My Two Dads by Marie G: Personal Interpretation
Molly Lederer
Ms. Klocke
L.A. 1
February 16, 2015
My Two Dads When you go on a visit to see your mom or dad’s families, do your parents seem a little different to you? Do they act like a whole new person when they around your extended family? For every family the experience with extended family is a little different. In my experience, when my parents visit my grandparents or aunts and uncles, they seem as if nothing has changed. However, in some cases a person may seem as if they have embraced a whole new culture when visiting extended family. If this is what happens do they seem more Ambicultural, meaning are they able move swiftly between multiple cultures, or are they more bicultural, meaning is it more like they live two separate lives. In My Two Dads, Marie G. Lee refers to her father as if her were two different people, an American and a Korean. She explains how in America he is fairly laid back like most American fathers, but when he is Korea with his extended family he is completely different. He is more reserved and distant to his family, but yet she states that while he is different in Korea she finds him to be, “surprising and familiar at the same time,” (pg.167). One thing I found interesting was how she thought it was hard to fit into the Korean culture. She states that she didn’t learn the Korean language until later in life and how it really knocked her for a loop. She uses the analogy that learning this language was like playing a game of verbal twister. This analogy is very well used in this context, because it almost lets you visualize the complexities of the language. She even goes on in later paragraphs questioning herself and where she fit in. “With whom did I identify more–the flight attendants or the retired white couple behind us, with their Bermuda shorts and Midwestern accents?” (pg.167). To her it seems as if she believes her father is more ambicultural, because he tends to be very fluid when switching between languages and
Ms. Klocke
L.A. 1
February 16, 2015
My Two Dads When you go on a visit to see your mom or dad’s families, do your parents seem a little different to you? Do they act like a whole new person when they around your extended family? For every family the experience with extended family is a little different. In my experience, when my parents visit my grandparents or aunts and uncles, they seem as if nothing has changed. However, in some cases a person may seem as if they have embraced a whole new culture when visiting extended family. If this is what happens do they seem more Ambicultural, meaning are they able move swiftly between multiple cultures, or are they more bicultural, meaning is it more like they live two separate lives. In My Two Dads, Marie G. Lee refers to her father as if her were two different people, an American and a Korean. She explains how in America he is fairly laid back like most American fathers, but when he is Korea with his extended family he is completely different. He is more reserved and distant to his family, but yet she states that while he is different in Korea she finds him to be, “surprising and familiar at the same time,” (pg.167). One thing I found interesting was how she thought it was hard to fit into the Korean culture. She states that she didn’t learn the Korean language until later in life and how it really knocked her for a loop. She uses the analogy that learning this language was like playing a game of verbal twister. This analogy is very well used in this context, because it almost lets you visualize the complexities of the language. She even goes on in later paragraphs questioning herself and where she fit in. “With whom did I identify more–the flight attendants or the retired white couple behind us, with their Bermuda shorts and Midwestern accents?” (pg.167). To her it seems as if she believes her father is more ambicultural, because he tends to be very fluid when switching between languages and
Cited: Beaty, Jerome and J. Paul Hunter. New Worlds Of Literature. 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1994.