Why My Mother Can T Speak English Language Analysis

Identity is something we learn over time. There are many different ways we can discover who we are. The way we were raised, who we surround ourselves with, or what we choose to influence and inspire us. We can uncover truths about ourself, or somehow feel lost and unfamiliar with who we are. In the stories, “Why My Mother Can’t Speak English” and “Growing Up Native”, they both deal with topics in the realm of identity. “Why My Mother Can’t Speak English”, written by Garry Engkent, and “Growing Up Native”, written by Carol Geddes reveal different factors that have a detrimental impact on identity. Discrimination in a society can cause people to be deprived of who they are and feel helpless. An imbalance of power in society can cause hardships
In “Growing Up Native” the narrator experiences an imbalance of power which causes her to feel like she loses her true self. The First Nations people were forced into residential schools and they were abused mentally and physically. This left them to feel like they were helpless and had to adopt a new culture they weren't accustomed to. Also, In “Why My Mother Can’t Speak English”, the narrator’s mother was forced to try to learn English or French to gain a Canadian citizenship. She was afraid of being sent back to China and losing her old age pension so she felt she had no other choice. Even though she was worried about losing her true culture and identity. Power influenced the people in both stories and made them feel as if they needed to do things they weren’t comfortable with to
Culture plays a big part in both of these stories, and shows the effects on identity when you are deprived of your culture. In “Growing Up Native”, the First Nations people are shamed for the culture they have and are obligated to adopt another culture. Typically, in their culture they have long hair, but in these residential schools they were forced to cut it, because it was thought that they had lice. They were told that Indian culture is evil and their only hope was to be Christian. Also, in the book it said “They had to stand up and say things like ‘I’ve found the Lord,’ when a teacher told them to speak” (Carol Geddes, Growing Up Native, page 46). The teachers embarrassed and harassed them for some reasons the children couldn’t control. Typically in First Nations culture the boys would go out to hunt, and the females would stay in school. Therefore, the boys wouldn’t get as much of an education as he girls, and their skills may not have developed as fast. The residential school teachers did not take this into account and tried to embarrass the boys when they couldn’t read in class. They asked the girls to read instead but it goes against their culture to show up to an older boy. These children lost their identities and felt humiliated by these residential school teachers making them go against their original traditions. In “Why My Mother Can’t Speak English”, the narrator’s mother is worried