Remembering vs Forgetting Cultural Past
People identify themselves through commonalities and past histories. ... To find their cultural identity is an internal and external battle. ... If they assimilate completely they will have to disconnect from their families and past histories, becoming nameless without any foundation to build upon in a nation where they are told they are different, and therefore not citizens. ... To forget their cultural past would be forgetting a part of who they are, and yet to dwell on it would halt personal growth. ... This issue of Asian-Americans coming to terms with their cultural identity is represented in the novels No-No Boy and The Woman Warrior. ... Each character, through coming to terms with their families (which represent Asian past), and dealing with American culture outside of the home, comes to terms with who they are as individuals, and learn how to survive living in between cultures. ... Instead of presenting an answer of either “yes” or “no,” Okada shows us that in order to survive as a Japanese-American, one must find a balance between the two cultures by coming to terms with their Japanese past, and integrating it into their American future. ... In a sense, he is remembering too much of his past, and struggles to integrate into society due to this. ... American majority has forced him to either completely assimilate, forgetting his past, or to stay Japanese, remembering all of his past, and therefore Ichiro feels split in two. ... Okada shows us that remembering too much one’s culture is a negative form of thinking that results in the loss of sanity for Japanese-Americans. ... In a society that told her that she is not a citizen of the United States, she becomes a “no” woman, rejecting new American culture by clinging too strongly to a fantasy of her Japanese past. ... Through this example of his mother who, due to the lack of her citizenship, rejects American culture and eventually goes insane, Okada shows the sad results of clinging to one’s cultural past too tightly. ... He attempts to deal with his past by ignoring it, and beating up anyone who refuses to accept him, and ends up dying in a car crash while running from a fight with Bull. Once again, Okada shows us that to cling to the past, or dwell on the “no” too much, results in death for the Japanese-American. ... Through these examples Okada shows us that to be single-minded, and dwell on the past is destructive for Japanese-Americans. However, as well as showing the downfall of those who cling to the past too much, Okada contrasts this by showing same results for those who choose “yes” and attempt to be entirely American, forgetting their Japanese culture. ... As a Chinese-American, she struggles with the opposite of Ichiro, the problem of forgetting too much of her cultural past and assimilating too quickly. ... She learns how to talk story, making positive light on the past, and eventually coming to terms with her mother, which for her is a symbol of Chinese past. Like Okada’s No-No Boy Kingston’s solution to alienation is finding a medium between remembering and forgetting, and realizing that dual cultures are a gift rather than a curse.