, pretty girl

Another exceptional example is the short story “Two Ways To Belong To America”. In the story two sisters, Mira and Bharati, come from India with the same aspirations, to earn degrees in college and return to India to marry an Indian man. Both girls wore saris, while having the same views on politics,social issues, love, and marriage. In short, they were very connected and influenced by their Indian culture. Once the girls arrived in America things did not go quite as planned. While Mira remained true to her Indian culture and married an Indian man Bharati married a Canadian/American man and chose to desert the Indian culture. Clearly Mira’s culture affected her view on the world. She loved coming to America and the people, experiences, and opportunities the country gave her but she loved her culture more. Bharati’s culture influenced her in a different way. She felt strange and isolated from the world in her Indian culture and when she arrived in America she felt free. Bharati neglected her culture and traded it for the American